After five days of labour pain, lioness Bijili delivered three cubs at the Nandankanan Zoological Park near here in the wee hours on Wednesday. However, one cub was stillborn. Bijili first gave birth to the stillborn at 2.43 am. The second cub was born at 3.12 am and third at 3.38 am, informed Nandankanan Deputy Director Sanjeet Kumar. The two live cubs are healthy and both the lioness and her babies have been kept under observation, the official said.Bijili impregnated with lion Samrat was suffering from labour pain for past five days. The zoo authorities had kept her under surveillance in the safari for delivery. Usually, a lioness gives birth within 104 days of conception. Sources said that the authorities had been eagerly waiting for Bijili’s delivery as she had crossed due date. Bijili had been brought from the Indore Zoo in Madhya Pradesh on December 20, 2020 to increase lion population at Nandankanan.
