Updates From the Zoo's Lion Keepers: Naba's Cubs Are Healthy and Strong
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October 6
At two weeks old, Naba's three lion cubs appear to be healthy, Zoo veterinarians said today after completing the cubs' first health exam.
"We're happy to see that the cubs are growing and that each appears to be in good health," said Jessica Siegal-Willott, supervisory veterinarian at the Zoo. "Naba has done a great job nursing them and we'll continue to monitor their development."
The veterinary team checked the cubs’ mouths and their eyes, listened to their hearts and lungs and felt their bellies, but the animals are still too young to receive vaccines. The cubs weigh between seven and eight pounds.
Because the cubs are just two weeks of age, animal care staff members continue to be cautiously optimistic. The mortality rate for cubs younger than one year old in captivity in 2009 was about 30 percent, compared to a 67-percent mortality rate for cubs in the wild. Their next exam will be in about a month.
On September 17, Shera's four other lion cubs, born to Naba's sister, Shera, underwent their first health exam and all four also appeared to be healthy.
Although it is difficult to determine the sex at such a young age when genitalia have not fully developed, at this time two of the cubs appear to be male and one appears to be female. Only when a male’s scrotum begins to develop or the prepuce (the skin around the penis) becomes prominent can the animal care team say what the animal’s sex is with certainty.
In fact, at the end of last week, the Zoo’s animal care team identified that there was a prominent prepuce (the skin around the penis) and scrotum on one of the Shera’s four cubs and determined that one to be male—so rather than four females, Shera has three females and one male cub. The animal care team will confirm the sex of Naba’s three cubs at the next exam.
Luke, who turned five yesterday and is father to all seven cubs, is the most genetically valuable lion in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan (SSP) for African lions. An SSP matches individual animals across the country for breeding in order to maintain a healthy, genetically diverse and self-sustaining population.
"We’re thrilled to have seven genetically valuable cubs that will grow up and go on to contribute to the continued genetic health of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ lion Species Survival Plan," said Craig Saffoe, interim curator of the Zoo’s Great Cats Exhibit.
Photos from the cubs' first exam
