Lion cubs learn how to swim

Four future kings of the jungle had their first swimming lesson this week. The cubs, born in August, are preparing to join their mother in an outdoor enclosure later this year where they will be surrounded by a water-filled moat.



So keepers at National Zoo, in Washington DC, are making sure they aren’t dropped in at the deep end ... literally. Held by the scruff of their necks, the cubs were individually lowered into the water by the zoo’s great cats curator Craig Saffoe and keepers Rebecca Stites and Kristen Clark.



Three of the cubs preferred to swim along the edge of the moat for the test, needing a little push from the zookeepers to help them on their way. However, one of them was so confident that it swam straight out into the middle of the moat and had to be guided back to land by a keeper.



Luckily, the three female and one male cub all passed the test, successfully ‘doggy’ paddling their way along the moat and looking forward to their move in December.