Update on the Zoo's Lions: Four Lion Cubs Born in August 2010 - National Zoo| FONZ
August 31
Overnight, we welcomed a litter of four lion cubs! This is the first litter for five-year-old Shera and the first surviving litter for four-year-old Luke.
The cubs were born between 10:30 last night and 2:30 this morning and since then have been mobile and appear to have nursed. Because it is not uncommon for intervals between births to be several hours long, we will continue to monitor Shera for additional cubs.
Zoo Director Dennis Kelly said, "These cubs symbolize hope for the Zoo and for conservation programs. They will help build healthy, genetically diverse populations and contribute greatly to their species' survival."
Thanks to extensive planning, knowledge of the lion's natural history, and an understanding of our three lions, the Zoo successfully built a pride of lions over nearly two years. Six months ago, all three lions spent time in the yard together as a group for the first time. Shera and Luke bred the second week of May. The birth of lion cubs marks the next step in building a pride. Over the past few weeks, keepers gradually separated the three again to give Shera privacy and emulate the natural process. In the wild, lions may wait up to six weeks before introducing their cubs to the rest of the pride.
Keepers predict the cubs will not be out in the yard, however, until late fall, which will give the keepers and the Zoo's veterinary team time to examine them and monitor Shera as she adjusts to being a first-time mother. She has privacy in her own cubbing den but also has the option of visiting her sister, Nababiep, through a mesh door. Keepers will slowly introduce the cubs to their aunt with the aim of eventually bringing all seven lions together.
Nababiep bred with Luke in June. Keepers suspect that she is pregnant and may have cubs in September. Naba gave birth to a single male cub on May 18. Unfortunately, a straw awn became lodged in the cub's lung, and it died of pneumonia two days later.
"Since the unfortunate death of Naba's cub, we've investigated various alternative bedding options," said Rebecca Stites, a lion and tiger keeper. "The use of bedding is imperative as it protects the cubs from trauma during the first fragile weeks of their lives. We've provided Shera and her cubs with shavings and soft hay with as few awns as possible."
