The Planckendael Animal Park near Mechelen, in Antwerp Province reports that its lioness Lorena gave birth to two cubs again in early October. Planckendael waited until now to announce the news as today is the first day that the cubs have been allowed to go outside. In June this year, their mother Lorena bit her litter of newborn cubs to death. The animal park said that measures have been taken to prevent this happening again.
Lorena was herself born at Planckendael in 2010. She is already an experienced mother. However, things went badly wrong with her previous litter of cubs. Lorena did not accept her two cubs after they were vaccinated against feline distemper and she bit them to death. Vaccination against this disease is necessary for young lions that are held in captivity.
In the wild, lionesses often bite their cubs to death if they notice that they are sick or weakened. After the incident in June though was given to whether it was wise to continue to breed with Lorena and what additional measures could be taken to prevent her from killing any future litters of cubs.
The new litter of cubs is now two months old and the cubs are taking their first steps in the outdoor enclosure. Their birth is important for the survival of their species, as the Asiatic lion is critically endangered. In the wild, there are thought to be only about 350 Asiatic lions left. All of these live in the Gir Forest National Park in India.