Edinburgh Zoo welcomed two Asiatic lion cubs, its first in seven years
Bindee and Jay's cubs were born on October 11. They will stay off exhibit for several months, and the habitat is closed while keepers watch them on camera.
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Edinburgh Zoo has lion cubs again, for the first time since 2019. STV News reported on October 22, 2026, that two Asiatic lions were born on October 11 to Bindee, a first-time mother of about 10, and Jay, also called Jayendra, a 15-year-old male that keepers describe as calm. Alison MacLean of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland said staff are watching the family by camera. The cubs will stay off exhibit for several months, and the habitat is closed.
The zoo's previous cubs, Mitaali, Keshari, and Kushanu, were born in September 2019. Asiatic lions are endangered. About 350 remain in the wild, all in Gujarat's Gir Forest. They are smaller than African lions, and males grow shorter manes. Two cubs in Scotland add to a zoo population. They do not add lions to Gir.
For the classroom
STV News reported on October 22, 2026, that two Asiatic lion cubs were born at Edinburgh Zoo on October 11. Their mother, Bindee, is about 10 and a first-time parent. Their father, Jay, is 15. Keepers watched the family on cameras. The cubs will stay off public exhibit for several months, and their habitat is closed. These are the zoo's first lion cubs since 2019. Asiatic lions are endangered. About 350 live in the wild, all in the Gir Forest in Gujarat, India. Two cubs in a zoo do not change that wild number.
- Why might keepers leave new lion cubs off exhibit for months?
- What is different about where Asiatic lions still live in the wild?
- How is a zoo birth useful, and what can it not do for a forest in India?
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