Jodhpur: Two lion cubs die as mother sits on them

Two lion cubs died on Tuesday at Machiya Safari Park in Jodhpur after their mother sat on them. It was the fourth litter of the lioness wherein she gave birth to three cubs, one of which died on Monday and two others died on Tuesday. 

Even with her previous litter, the lioness did not feed milk to the cubs and kept aloof from them which resulted in their deaths.

This Asiatic lioness, RT,  had been brought from Junagarh to Machiya Safari Park. “The lioness had given birth five days back and in the past we had separated the cubs, after she failed to take care of the cubs and did not even feed them. However, this time we thought that she might want to look after the cubs and so let them be with the mother. Unfortunately, she sat on these cubs,” officials said. This resulted in injuries to the newborns whose eyes had even not opened yet. “The first 15 days are crucial for survival of cubs. If they reach this threshold, their chances of survival increases. However, due to the injury sustained, the cubs died on the third day after birth. The lioness had not been feeding milk to them which also dehydrated them,” officials said.

All Attempts Fail

When the forest officials realised that the lioness was not looking after the cubs, they initiated a drive to save them. “The cubs just drink mother’s milk. Since the lioness wasn’t feeding them, we had to import a special formula from America which is especially approved for cubs. As there was a danger of the cubs getting dehydrated so we provided special milk formula to them,” park officials said.