The rare lions of barbarism born at the Czech zoo are part of a plan to make the race in the wild. See the photos of their public debut.

Four barbarism cubs recently made their public debut in a Czech zoo that ultimately worked to reintroduce the race to its decades of native habitat after its extinguished in nature.

The three women and a male were seen playing in their outdoor speakers at the Safari Dvůr Králopé park on Wednesday, having fun under the vigilant eyes of their parents, Khalila and Bart. The Cubs were born in early January and were spotted for the first time in the Lion pavilion in April.

But their house will change soon. As part of an international endangered species program that coordinates efforts for their captivity survival, Cubs will be sent to other participating parks, including the Beersheba zoo in Israel.

There is a good chance that it is not the end of the history of the animal.

Deputy Director of DVůR Králové, Jaroslav Hyjánek, said that preliminary measures have been taken for a possible reintroduction of the barbaric lion in his natural habitat, it is always a “very distant future”.

The majestic member of the Lion Northern subspecies, the Lion Barbary, once freely traveled its native North Africa, including the Atlas mountains.

Symbol of strength, they were almost completely destroyed due to human activities. Many were killed by gladiators in Roman times, while rivicity and a loss of habitat contributed to their extinction later.

The last known photo of a wild lion was taken in 1925, while the last individual was killed in 1942. It is believed that the last small populations died in the wild in the mid -1960s.

It is currently estimated that less than 200 barbarism lions live in captivity.

These are not the first Cubares to be born at DVůr Králové Safari Park. Two cubs were born in July 2021, three in July 2020 and two in May 2019, all to Maman Khalila who made her debut at the zoo in 2018.

The selection of approved Lions is “guided by the recommendations of the coordinator of the European Conservation” on appropriate partners and where to place the cubs for the greatest possible genetic diversity, said the park.

“These steps are crucial for the survival of species in the future,” said the zoo.

Hyjánek said that after the first talks with the Moroccan authorities, who did not reject the idea of their reintroduction, a conference of experts was planned to take place in Morocco at the end of this year or at the beginning of 2026 to decide if it would be logical to go ahead with such a plan in one of the national parks of Mountains Atlas.

Any reintroduction would be confronted with many bureaucratic and other obstacles. Since the lion has not been present in the environment for a long time, the plans should ensure their protection, a sufficient population of prey and cooperation and the approval of local communities.

Hyjánek said that such a decision was still worth trying to be tried if it turns out to be sustainable.

“It is important to have such a vision for any animal,” he said. “Without that, the existence of zoos would not make sense.”