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British Queen opens new lion exhibit at London Zoo

Xinhua, March 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh Thursday officially opened the biggest project of a new endangered Asiatic lion exhibit at the ZSL London Zoo.

The 5.2-million-pound (7.52 million U.S. dollar) project, Land of the Lions, features three lionesses, Indi, Rubi and Heidi, and a male lion Bhanu who will soon join them. It was created to transport visitors from the heart of London to the Sasan Gir in Gujarat, India -- the last remaining stronghold of Asiatic lions -- and bring visitors closer than ever to the big cats.

Covering an area of 2,500 square meters, visitors are separated from the lions only by fine wires.

The project provides a home for the Asiatic lions who will play a vital role in the European breeding program for the endangered species, only 500 of them remain in the wild.

"We were delighted to welcome Her Majesty and His Royal Highness to ZSL London Zoo this morning to open our new Land of the Lions exhibit. Her Majesty actually opened our previous lion enclosure 40 years ago and it was an honor to have her return with HRH The Duke in the year of her 90th birthday," said director general Ralph Armond.

The exhibit will open to the public on March 25. Endit