By Meera Vijayan

JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA: Have your picture taken with Obama at the state zoo. No, not the US President, but one of its newest African lion cubs, which has become a celebrity of sorts in its own right.

Obama and its two female siblings, Hillary and another yet to be named, were born at the zoo here on Jan 16, four days before the presidential inauguration.

Head zookeeper Mohd Sham Mahdon Said picked Obama and Hillary in honour of US President Barack Obama and State Secretary Hillary Clinton, the hottest names around then.

"Obama the president and Obama the lion cub can both trace their ancestry back to Africa, so there is a definite connection there," he said in jest.

Obama was born to Siti and Sarip, both nine-year-old captive lions at the state zoo.

Mohd Sham said that he separated Obama from its mother within a week of its birth to raise the cub personally. Hillary and its other sibling are still nursed by the mother.

Obama enjoys special attention from Mohd Sham who bottle-feeds the cub milk formula every two hours; and at night it goes home to the zoo headkeeper's room.

"It is curious, playful and hates being caged up," Mohd Sham said, adding that the cub would bang on the cage until it was let out and would also refuse to drink milk that was too hot.

"You have to care for it like you would a baby," he grinned as he stuffed the specially bought milk bottle into Obama's mouth.

Although Obama is fed only with milk at the moment, Mohd Sham has plans to introduce minced chicken meat in the cub's diet in about two weeks.

At the zoo, Obama is a hot favourite among camera-toting visitors who can't resist posing for a picture with the cuddly lion cub.

-The Star/Asia News Network