Jessica brings cheer to Etawah lion safari, gives birth to 4 cubs

ETAWAH: The roar is back at Etawah Lion Safari, which was wobbling after a string of deaths of Gir lions gifted by Gujarat, with Asiatic lioness Jessica giving birth to four cubs on Wednesday morning. At least 10 lions, including four cubs died in the park since 2014, making it impossible for authorities to open the safari to public without a mandatory cub count of 10.
Lioness Jessica was brought to the Etawah safari from Gir National Park on December, 2015.She brought cheer to the park amidst serial casualties by giving birth to three cubs - Sultan, Shimba and Bahubali - in 2016 and 2018. Safari officials are taking extra precaution to protect the newborns, keeping in mind past experience of litter dying of neo-natal complications. Jessica gave birth to its first cub at 2.08 am. She gave birth to the second cub 50 minutes later. The other two were born at 4:12 am and 4:45 am.
Jessica and the cubs have been kept in an enclosure and officials are keeping round-the-clock vigil through CCTV. "Jessica is doing well and is feeding and taking care of cubs. The gender of the newborn cubs is yet to be ascertained. She mated a lion, Manan, three months ago and we were expecting litter by third week of June," said director of the safari, Vinod Krishna Singh. The first 72 hours are crucial, he added.