Panel to probe case of lioness that gave birth to 5 cubs in 75 hrs in Etawah Safari Park

This is the first time that a lioness has given birth to three more cubs, 75 hours after the birth of the first cub. After about 24 hours, she again gave birth to a cub. Four of these cubs have died.

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh forest department has set up a committee to study the case of lioness ‘Sona’ which gave birth to five cubs at Etawah Lion Safari.

This is the first time that a lioness has given birth to three more cubs, 75 hours after the birth of the first cub. After about 24 hours, she again gave birth to a cub. Four of these cubs have died.

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Principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Sudhir Kumar Sharma, in an order, made chief conservator of forests (wildlife), Western Region Shesh Narain Mishra, director Etawah Lion Safari Deeksha Bhandari and Dr Yogesh Pratap Singh, veterinarian of Gorakhpur Zoo, members of the committee under the chairmanship of chief conservator of forests (Eco development) Neeraj Kumar to study the case.

Usually, lionesses give birth to all cubs within 24 to 30 hours. The committee will prepare its report after studying the videos, photographs and other records available during the delivery of lioness ‘Sona’, besides by contacting other experts, mainly from Gujarat and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun and getting their opinion.

The committee has been given time to submit the report by the end of July.

Sharma said that since lions have come here from Gujarat, experts from Gujarat have also been contacted. “The Gujarat Forest department is also surprised over the gap in deliveries of Sona. They have also been requested to provide experts for this,” he added.

On July 6, Asiatic lioness ‘Sona’ gave birth to a cub at the Breeding Centre of Etawah Lion Safari Park. The lioness, after a 36 hours gap, gave birth to three more cubs. The next day she gave birth to one more cub.

The authorities reported the death of three cubs on July 11 while a fourth cub died on July 13.

The only surviving cub has been kept at the Safari’s Neonatal Centre as the lioness is not feeding it. According to international standards, the cub is being fed milk from a bottle.

A safari official said that Sona’s first cub which is alive is of low weight. The weight of the cub should have been about 1 kg, but it was only 800 grams. But now its health is improving. In a week, it has gained 400 grams and is now 1,200 gm in weight.