Lion cubs cuties Erciyes, Lifos and Tekir named by people’s votes

KAYSERİ - Anadolu Agency

Two male and one female lion cubs were born in Kayseri’s Anadolu Harikalar Diyarı Zoo nearly three months ago. They were named by public votes. AA Photo

Three lion cubs, which were born three months ago at the Anadolu Harikalar Diyarı Zoo in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri, have been named by public votes.

General Coordinator Ali Üstünel said the three cubs, which are the zoo’s mascots, were growing up in healthy conditions. “We transferred the mother and father of the babies last year from a zoo in Kahramanmaraş. Later, we saw they adapted natural conditions here and as a result, three lions were born nearly three months ago. The babies are being taken care of by their mother in very healthy conditions,” he said.

Üstünel said they had received name proposals from citizens for the ligers, adding, “Last month, we asked citizens to find names for the babies. We examined the names that came to our website for three weeks. A jury, which we formed to determine the names, gave decided on Erciyes, Tekir and Lifos, which symbolizes the city.”

He said they had received more than 300 name proposals. “One cub is female and the others are male. Erciyes and Lifos are the names of the male lions and Tekir is the female lion,” he added.

Üstünel said the babies were being fed in control of a veterinary.

“It requires serious attention to take care wild animals like lions. We organize feeding programs that are different for summer and winter months and take care of them in very good conditions provided by the Metropolitan Municipality. Besides breastfeeding, we have been giving them additional food for two weeks,” he said.

Veterinary İsmail Tamokur said the lion cubs were very happy and healthy with their mother. “We give them one liter of milk a day. They have also started eating meat,” he said.