A lioness at the Oregon Zoo looks into a previously hidden camera.
The staff of the Oregon Zoo The zoo's lions may need to brush up on their camouflage skills. The zoo's pride of lions discovered a hidden camera placed in their enclosure and promptly made off with it. The resulting video is full of selfies with teeth and fur. It shows the big cats' playful side and gives animal lovers an unusual perspective on the lives of the zoo's lions.
Zoo staff hid the camera under a log, but didn’t try to hide it. They hoped it would stay hidden, but it took the lions less than a minute to find it once they entered the habitat. “Like all cats, lions are intelligent and curious animals,” said Kelsey Wallace, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Zoo. “They love to explore new and unusual things, and zoo staff provide them with lots of enrichment—interesting smells, food puzzles, different toys—so they get used to the fact that good things happen when they discover something new.”
The camera captured the moment the animal was discovered. A lioness petted it and members of the pride took turns examining it. At one point, a lion carried the camera and played with it as if it were a toy. Later, viewers are treated to a close-up of its mouth with its teeth and tongue clearly visible.
Zoo staff waited until the lions returned to their indoor habitat to retrieve the camera. “It was a little stained, but it’s in a custom-made enclosure that’s protected from predators, so it was in pretty good shape,” Wallace said.
The African lions at the Oregon Zoo are part of a breeding program. The big cats are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Speciesa catalog of threatened and endangered animals. Vulnerable status is one step away from endangered. The IUCN estimates that there are about 23,000 lions left in the wild.
The Oregon Zoo is known for its active social media presence, where it shares the adventures of its many animals, including the charismatic red panda Moshu and the beaver Filbert, who goes by the unofficial title of “branch manager.” The lion cam was a new way to connect zoo fans with some of the residents. Despite the camera’s fate the first time around, zookeepers plan to try again. “It’s so much fun to see the lions from a new angle,” Wallace said. A more discreet hiding spot might be in order.
