Meet the cubs named after Lion King characters

A zoo has revealed the 'Lion King' inspired names of five Northern African lion cubs as they venture outside for the first time.

The cubs, who were born at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire in June, spent their first few months in their den.

The cubs, known as a litter, have been given names inspired by Disney's The Lion King.

It is the third litter of the rare lion born in less than two years as part of the ZSL conservation programme.

The five cubs born to five-year-old Waka and four-year-old Malik are made up of three boys and two girls.

The boys have been named Mufasa, Pumbaa and Rafiki while the two girls are Sarabi and Shenzi.

Sarah Mcgregor, from Whipsnade Zoo, said: "It's been wonderful to see these five little cubs grow in confidence over the last few weeks.

"They're now at the age where they are very curious and they're keen to investigate everything around them."

Northern African lions (Panthera leo leo) is one of the two subspecies of lion along with the Southern lion (Panthera leo melanochaita) .

The Northern Lion subspecies includes Asiatic or Asian lions and also the Barbary lion which is now extinct in the wild.

Three quarters of African lion populations are declining in the wild, largely because of habitat loss from logging, farming and housing, along with loss of prey.