2 cubs born to Asiatic lion pair in Kangra’s Dhauladhar Zoo

The family of Asiatic lion pair Himal and Akira has expanded with two cubs born to them at the Dhauladhar Nature Park, also known as Gopalpur Zoo in Kangra district on Sunday morning.

With the births, the park now has four Asiatic lions.

Divisional forest officer (wildlife) Rahul Rohane said lion Himal and lioness Akira had been brought from the Sakkarbaug Zoological Garden, Junagadh, Gujarat, to the Dhauladhar Nature Park as part of the Wildlife Exchange Programme in December 2019.

The state had sent a pair of Himalayan black bears to Gujarat.

Rohane said that the gender of the two cubs had not been determined as they were still in the enclosure where Akira had given birth. The park authorities were keeping a watch on them through CCTV.

Congratulating the staff and officials managing the park for the rare lion breeding event, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) and chief wildlife warden Archana Sharma asked them to take special care of the cubs

The Dhauladhar Nature Park is located at Gopalpur village in Palampur sub-division of Kangra district, about 21 km from Dharamshala.

There were no lions in the park till Himal and Akira’s arrival last year as an older pair died in 2016 because of age-related issues.

The zoo, founded in 1990, has 180 wild animals of 22 species, including leopard, Himalayan black bear, sambar deer, barking deer, ghoral, cheer pheasants, Bhutan grey peacocks, red junglefowl, wild pigs, Indian crested porcupine, vultures and eagles.