Nandankanan lion no. rises to 24 as Maya delivers cub

Bhubaneswar: Lioness Maya on Monday gave birth to two cubs, with the first one being stillborn and the second surviving in Nandankanan zoo here. With a lion cub born in Nandankanan after a year gap, the zoo's lion population rose to 24. With Maya showing no motherly care, the zoo has planned to hand-rear the cub. Zoo deputy director Pradeep Mirase said mating had been observed between lioness Maya and lion Shivam in May. 'After 112 days of gestation, Maya gave birth to a dead cub at 2.41 am and a live one at 5.49 am. As it was its first litter, the lioness lacked maternal instinct and was unable to take care of the cubs. So the cubs will be shifted for hand-rearing by zoo veterinarians for bottle feeding,' he said. Last year in Jan, eight-year-old lioness Rewa, who gave birth to three cubs, including one stillborn, died due to excessive bleeding. Before that, in 2024, Rewa had given birth to three male cubs, who were named Amar, Akbar and Antony. In her first litter, Rewa had given birth to four cubs in 2023, out of which two survived. In May 2022, lioness Ganga, 15, had died of snake bite here at the zoo. The post mortem report confirmed that the animal's blood had both neurotoxic and hemotoxic reaction following bite by a krait. Zoo authorities said she was an imported and original African lion that was brought to the zoo from Israel in 2015 along with three others. Two imported lions had already died. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Bhubaneswar | Silver Rate in Bhubaneswar | Bank Holidays in Bhubaneswar | Public Holidays in Bhubaneswar | Petrol Price in Bhubaneswar | Diesel Price in Bhubaneswar | CNG Price in Bhubaneswar | LPG Price in Bhubaneswar Stay updated with the latest Bhubaneswar news. Download the TOI App.