Sri Lankan zoo wants bitches to nurse lion cubs

Colombo: The Sri Lankan national zoo is seeking out wet nurses for three new-born lion cubs, as the mother refuses to suckle them, a zoo official told Efe news agency on Thursday.

"We were waiting for the lioness to feed the cubs till last evening but she rejected them," said Anoma Priyardarshani, assistant director of the Colombo National Zoological Gardens, adding the zoo was looking for lactating bitches.

The cubs were born to a German lioness, Sachina, and a South Korean lion in captivity on Wednesday.

"We decided to feed them with specially imported milk powder meant for lions. But they need to be fed by an animal so that they would get the required immunisation," he added.

The zoo found one lactating "mother dog" to nurse the cubs, but they need two more, or else the cubs will be fed powdered formula with high concentrations of nutrients and essential antibodies.

Sachina gave birth to another litter in February 2014, but one of the cubs that survived too had to be adopted by a Labrador after the lioness refused to suckle it.