The Rabat Zoological Park celebrates the first births of bald ibis chicks

This same zoo also celebrated the birth of an Atlas lion cub, the 33rd member of this species living in captivity. “A species declared endangered, pairs of the bald ibis have just fertilized and produced around thirty chicks, allowing our zoo to become the first breeding ground for this species in Morocco and elsewhere.», welcomed Salma Slimani, deputy general director of the zoological park, in an interview with Le360.

Hardly hiding her satisfaction, the director expressed the pride of the staff of her establishment in having achieved the feat of reproduction of the bald ibis which has disappeared from the earth. The efforts of the zoological garden do not stop there, continues Salma Slimani who gives us an exclusive: the birth of an Atlas lion cub.

“Last May, an Atlas lioness gave birth to a lion cub, a happy event that we have not yet officially announced“, she declared before authorizing us to take images of the newborn who is in excellent health.

There are two species of lions in the world: the Asiatic lion and the African lion. The Barbary Atlas lion is the large subspecies of the African lion. We recognize him by his strength and his very thick and dark mane. The Rabat Zoological Park preserves the largest collection of Atlas lions, a species extinct in the wild at the beginning of the century (last lion seen in Tizi n’Tichka in 1942). In the Rabat zoo, there are currently 33 Atlas lions in captivity, the largest population of this species in the world living in captivity.

Read also: The Rabat Zoological Park is home to the largest number of captive Atlas lions in the world

In addition to the births of the bald ibis and the Atlas lion cub, others have been recorded: a young of the carnivorous mammal called genet has just been born, as well as the births of two magot monkeys, a species which also reproduces in Atlas reserves, near the Ifrane mountains.

The Rabat Zoological Park currently houses a total of 1,800 animals and birds of 180 species. “All these animals live in a satisfactory state of health», Explained Walid Zagaki, technician in charge of carnivorous animals. It should be remembered that the Rabat zoological garden welcomes many national and foreign tourists annually, becoming one of the first tourist destinations for foreign visitors in the Moroccan capital.