We’d be lion if we said we didn’t miss her

A lioness originally born in Fota Wildlife Park has returned to Cork after spending four years overseas.

In 2020, six-year-old Asiatic lioness, Arya, was transferred with her sister, Amira, to Helsinki Zoo under the European Endangered Breeding programme to live with their maternal grandmother.

Born in 2017, Arya, Amira, and their brother Loki were the first litter of Asian lions at Fota Wildlife Park.

Lead Ranger at Fota, Julien Fonteneau, said: “It’s just amazing to see Arya back in the place she was born, mixing with her mother Gira and aunt Gita. It’s rare that an animal would be sent back to the place they were born, and we are thrilled that she is back home so to speak.”

Arya’s return to Fota was approved by the European Breeding Programme after she was ousted by the other lionesses at Helsinki Zoo. Once back home, there was a long reintroduction process that involved very careful planning and socialisation to ensure that she settled into the pride.

Julien continued: “This took place over many weeks. It’s a very specialised process, that’s very much dictated by the needs and the responses of the individual animals. However, we’re delighted to say that she’s a lot less shy than she initially was and appears to have bonded very well with the pride.”

Now that she is settle, Arya is soon expected to start a family of her own and has been recommended to breed with Yali.

The Asiatic Lion Habitat was officially opened in Fota Wildlife Park in 2016. Two litters of lion cubs have been born in the park to date.

The Asiatic lion is a subspecies of the genus Panthera that split from African lions around 100,000 years ago. Since the turn of the 20th century, its range is restricted to Gir National Park and the surrounding areas in the Indian state of Gujarat.

Asiatic lions were once widespread from the Mediterranean to India and Iran, covering most of Southwest Asia, where it was also known as the Persian lion, however there are now just 500-600 left in the wild in Inda.

Like their African cousins, male Asiatic lions have a mane, although it is much shorter, darker and doesn’t cover their ears. Mating is not seasonal and takes place all year round.

Male Asiatic lions reach sexual maturity at around five years old while female Asian lions reach sexual maturity earlier at around four years of age. The gestation period lasts for between 114-118 days after which one to five cubs are born.