There are a couple new tenants in the former lion pavilion at Assiniboine Park Zoo.

Maya and Samson, two white-handed gibbons, are now living there, with the exhibit officially opening today.

The former lion pavilion received a complete indoor and outdoor renovation to accomoddate the gibbons.

Maya is a six year old female, Samson is a 15 year old male.

Maya was born at the Assiniboine Park Zoo. Curator Janice Martin says Maya left with her family when Assiniboine de-commissioned its monkeyhouse. Samson was born at the Edmonton Valley Zoo. Martin says Maya and Samson were first introduced to each other about a month ago.

"We weren't sure. We carefully planned the whole process. We separated them that night after they spent their first day together. The second day, he went over, he hugged her at their re-introduction. At that time we knew we were on our way to a successful pairing."

White-handed gibbons are an endangered species due to habitat loss and hunting; they are primarily found in tropical rainforests in Southeast Asia, where the zoo says palm oil production is on the rise.