Bhubaneswar: An animal keeper at the Nandankanan zoo has been providing motherly care to a female lion cub for the past six months after the mother did not show interest after it was born.
Four-year-old Asiatic lioness Bijli sired by male lion Samrat delivered three cubs on July 21 last year. The first one was stillborn followed by two cubs (a male and a female). Even after nine hours of birth, the cubs were not found suckling the mother, nor the lioness was taking interest in them.
“The lioness had another dead cub in her womb. It might be the reason behind her lack of interest towards the delivered ones. After 36 hours, she delivered the stillborn cub. Another reason was Bijli, a first-time mom, had no prior experience of rearing cubs,” said Sanjeet Kumar, deputy director of Nandankanan Zoological Park.
Despite taking all care, the male cub died after two days. The zoo authorities had consulted with experts from the Gir National Park, Junagadh zoo in Gujarat and Etawah lion safari in Uttar Pradesh for taking care of the female cub Barsha. Specialized feline milk powder Petlac was procured from Kolkata for feeding the cub.
To save the lives of the two cubs, the zoo authorities had decided to go for hand rearing after due consultation from the health committee. “It was very challenging as the cubs were deprived of colostrum milk. A room was prepared for their rearing. Along with proper hygienic measures in the rearing room, strict sterilization of the feeding bottles and utensils were also ensured,” said Kumar.
Animal keeper Prasanta Goud (26), has been taking care of her like a human baby. For the first few days, it was a very challenging task. She had to be fed milk every two hours for nearly three months. In view of the Covid-19 situation, Prasanta was following all Covid protocols in order to protect the cub from any infection.
“I have given all my attention to rearing the cub. During the initial days, I did not visit my home while taking care of the cub. I feel happy that she is playing and growing,” said Prasanta, who has prior experience of hand-rearing lion cub Kalpana, tiger cub and some bear cubs in the zoo.
Four-year-old Asiatic lioness Bijli sired by male lion Samrat delivered three cubs on July 21 last year. The first one was stillborn followed by two cubs (a male and a female). Even after nine hours of birth, the cubs were not found suckling the mother, nor the lioness was taking interest in them.
“The lioness had another dead cub in her womb. It might be the reason behind her lack of interest towards the delivered ones. After 36 hours, she delivered the stillborn cub. Another reason was Bijli, a first-time mom, had no prior experience of rearing cubs,” said Sanjeet Kumar, deputy director of Nandankanan Zoological Park.
Despite taking all care, the male cub died after two days. The zoo authorities had consulted with experts from the Gir National Park, Junagadh zoo in Gujarat and Etawah lion safari in Uttar Pradesh for taking care of the female cub Barsha. Specialized feline milk powder Petlac was procured from Kolkata for feeding the cub.
To save the lives of the two cubs, the zoo authorities had decided to go for hand rearing after due consultation from the health committee. “It was very challenging as the cubs were deprived of colostrum milk. A room was prepared for their rearing. Along with proper hygienic measures in the rearing room, strict sterilization of the feeding bottles and utensils were also ensured,” said Kumar.
Animal keeper Prasanta Goud (26), has been taking care of her like a human baby. For the first few days, it was a very challenging task. She had to be fed milk every two hours for nearly three months. In view of the Covid-19 situation, Prasanta was following all Covid protocols in order to protect the cub from any infection.
“I have given all my attention to rearing the cub. During the initial days, I did not visit my home while taking care of the cub. I feel happy that she is playing and growing,” said Prasanta, who has prior experience of hand-rearing lion cub Kalpana, tiger cub and some bear cubs in the zoo.
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