The lioness littered the first cub around 6 pm on Saturday, the second 9.30 pm and third around 12.30 am on Sunday. Photo Courtesy to Forest Department
In a first time in three decades a lioness has given birth in Jaipur. An Asiatic lioness at Nahargarh Biological Park namedTejika, littered three cubs on Saturday night.
The lioness littered the first cub around 6 pm on Saturday, the second 9.30 pm and third around 12.30 am on Sunday. As per Forest Department Officials all the three cubs are healthy. Senior veterinary officer, Jaipur Zoo Dr Arvind Mathur who along with his team is monitoring them round the clock told DH, "Its a good news for wildlife lovers. The lion triplet look lovely. They have been kept it in the enclosure. We are monitoring them on the CCTV. We spotted the cubs suckling milk from their mother."
According to the officials after the birth first 72 hours are critical for both cubs and Lioness. In January 2016, Tejika (female) and Siddhartha (male), Asiatic Lion couple were shifted from Gir Forest National Park from Gujarat to Jaipur. Chief Wildlife Warden Rajasthan, GV Reddy sees it as a positive sign. "We had earlier initiated captive breeding programs of wolves now the birth of three Lion Cubs is a good news. "
Forest Department is also planning to shift Asiatic lions from Jodhpur’s Machia Biological Park to the Nahargarh Biological Park in Jaipur. Lion pair, named Shravan and Tithi, be shifted to Jaipur and colonised with another pair of Asiatic lions at the Nahargarh Biological Park.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje couldn't hide her excitement she took to twitter to express "Happy to share--Asiatic Lioness Tejika gave birth to 3 cubs last night in Nahargarh Bio-Park. Praying for their well-being"
The Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica), also known as the Indian lion and Persian lion, is a lion subspecies that lives as a single population in Gujarat, India. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List because of its small population size.