- It's a sad but true reality of the animal kingdom.
A mama lion killed and ate her two newborn cubs just days after they were born. We all know it’s the animal world, but why?
The lioness, Kigali, birthed the two cubs two Fridays ago at the Leipzig Zoo in Germany. These were the first lions to be born there in 15 years.
Initially, the mama was taking good care of the cubs. But come Monday night, while she was grooming the cubs, Kigali killed and ate them. According to keepers she had been eating normally all day and showed no unusual behavior before eating her cubs.
The zoo’s Facebook page posted about the deaths saying they were “shocked and sad” at what had transpired. Kigali is set to be returned from the maternal area soon and placed back into the main enclosure, so that she can be reunited with Majo, the cubs’ father.
No autopsy can be performed because Kigali ate her cubs in their entirety. If they were ill, that may explain why she did what she did. “This is a kind of natural behavior as it happens in nature, too,” said Saegbarth, a spokesperson for the zoo.
A lecturer in animal behavioral ecology at the University of Derby in the UK, Maren Huck, said that lionesses sometimes eat their cubs in the wild, but that it happens more frequently in captivity. Domestic cats that are first time mothers are also more likely to eat their infants.
“If the cubs themselves behave strangely, that might be a reason for animals to eat their offspring,” explained Huck, citing that illness or developmental issues could have been the possible causes. “If their infant doesn’t respond as an infant should do, it’s not recognized as an infant and therefore the maternal instinct doesn’t kick in.”
“It is more likely in captivity because there are more factors that would contribute. It is well known that if animals in captivity are stressed, they are more likely to eat their cubs,” Huck said. “On the other hand, they’re less likely to be malnourished in a zoo. In the wild, if a female isn’t fit enough herself, she is more likely to eat her cubs.”
The problem is most likely not because of the actions of the zoo. “They would have to check carefully whether it happens again, particularly whether the same female does it again,” Huck finished. “If it doesn’t happen again, it’s more likely due to inexperience of the mother, or health problems in the infant.”