Four lion cubs die within a day of birth at Shivamogga Zoo

Shivamogga

Sara, a three-year-old lioness at the Shivamogga Zoo, gave birth to four cubs — two male and two female — a few days ago, but all four died within a day, dealing a setback to the zoo’s lion breeding programme.

Sara, brought to the zoo from Indore in September 2025, had been paired with Shiva, a male lion. Animal keepers had noticed the pair mating three months ago. However, there were hardly any signs of pregnancy, and she mated with the male again — unusual during pregnancy — leading the staff to conclude that she was not pregnant. Officials said they were not anticipating the delivery of cubs.

However, Sara gave birth at night in the holding house in the second week of September. Keepers noticed she was not nursing the cubs, and they began showing signs of dehydration. Officials said her handling of the cubs was abnormal — attributed to it being her first pregnancy — which, combined with the lack of feeding, left the cubs at serious risk.

The next day, the staff planned to separate the cubs. By then, one cub was dead. They separated the remaining three from the mother and attempted to save them using an incubator at the hospital on the zoo premises. However, the efforts did not succeed, and all three died within a day.

The absence of the mother’s first milk was a critical factor, since colostrum carries antibodies essential for newborn cubs. “We tried what we could, but we cannot always intervene in time, and we cannot always save the cubs. Pairing the animals and getting them comfortable with each other is itself a big task — the effort took three to four months of meticulous planning and execution,” said V.M. Amarakshara, executive director, Shivamogga Zoo.

Officials noted that captive breeding of big cats carries such risks, particularly with first-time mothers, drawing a comparison with other social-living animals where inexperienced or stressed mothers in captivity sometimes fail to care for their young. A post-mortem was conducted on one of the cubs to understand the cause of death. The zoo authorities are making arrangements to preserve the carcasses of the three cubs for further studies.