Fourteen years later, for the first time, a lioness gave birth to a healthy cub in Mumbai Zoo, Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), sparking jubilation, officials said here on Saturday.According to G Mallikarjun, director of SGNP and additional principal conservator of forests, the four-year-old lioness Manasi gave birth to the cub at 9:40 pm on January 16.
He said that Manasi mated with Manas, another lion in the park, and the administration has acquired both of them from the Sakkarbaug Zoo in 2022.Alongside Manasi and Manas (5), and with the newly born cub, the total strength of the lions is up to three now.Before this SGNP’s last surviving lion, Jespa, was born in 2011; in 2022, however, Jespa died due to multiple organ failure.
In the first two months, cubs are always vulnerable to infections, so no employee will be allowed to go near them for the first few days, he said.Mallikarjun further said that the gestation period for lions is about 105–112 days, and lionesses typically give birth to litters of one to four cubs while the cubs remain with their mother for 21–30 months.(UNI)<>