Photo recall: Little cubs never got to become big cats

Photo / Richard Robinson, photo research / Emma Land.

The future looked good for the highly photogenic lion cubs Zak and Zalika as they rolled in the grass with park attendant Sarah Price.

The pair were looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 12 years ago as their Rotorua owners put them out for public encounters. The 2-month-olds had just one more month before they would be too old to be handled. Cubs can be patted on the back - not the head - so as not to stress them.

Zak and Zalika had a difficult start to life after their mother's milk dried up unexpectedly and they lost weight rapidly. At the time of the photo, the cubs were exuberant and coping well with teething.

Paradise Valley Springs co-owner Stuart Hamlett said the cubs did not fare well for long.

"Zak had a brain tumour and sadly we also lost Zalika."

Zalika had a problem with her bowel and survived two operations before she failed to make it through a third. "We knew it was going to be tough and we'd hoped she wouldn't need the third operation," Hamlett said.

Attendant Sarah Price now has a family and lives in the South Island.

The Springs has two young male cubs, currently known as Brownie and Ginger, who have spent a couple of days on view and the public will have some very closely managed access over the next few weeks.

"They won't be Brownie and Ginger for much longer, that's just their nicknames at this stage. We'll probably go with African names as we have done in the past.

"After Zalika, who was so adorable and much loved, we named the next girl Alika."

Hamlett said the park had enjoyed major successes with cubs since Zak and Zalika. "We recently had three go over to a zoo in Bali. Initially, we weren't sure but the zoo is being run by a New Zealander - Tim Husband - who was brought in to look after Zion Park after they struck problems there with the trainer Dalu [Mncube] getting killed.

"We knew they would be in good hands with Tim."