Lion Cubs Named
Posted at 9:15 am September 6, 2006 by Marcia ReddingThe three new faces at the Wild Animal Park's Lion Camp, Mina's six-week- old litter, have now been named! No more A, B, and C!
Cub A, the largest and most laid back of the two males, is now called Kamau. The name means " Quiet Warrior."
Cub B, the smaller, livelier male, is now called Zenda. This means " strong, firm."
Cub C, the smallest cub and the only female, is now known as Mandisa, which means " sweet."
Some may wonder why it takes us such a long time to name our lion cubs. There are a couple of reasons: we like to wait until the individual personalities emerge in order to find appropriate names; also, we need to pick names that sound dissimilar to each other, for training purposes. We will begin training the cubs while they are still together as a family group, and teaching the babies to recognize their names will be less confusing for them if the names don't sound similar. The names also have to be relatively short: there are many beautiful names in various African languages, but some have as many as six syllables! A little unwieldy for everyday use.
Welcome to Lion Camp, Kamau, Zenda, and Mandisa!
Marcia Redding is a senior mammal keeper at the Wild Animal Park.
Read Marcia's previous blog about the cubs.
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September 6th, 2006 at 10:40 am
Thank you, Marcia. Are all three names from the same African dialect? Are the cubs getting coordinated enough that they might soon be able to negotiate the terrain of Lion Camp?
September 6th, 2006 at 11:27 am
Marcia, what beautiful and fitting names, I can see why it takes so long to name them, they are surely going to be a joy to work with. and my money is on Mandisa to take lead and be the easiest to work with. Good luck with training them
September 6th, 2006 at 11:36 am
Marcia, I think I can figure out Zenda and Mandisa, but how do you pronounce Kamau?
Welcome little ones!!
September 6th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Thanks, Marcia, for announcing the new names. What wonderful choices! I can imagine the upcoming training sessions will be exciting and fun–I look forward to learning how sessions begin and how quickly the cubs begin to retain what they learn. And, how do cubs learn the difference between classtime and playtime?!?!
September 6th, 2006 at 2:43 pm
Thank you for letting us know the names of Mina's cubs, they are beautiful names. Also thanks for letting us know about the training. I also welcome the littles ones Kamau, Zenda and Mandisa to the lion camp and to the pride.
September 6th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
What lovely names! And very, very fitting as well…based on your descriptions, Marcia! Can't wait for your updates on how they learn and play!
September 7th, 2006 at 10:46 am
Michelle, Kamau's name is pronounced Ka - mow, a long A in the first syllable, and the last syllable rhyming with " cow." Hope this helps. Diana, the cubs consider training just another form of playtime! We try to keep it fun for all the lions. The difference is that they get food treats when we work with them, which makes playtime even better.
September 7th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
Great names. Great education for us animal lovers. We need to learn so much about the " wild" side of life. We get so accustomed to our conventional life that we don't learn as much about other cultures and customs as we should. Learning about animals from other parts of the world helps to bridge two gaps, those of the cultures of humans across many miles, and that of the animal world of which we can only be a small part.
Can't wait to see the 3 precious cubs. Have been enjoying the antics of the three Sumatran tiger cubs in DC; I am sure their cat " cousins" are just as enjoyable and lively in Lion Camp.
Thanks to all the Lion Camp staff for caring for these extraordinary animals and for sharing them with us in such an eloquent way.
September 9th, 2006 at 7:04 am
how do you pronoucne all the lions' names at lion camp? how many lion cubs have been born at sdz wap in its history?
September 9th, 2006 at 3:31 pm
Thanks for the update! Those are really cool names and sound like they fit each lion really well! Marcia, what college did you go to? Can't wait until the next update!
September 11th, 2006 at 5:21 pm
I'm sure pictures of the three cubs are on their way? You know how the public loves pictures!
September 25th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
When will Mina and her cubs join Izu, Oshana and her cubs? I hope there are plans to have one big pride with all of Izu's cubs and their mothers.
September 30th, 2006 at 6:13 am
I love those names! I am a former San Diego resident, but before I got to see the new Lion Camp, I moved to Florida. =( Not fun… but I'm glad the lions are doing well! I love lions. Favorite animal!
I had a question that wasn't really related to this topic, but I thought I might try and ask anyway.
Does anyone know if there is a specific name for the lead lion or lioness in a pride?
Thanks!