2 Asian lion cubs born at Night Safari

SINGAPORE - That's not another Grumpy Cat. That's one of the new additions to the Night Safari.

It is one of the two endangered Asian lion cubs born there in September.

This brings the total number of offspring from the park's resident lions to 12.

Only about 300 Asian lions remain in the wild, in the Gir Forest National Park in India. Another 340 of them live in zoos around the world.

One of the new cubs is male and the other is female. They were microchipped and given vaccinations during a veterinary checkup last month.

Visitors are expected to be able to see them in the Asian lion exhibit along the Night Safari's tram route over the next few months.

The cubs are now with their mother in a cubbing den in a back-of-house facility.

Dr Cheng Wen-Haur, chief life sciences officer at Wildlife Reserves Singapore which runs the Night Safari, said: "It's always heartening to welcome new babies into our collection, especially at a time when many of the world's wildlife species are being threatened as a direct result of human-related activities.

"These births...will help to safeguard against extinction in the wild."

This article was first published on December 10, 2014.
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