Everland unveils baby lion Raon, first born at the park in 8 years

Everland is opening its baby lion to the public — the first cub born at the theme park in eight years.

Samsung C&T's resort division said Wednesday that Raon, born June 5, will be on display starting Wednesday at Ppuppa Town inside the Everland zoo.

The male cub was born in Safari World, but his mother was unable to care for him after birth, so keepers hand-raised him around the clock — bottle-feeding him and monitoring his health day and night. Now weighing more than 5.5 kilograms, Raon is healthy enough to meet visitors at roughly two months old.

Raon's name was chosen by Yang Chang-seop, a pitcher for the Samsung Lions baseball club. Yang visited Everland during the break following the All-Star Game and gave the cub the name Raon — shared with the youngest character in the Samsung Lions' mascot family, the "Bleo Family" — expressing his hope that Raon would "grow up strong and one day reign over Everland's safari as its true king."

News of the first lion birth at the park in eight years drew an outpouring of supportive messages on online communities and social media.

"Raon has grown up healthy thanks to the dedication and careful attention of our zookeepers, and he is finally getting to meet our customers at Ppuppa Town," an Everland official said. "We hope everyone will cheer Raon on as he takes his first curious steps into the world."