Rare lion cubs die at less than a month old

Published on Tuesday 15 November 2005 13:33

THE first lion cubs to be born in a Scottish zoo as part of a worldwide programme to help save the animals from extinction have died, less than a month after their births.

It was hoped the three rare Asiatic lions, born at Edinburgh Zoo five weeks ago, would form part of a new pride in the Capital.

Their father, Royal, was introduced to Edinburgh Zoo two years ago in the hope he would mate with the resident lionesses - sisters Gita and Kamlesh.

But yesterday staff at the zoo said a "genetic problem" had led to the deaths of the first three lion cubs to be born under their special breeding programme.

They admitted they did not know whether any other cubs born to the same pair would be likely to suffer the same tragic fate.

And they revealed tests are to be carried out on the cubs' parents to determine whether they may have to be removed from the conservation breeding programme.

The three golden coloured lion cubs were born to seven-year-old lioness Kamlesh at the end of September.

Dedicated staff at the zoo had attempted to keep the birth of the unnamed cubs under wraps, for fear any extra attention the new mum may receive would cause her unnecessary stress. Keepers had cordoned off a large area around the sprawling, 300,000 purpose-built enclosure to ensure the new family received total privacy.

But two of the lion cubs died shortly after birth. And zoo staff were left devastated after the third cub was found dead in the enclosure almost three weeks later.

Lion keepers made the grim discovery of the third cub's body two weeks ago. But they opted to keep the birth and deaths of the rare lion cubs out of the public eye until a post-mortem could be carried out on the longest surviving cub. They had initially feared that first-time mother Kamlesh may have neglected the young cubs or failed to bond with her infants.

A spokesperson for Edinburgh Zoo said: "Edinburgh Zoo is very sad to announce the death of three lion cubs. Kamlesh, one of our two female Asiatic lionesses, gave birth to three cubs in late September. Two of the cubs died soon after birth, and the third passed away two weeks ago. We are deeply disappointed the young did not survive, but as it was a genetic problem, it was outwith our control.

"All our staff are obviously very saddened by the cubs' deaths. The positive news is that we know our lions can breed.

"It may be that the genetic problem that caused the death of the cubs was a one-off event, and that future cubs may be free from any such problems.

"At this stage it is too early to tell if our breeding programme is in jeopardy."

Last night Trisha Holford of charity Born Free said:

"

We would be interested to learn more about what has caused the deaths of these cubs. It is not uncommon for the first cubs born to a new mother lioness to die. Often this happens because she has no experience of motherhood, and if she is not surrounded by other lionesses who she can learn from, then it may take her some time to get to grips with her new role. But if these cubs had died as a result of a genetic fault then it would have made no difference if they had been born in the wild or in a zoo."

Less than 300 Asiatic lions are left in the wild - all concentrated in the same area, the Gir Forest in Gujarat, India - while only 200 live in captivity.