Condition of lion cub improves

16-08-2012
Condition of lion cub improves
Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysore/Condition-of-lion-cub-improves/articleshow/15511657.cms

Two weeks ago, when Asiatic lioness Gowri refused to feed her day-old cub, the Mysore zoo authorities panicked. They consulted experts, decided to hand rear it and managed to rescue it from the jaws of death.

The cub, which is now 17 days old, has responded to the special treatment rising hopes of the authorities that they can pull it off. The zoo staff, who lost the three tiger cubs of Kaveri, are taking special care to save Gowri's cub. A vet has been assigned to monitor the cub, attend to its needs, moderate temperature at its holding room in the zoo hospital and the ward is sanitized.

The zoo received two Asiatic lions Gowri and Shankara a year ago from the Sakkarbaug Zoo in Gujarat. Gowri gave birth to the cub in July end, but within a day, she refused to take care of her litter. After consulting with their counterparts at Sakkarbaug zoo, the zoo vets removed the cub from her mother and started hand rearing it. "This is first time that an Asiatic lion has sired in the zoo and we were particular that we should save it," Zoo Authority of Karnataka chairperson M Nanjundaswamy told TOI. 

The cub is being fed with cow milk and its intake has increased. The cub will continue to be hand-reared for the next three months.

Shankara is six years old, while Gowri is a year younger to him. The zoo staff banked on the expert advice from Gujarat zoo as they had similar challenge some years ago and also because the vets there have extensive knowledge after having worked in Gir national park, he said.