Sabbie89

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First of all, I finally started uploading the lion cubs' pictures. Or well, it's a work in progress. I don't want to flood you all with the pictures, so I have to make decisions, something I'm notoriously bad at

Oh and I'm afraid I no longer have the time to thank everyone personally for every fav Watchers and comments will get a reply asap, but I would like to thank you all through this journal and hope that it is enough.

In other news, I got word that pics of the cubs were being stolen, so as a precaution I started adding a watermark to my pictures. I try to make sure they don't stand out too much or ruin the picture, but I suppose it's necessary these days, which is kinda lame actually.

And last but not least, it's my cat Nero's birthday today, yay So here are some pictures by me/my brother (who is also on DA, click on big pic for his account):









My two latest watchers:

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At the zoo I always go to, Blijdorp in Rotterdam, 3 months ago two lion cubs were born. The mother, Shantee, has had a bad history with cubs, she has killed one in the previous litter. Needless to say the zoo was very anxious to see how she would deal with them this time, but she has been great. For a while now we have been able to watch them online on a webcam (you can still do so here: www.rotterdamzoo.nl/leeuwtjes/) and sometimes they would show their cute little faces in the inside area of the enclosure, but they were behind a fence and it was dimly lit.

Today however, they were allowed outside for the first time. There was a lot of press and even more visitors who all wanted a glimpse. I was there too and got a few good shots. I posted them on my Flickr because I'm still sorting through them, the best ones will be uploaded here of course. For now though, this will have to do:















The lioness was very protective of them, occasionally roaring to the crowds. Generally the visitors are pretty far away from the lions, but at the side there is an entrance for the caretakers, with two fences between them and the lions. Because there were so many people, some visitors stood to the side and watched the playful cubs through these fences. Mother Shantee was not amused and went at them, she roared, ran to them and jumped up against the fence, scaring some children (see last picture). Of course it did nobody any harm, but she did show that this time she was going to be a good mom to her cubs!

They're pretty mischievous though, several times they tried to explore the water and Shantee constantly had to get them away from it, either gently trying to lift them by their necks or just pushing them away with her paws. They growled and hissed out of annoyance, it was pretty hilarious

Well, hope you like this update, I'll upload pics in better quality soon. In the mean time check out my Flickr (see top of the journal) for more!