The George H. Carroll Lion Habitat is a 12,764-square-foot (1,185.8 m2), climate-controlled facility located on the campus the University of North Alabama, US that previously housed the only live lion mascot in the United States, Leo III.
It was dedicated on October 7, 2007, and is named after the late owner of the construction firm Pressure Concrete, which built the facility and donated labor, materials and funds.
The facility exceeds all the requirements of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), a professional accrediting agency.
Since then, his birth date, April 14, has been celebrated as the official lion mascot birthday, an annual event that attracts kindergarten and elementary school children from throughout the Shoals region.
[3] The former residential lions, Leo III and Una, were born November 18, 2002, at a USDA-sanctioned refuge owned by Glen and Kathy Eldridge in Greenville, New Hampshire.