Mother lion with cub, picture 3 of 3

Copenhagen, March 1, 2009.

The lion exhibit was built in 1971. I would estimate the size to appr. 700 square meters.

This Sunday afternoon when I visted the lions were fed at 1 o´clock. One and a half hour later one of the females and one of the young cubs were still eating. Obviously the big male had had his fill and gone inside to digest the food.

Also, some play between mother an cub could be observed, as can be seen in pictures 2 and 3.

This is picture 3 of 3.

Exhibit doesn't look to flash, looks to me it is themed as a african campsite?

This picture by Toddy shows you basically the whole exhibit - though in the summer time:
http://www.zoochat.com/419/copenhagen-zoo-lion-enclosure-31897/

Oh, by the way - now I understand what you mean by "african campsite". But no: what you see is a concrete wall with grey-brown (winter-time) vegetation hanging over it. It happens to have been recently trimmed. It is not in any way an attempt to make it look "African",though I fully understand that it could be interpreted that way from this particular picture...

Basically, no "theming" at all. An OK 1970s attempt at creating a better enclosure for the lions (than the cages in the old carnivore house). The big tree in the middle, surrounded by mesh to protect it from lion´s claws, provides nice shades when it is hot in Scandinavia (not often but it does happen...)...

What else can I tell? Ducks swim comfortably in the pond in summer, but an owl who disappeard from the "preadator bird show" a couple of years ago was found dead (only feathers remaing) in this very lion exhibit. The bird should have chosen a better place to rest in....

Once again I am shocked at just how bare the Copenhagen Zoo is in the winter, and what a difference in the photos between the various seasons!

The other photo looks far better in terms of the exhibit structure.