Bahati at two months (David Taffet/Dallas Voice)
Disney was about to begin production on the new version of The Lion King about the time Bahati was born at the Dallas Zoo in March 2017. Animators based Simba’s movement on what they saw in Dallas Zoo video of Bahati when she was just a couple of months old.
I took the picture above a minute after Bahati entered the Dallas Zoo’s lion habitat and saw visitors for the first time. The picture is taken through glass.
Bahati kept mom in sight the entire morning, but explored and examined the people looking at her, threatening to pounce several times.
In the two years since she was born, Bahati has grown to about 250 pounds but still remains close to her mother and her aunt.
— David Taffet
