Five African lion cubs arrive at Jamshedpur zoo

The lion cubs had arrived safely, Vipul Chakraborty said.

Two male and three female cubs, all about a year-old, came from the National Zoological Gardens, Pretoria, Rajnish Kumar, Member of the Managing Committee of TSZS, said.

The wild animals, who were transported here from Kolkata airport, would be kept under quarantine for 30 days after which they would be exhibited to visitors. This is mandatory under Government of India rules, he said.

A team of veterinary doctors from Kolkata zoo will visit here to check the conditions of the cubs, who first travelled from Johannesburg to Singapore before reaching Kolkata.

The proposal to gift the cubs was taken by NZG after a team comprising Dr Abeeda Dawood, Conservation Manager, and Eugene Marais, General Curator of the Zoo, visited Tata Zoo in October.

This is the first time after Independence that pure African lions have arrived in India, Kumar said, adding that none of the Indian Zoos currently exhibit pure African lions.