Good News Fridays: Honey and Kwanza – The Best of Friends

By Nathan Young on March 15, 2013 • ( 2 Comments )

How about an animal related edition of Good News Fridays. Honey the dog and Kwanza the white lion cub are the best of friends. Kwanza’s mother was originally rearing him until she stopped producing milk, which led him to being hand raised by the owners at Darling Downs Zoo in Australia. During this period, he has developed a special bond with the zoo’s dog Honey as they spend time exploring, wrestling, and otherwise playing together.

Kwanza — the name means ‘first’ in Swahili — was born on November 12 weighing just three pounds. Now at around 4 months of age, he is a very robust and energetic young lion. His parents Shaka and Shenzi are also housed at the facility. Sadly, it’s unlikely Kwanza and Honey will remain playmates forever. Kwanza is still very young. When he becomes an adult, Kwanza will weigh around 300-500 pounds and will become too big for Honey.

White lions are exceedingly rare in nature; the first recorded sighting was in 1928, when two white cubs were seen in 1959 near Tshokwane in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. Their existence wasn’t officially confirmed until 1975, by animal biologist Chris McBride. And they retain a mythical status in some parts of South Africa. I hope you enjoy this very cute video!