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DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) – The Dallas Zoo’s newest member made her big debut on Friday. Behati Moja, a nine-week-old lioness cub, was born on Saint Patrick’s Day.
Her name means the lucky one. She weighed about 2.6 pounds at birth and is now a vibrant and healthy 13 cub.
The Dallas Zoo’s mammal curator Keith Zdrojewski said he encourages everyone to come see her before she becomes an adult lioness.
He said there’s a big difference in the behaviors of a cub and a fully-grown lion.
“They’re designed by nature to eat and sleep…hunt and rest. Whereas Behati she wants to run around, she wants to play, she wants to explore, jump on things, test the waters literally. She wants to see what is fun about a big bowl of water or the ice treats…that kind of stuff,” he said.
Zdrojewski said he can already tell that she is going to love interacting with visitors.
“She’s full of energy. She’s inquisitive. She still a little nervous when her mom is away, so she stays close to mom but that will change over time and she will start exploring the exhibit a little more every day. She also out there with her aunt Jasiri and she loves playing with her as well. She’s just growing up faster than we would like her to,” he said.
The Dallas Zoo encourages all families to come take a look at their exhibits. Zdrojewski said it’s important to get kids excited about nature and animals in order to preserve the planet and its inhabitants.
“Animals all across the globe are disappearing. So, anything in the wild is going to be extinct in our lifetime or the next if we don’t do some work to curb that. The best way is to educate children about conservation and about what we can do to help the situation,” he said.
In 2014,The Dallas Zoo was named one of the 20 best zoos in the country.
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