Say Hola to Hodari – El Paso Zoo Welcomes Male Lion to Their Pride (PHOTOS)

There’s a new mane man at the El Paso Zoo. A male lion has joined the pride.

The City of El Paso and the El Paso Zoo & Botanical Gardens announces the addition of Hodari, a 4-year-old male African lion who comes to town from the Pueblo Zoo in Pueblo, Colorado, where he was born on October 25, 2017, according to the release.

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Hodari, by the way, was named by the Pueblo community in a cub naming contest held by the local newspaper not long after he and his sisters were born. According to the internet, Hodari is Swahili for strong, powerful.

Hodari joins the zoo’s pride of African lionesses, Zari and Malaika. The hope is they will like him enough to want to make the sexy time and have cubs of their own one day, and which maybe one of them will be given the name Pifas. Fingers crossed.

Hodari has already made an impression with one of the lionesses, but Zoo Director Joe Montisano says the big guys is going to have to step up his game with the other one. “One of the females is happy he is here while the other is still not quite sure about him.”

Hakuna Matata, Hodari. With that beautiful mane you got going, you'll win her over in no time. Rawr!

El Paso Zoo visitors can say hola to Hodi, Zari, and Malaika Wednesdays through Sundays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.