After all the reported sightings and rumors, it's finally a fact: there ARE #bigcats in Pembrokeshire

• Jul 18, 2014
• By Rachael Misstear

The pride of six African lions, headed up by an adult male called Hugo, have just moved to Folly Farm

Folly Farm is now home to a pride of lions

It’s long been debated whether there are big cats in Pembrokeshire... but now we can say for certain: there are. A new pride of lions has just moved into Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo, where they will be left to settle in before being released into their two-acre enclosure.

The pride of six African lions is headed up by one adult male, Hugo, his mate, Luna, and their four cubs, Sola, Zahra, Alika, and Ebele, who the new lion keepers had the privilege of naming. Hugo is six years old and was born in Knowsley Safari Park in Merseyside before meeting his mate Luna at Longleat Safari Park. Five year old Luna was born in Blackpool Zoo and she gave birth to four cubs nine months ago while at Longleat.

 Hugo and his gang set off from Longleat Safari Park on Tuesday and are now settling well into their new Welsh home. Two members of the Longleat team stayed to help with the transition period and to provide a full handover to the new keepers.

Tim Morphew, zoo manager at Folly Farm, said: “It will take a while for the lions to completely settle in as the new enclosure doesn’t smell of lions yet, once they start exploring and marking their territory, they’ll feel right at home.”

The arrival of the pride marks the completion of a £500,000 project to build a purpose-built, state-of-the-art two-acre enclosure for the lions at Folly Farm. Rosie Badger the newly appointed lion keeper, said: “Everybody at Folly Farm was so emotional when the lions actually arrived; I actually shed a tear. After months of preparation, training and visits to Longleat it was so great to see Hugo and his family in our enclosure.

On the first night the lions were quite tired from their journey and they spent the first few hours slowly exploring their new den. They ate around 10 kilograms of raw beef for their first meal and the cubs cuddled up to Luna. “It was a good sign that they were prepared to eat within hours of arriving in Wales and we are hoping that they will be ready to meet the public from the third week of July.”

The new two acre lion enclosure is made up of four dens/bedrooms and visitors will be able to see the lions clearly in the house through large glass viewing windows. Visitors will be able to enjoy clear and unrestricted views of the lions from three vantage points surrounding the outside enclosure.

Alongside the lion house is an education centre, themed as a fully-equipped ranger’s hut, which will provide visitors with information on African lions and the work carried out by rangers in the wild to monitor and protect them.

There will also be real life footage of an African Savannah and audio to help place young animal lovers in the natural habitat of the lions and deliver conservation messages about the threats facing lions in the wild.

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