Four baby lion cubs were born at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo. The adorable cubs are the first to be born at the zoo since 1991 and the first for the South African lions, Adia, 3 and Hubert, 13, reports ABC News.
The cubs are now three weeks old and arent' available for public viewing. The zoo is using video cameras to monitor the babies. Martin Ramirez who is the zoo's mammal curator said to ABC News that the video helps the crew at the zoo to make sure the mother is taking good care of them.
"She's a first-time mom, and a typical litter size for a first-time mom is two. We were all really excited when she had the one, and then she had two, and then three came along, and we were like 'O.K., wow,' and then the fourth one came along and we were a little worried because that's a handful. That's when we made the decision that we're just going to watch and if we have to intervene, we will," Ramirez said to ABC News. Now the crew isn't worried about the babies and Ramirez added, "They're doing great."
The Zoo's website states that infant mortality rate for lion infants are very high with "fewer than 50% of newborn cubs surviving their first year of life. In the hierarchy of a lion pride, the males feed first, followed by the females and finally, the cubs. Since the pride may only kill an animal once every three to five days, it is clear why many cubs starve to death."
Ramirez told ABC News that the cubs are walking normally on all four legs and the crew will soon name them. He said they will pick 10-15 names and then let the public choose. The Zoo is home to nearly 1100 animals that nearly 300 different species.
See the adorable video below:
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