For the first time in 18 years, Taronga Zoo has five new African lion cubs and you can watch them live on the zoo’s cub cam for a small charge.
Sydney’s Taronga Zoo hasn’t been humming with crowds over the past three months, given it’s been closed due to Sydney’s ongoing lockdown.
But there’s a lot more activity and there’ll be a few roars from the lion enclosure from now on.
It was about a month ago on August 12 when the zoo first welcomed the five African lion cubs — three females and two males — a quintet of cuteness.
These little balls of fluff were born to experienced mum, Maya, and first-time dad, Ato, and they’ve grown from weighing around 1.5 kilograms at birth to hitting the scales at between five and six kilograms now.
Watch the cubs grow on the zoo’s 24/7 live-stream
As they’ve been growing, Taronga’s staff have been keeping an eye on them via the zoo’s CCTV cameras. And, if that sounds like a great way to spend your own day, you can now join them via a new 24/7 live-stream.
Taronga already lets you fill your time staring at capybaras, seals, meerkats, otters, Sumatran tigers, lions and elephants, all without leaving your home, thanks to its online TV channel.
All those animals are all well and good. They’re great, and they’re very easy to spend too much time staring at, actually. But, because we all grew up watching The Lion King, many of us have an extra fondness for lion cubs.
Small donation is required for the live-stream
Previously, the zoo’s live-stream TV channel was free but now you’ll need to make a tax-deductible donation of $7 to access the all-day camera footage – but you can donate more if you like.
Your payment will help support Taronga, its ongoing research and conservation programs, and its work to save African lions.
But the good thing is, there’s your background viewing sorted. Popping the stream on in the background while you work from home can be a good idea. Sometimes, the animals you’re trying to watch aren’t in view. And be warned – African lion cubs do like to sleep between 12 and 20 hours per day.
Taronga Zoo Sydney and Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo started their online streams in 2020, and they’re back now for obvious reasons. Taronga is also releasing regular videos across its Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels, and they load keeper talks and other clips online regularly.
To subscribe to Taronga Zoo’s cub cam, head to the zoo’s website. To check out Taronga TV, head to the channel’s website — or keep an eye on its videos on its Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages.
Image: Taronga TV
This article first appeared on Over60.