Sacramento Zoo welcomes 3-year-old lioness "Binti" from Detroit Zoo
SACRAMENTO – A new lioness is now calling the Sacramento Zoo home.
On Friday, zoo officials announced that they had welcomed Binti to Sacramento.
The four-year-old lioness comes over from the Detroit Zoo as part of the Lion Species Survival Plan – an initiative of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to manage the breeding of the African lion, a species labeled as threatened.
Back in October, the Sacramento Zoo announced that their 19-year-old African lioness Cleo had died. Cleo had called the Sacramento Zoo home since she was just two.
The Sacramento Zoo welcomed a three-year-old male African lion named Slamson II earlier in 2024.
For the moment, zookeepers say Binti and Slamson II are swapping habitat time. The goal will be to introduce the pair in the future.
Binti was the first lion cub born at the Detroit Zoo in 40 years, officials said.
