On August 27, 2018, at 7pm Amari was born at Billabong Zoo to parents Misty and Milo, African lions who were brought to Port Macquarie in September, 2016.

His keepers, Christie Brown and Brooke Stone, have dedicated round-the-clock care since his birth and have formed a strong bond with the cub.

Misty and Milo were born at a conservation centre in South Africa and have now strengthened the bloodline by adding Amari, who will play a vital role in conservation around Australia for years to come.

Unfortunately African lions are officially listed as a vulnerable species. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says habitat loss and fragmentation, illegal wildlife trade, human wildlife conflict and extractives has caused the plight.

Powerful and majestic, the giant cat species has no natural predators but numbers have plummeted by over 40 per cent n the last three generations.

Three-quarters of African lion populations are in decline with only around 20,000 in the wild.

Zoo owner Mark Stone explained the importance Amari's birth - and the hopeful arrival of brothers and sisters in the futures - has on the species.

"This is historic. It’s a massive achievement for Billabong, and a huge coup for lions in Australasia," he said. 

"Now, we can be confident that the bloodline we have brought in will strengthen those bloodlines (already) in Australasia. 

"Hopefully locals can see the significance and the effort of what we have done here. We hope they see the bigger picture. This has always been about the animals."

He said as a zoo owner there must always be a reason to have animals in captivity.

"That reason is to be ambassadors for their species and there's no easier way to tell the conservation message than to actual look and see a visual," he said. 

"Third world countries use pictures of little children,  but to physically experience that, which I have over in Africa, it's something that really hits straight to the heart. It's the same here with the animals.”

Mr Stone said the public may not be aware of how depleted lions are in the wild.

"Because people see lions in captivity, which isn't uncommon in zoos in Australia, they think numbers in the wild are plentiful when in actual fact they're in dire straits," he said. 

"It is so important that we get that message out there. The reason they can see them so easily in zoos is because we are doing these types of things to boost lion numbers. 

"The more placement that we have for lions in captivity enables the breeding program to stay strong."

Amari will likely leave to another zoo where he will breed with a partner in the future.

"We have been working with four different lion experts to ensure things went as well as possible with Amari," Mr Stone said.

"One zoo in particular has already put their hands up for Amari, and while it would be lovely to keep him here we have to look at the big picture and not take a selfish approach."

As for Amari's public debut? 

"It's slow and steady, and when he is ready, but hopefully by the Christmas holidays Amari will be ready to come out and show off to the public on a day to day basis," he said.

"We hope Milo and Misty will have more litters. We weren't expecting them to have a cub this year, so it is fantastic. Amari is quite the little miracle." 

A lion can have quite a few litters, and typically a females second litter will be larger, but only time will tell. 

For now, Mr Stone and his team are working with experts across the country.

"We have stuck within Australia for our lion experts but we do have contacts all around the world," he said.

"Sally Padey down at Mogo Zoo has been a big supporter of us and is highly regarded for her work with big cats, so a big shout out to her for all of her help.”