Bhubaneswar: Lioness Bijli gave birth to five cubs at Nandankanan Zoological Park, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, on Thursday.
The lion population at Nandankanan Zoological Park has now risen to 26. Both the mother and her cubs are in good health and are under CCTV surveillance, informed the Deputy Director of the zoo.
Bijli was brought from Indore Zoo in 2020, and presently it is 9 years old. It is the fourth litter from the lioness Bijli. 1st litter in 2021( 3 cubs, 2 died 1 cub- Barsha hand-reared at Nandankanan) 2nd litter in March 2022 (1 cub- Kamini, hand-reared at Nandankanan). 3rd litter 2022 November(5 cubs, 1 died, all cubs reared by the mother itself. out of these two cubs handed over to Alipore Zoo on 27.08.2024)
This time the litter( 5 No) got sired by the lion Samrat. The mother is taking care of the cubs and hence not separated. Therefore Sex determination of the cubs also couldn’t be done. Mother and cubs are under CCTV surveillance.