One of the four Asiatic lion cubs born at the Delhi Zoo last Sunday has died due to physical complications, while another is under veterinary care and is being hand-reared, officials said on Tuesday.
The remaining two cubs are in good health, they added.
The cubs were born to a five-year-old Asiatic lioness, Mahagauri, and her male counterpart Maheshwar, five, in the first successful breeding of the species at the zoo since 2009.
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“The cub which was born last died in the early hours of Monday. The cub was underdeveloped,” said zoo director Sanjeet Kumar. Later in the evening, another cub was hospitalised as it showed signs of weak health, he added.
“The cub’s condition was unstable and it was shifted for hand-rearing. It is responding well as of now. The other two cubs and the lioness are also doing well as of now,” Kumar said, adding that their health is under constant monitoring.
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Dr Abhijit Bhawal, a veterinary officer at the zoo, said the cub under special care is being given a specially formulated milk. “The zoo is taking care in every aspect for the cub’s survival,” he said.
Mahagauri and Maheshwar were brought to the Delhi Zoo from Gujarat’s Junagadh in 2021, when they were barely one and a half years old.
The last time the zoo saw a successful birth of lion cubs was in May 2009. ”Back then, the litter was of two cubs,” director Kumar said. The zoo received its first-ever pair of lions in 1969.
Among the recent births of big cats at the zoo, two Royal Bengal tiger cubs were born in May 2023 to tigress Siddhi. While the litter was of five cubs, three were stillborn and only two survived. In August 2022, three white tiger cubs were also born at the zoo, of which one died four months later.
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The zoo has been marred in controversy over frequent animal deaths in recent months — at least three deaths were reported in April itself. These included a Thamin deer, a Gaur calf and an Albino blackbuck. HT had also reported last week how a zookeeper was mauled by a leopard while attempting to transfer the animal from its cage to a public enclosure. The incident revealed staff shortages and misallocation, as the zookeeper was only experienced in handling herbivores.
In March, a female dhole (wild dog) died at the zoo, while in February, three other animals died, including a 15-year-old female leopard, Babli (old age-related complications), a 22-year-old jaguar (old-age) and a 15-year-old nilgai.
Established in November 1959, the Delhi Zoo presently houses 95 species of different animals and birds.
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