The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) has announced the arrival of eight-year-old Asiatic lioness, Bindee, from Parc Zoologique et Botanique de Mulhouse in France to Edinburgh Zoo.
Bindee joins the wildlife conservation charity’s male lion, Jay, as part of a vital breeding programme for the endangered species which aims to conserve healthy and genetically diverse populations of some of the world’s most threatened species in zoos across Europe.
Asiatic lions once lived anywhere from Turkey, across Asia, to eastern India, but they were hunted to near-extinction for sport.
It is now estimated that just 600 Asiatic lions remain in the wild, and they are only found in the Gir Forest in India, which makes them especially vulnerable to a disease outbreak or natural disaster.
Bindee and Jay will be gradually introduced to each other by the zoo’s expert keeper teams over the coming weeks.
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