Four lion cubs die within a day of birth at Shivamogga Zoo
Sara gave birth to the cubs in the second week of September and keepers noticed she was not nursing the cubs, which began showing signs of dehydration
Four lion cubs at Shivamogga Zoo perished within a single day of their birth, causing disappointment to the zoo's lion breeding program. The tragedy involved two male and two female cubs, born to three-year-old lioness Sara. Sara, transferred to the zoo from Indore in September 2025, had been paired with male lion Shiva around three months prior.
However, initial pregnancy signs were scarce, and Sara's mating behavior seemed unusual during what should have been a pregnancy period, leading staff to initially believe she was not pregnant.
Despite these concerns, Sara gave birth at night in late September. Keepers soon noticed the cubs were not being nursed and displayed signs of dehydration. The mother's handling of the cubs was deemed abnormal due to this being her first pregnancy, and coupled with the lack of feeding, the cubs were left in grave danger. The following day, plans were made to separate the cubs, but one had already succumbed.
The remaining three were taken from Sara and placed in an incubator at the zoo's hospital, but all three succumbed to the threat of death within a day.
V.M. Amarakshara, the zoo's executive director, acknowledged the critical role of the mother's first milk, colostrum, which contains essential antibodies for newborn cubs. The team exerted all efforts possible, but the timely intervention to save the cubs proved inadequate. A post-mortem was carried out on one of the deceased cubs to determine the cause of death. Zoo authorities are currently making arrangements to preserve the carcasses for further research.
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