Nayla, the six-year-old lioness at the city zoo, is stable.
The lioness who had given birth to two stillborn cubs, a male and a female, after a long and difficult labour was on Thursday moved to an open enclosure after improvement in her condition.
The zoo authorities were keeping a close watch on Nayla’s health after the delivery. She was under total observation for one whole day. Nayla, who was kept in a special enclosure to aid her recovery, was being administered antibiotics and supplements. The antibiotics were discontinued after three days and would now be given only if need arises, the authorities said.
Nayla had carried the cubs to term. However, she had lost amniotic fluid, and a delivery that should have been over in an hour or an hour-and-a-half went on for nearly nine hours. Though the first cub was delivered on Saturday last, the second came out only the next day. However, they did not survive.
The post-mortem examination of the cubs revealed that their lungs had not expanded, as in they had consolidated lungs seen in foetuses. This indicated that they had died in the genital passage itself.
Nayla was eating food as usual, the authorities said. She would not be reunited with her partner Leo for the next two heat cycles so that she can regain her full health.
Two cubs born to Nayla last year too had not survived.
Nayla and Leo had been brought to the city zoo from Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, in June last year. They had been given their current names by Minister for Zoos J. Chinchurani.
