An African lion and an Italian mastiff have been paired together at San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. The extraordinary duo can now be seen daily at the Animal Care Center.

One Monday, the pair spent the morning pouncing on each other and playing with toys. The lion and dog had been slowly introduced to one another the month before so as to give the lion cub a companion.

Born through Caesarean section on November 11, 2006, the male lion cub named Koza, which means "bright" in Swahili, needed to be hand raised. Because a lion is a social animal, keepers were concerned that the cub had no playmate. To solve this problem, nursery keepers enlisted the services of Cairo, a puppy born to a dog rescued during Hurricane Katrina.

When the two first met, the lion cub stayed close to his keepers, but he has become increasingly braver. As the pair's bond becomes stronger, they will spend more time together and will eventually move to Lion Camp - The Sylvia G. Straton Lion Savanna - where they will be able to romp and play in a field.

Koza and Cairo will remain together until the lion is large enough to be introduced into a lion pride.

The Zoological Society of San Diego manages the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park (more than half of which has been set aside as protected native species habitat) and the Department of Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES), as well as operates the 100-acre San Diego Zoo.

The animal park and zoo are located in Balboa Park, just north of downtown San Diego.

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The San Diego Zoo
2920 Zoo Drive
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 231-1515