Monday, April 16, 2012

Lovelorn lion kills cub

16-04-2012
Lovelorn lion kills cub
Times of India
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-15/ahmedabad/31345009_1_second-cub-lion-dhari

It was a crime of passion in the wild. A lonely lion killed a cub who was not allowing him to get close to the lioness who happened to be his mother.

Forest officials said the cub was too small to face the agitated lion. The cub was about four to five months old, the officials said. The incident came to light on Wednesday morning when the staff found this cub in Dhari taluka of Amreli. There were fresh stains of blood when the cub was recovered.


Officials said postmortem revealed that the cub had injuries in the skull, neck and even ribs. The nature of the injury suggested that the lion, even after killing the cub, would have flung it several times.

He said the staff, who was in the field, have said that a lioness with two cubs was spotted moving in Dalkhania range. But for the last two days, she was spotted moving with just one cub. The loner lion was also spotted moving in the periphery of the lioness. Officials said the infighting was only for the mating.

The incident took place late in the night, said officials, adding that the two cubs may be coming close to the pair. However, officials further said that it is a surprise as to how the second cub was saved.

"Such incidents are common in the sanctuary, but the fact that the lion attacked the cub even after killing it is something very rare. The cub, when it is newborn, would never leave the mother. This in turn would keep away the lion. This leads to attack," a forest official said.

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