Lion cub dies in Delhi zoo a day after birth, another cub unstable
New Delhi: A lion cub born on April 27 died at Delhi Zoo, officials said on Tuesday.
A five-year-old Asiatic lioness, Mahagauri, gave birth to a litter of four on Sunday, of which one cub died on Monday.
Officials said that the cub, which was being reared by the mother, was underdeveloped.
Another cub was found to be in poor health and underdeveloped and was shifted to the zoo hospital, where it is being hand-reared, the zoo director said. "Out of the four cubs, one which was born last died as it was underdeveloped. On April 28, in the evening, another cub was found unstable and immediately shifted to the zoo hospital for hand-rearing. The cub is responding well as of now. The other two cubs are with the lioness and are also doing well as of now. Constant CCTV monitoring of the lioness and two cubs is being done," Sanjeet Kumar, the zoo director, said.
The lion and lioness who became parents were brought to the zoo in 2021 from Junagarh. Sunday was the first time the lioness delivered a baby. Officials then pointed out that the first 24 hours were crucial and the mother was taking care of the cubs.
The last time successful lion breeding happened at the zoo was in May 2009 — two cubs were born then. Among the recent big cat births in the zoo, two royal Bengal tiger cubs were born in May 2023 to tigress Siddhi. Of the litter was five, three were stillborn.
In Aug 2022, three white tiger cubs were born at the zoo, of which one died four months later.
In March, a female dhole (wild dog) died at the zoo. The animal was undergoing treatment. In Feb, three animals died — a 15-year-old female leopard named Babli (due to old age-related complications), a 22-year-old jaguar (old age), and a 15-year-old nilgai.
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