‘National Zoo Celebrates Birth of Four Lion Cubs’
courtesy of ‘Smithsonian’s National Zoo’
Sometime between 10:30 last night and 2:30 this morning, Shera, one of the National Zoo’s female lions, gave birth to four lion cubs. FOUR CUBS, guys! Zoo staff is monitoring the family and the cubs appear to be eating, moving around, and generally healthy. Keepers do not expect the cubs to emerge from the cubbing den into the yard until late fall, so you won’t be able to see them if you visit the National Zoo until then, but you know if we get photos from the Zoo we’ll post them immediately for your procrastination enjoyment.
It’s also common for lion cub births to be spaced several hours apart, so the keepers are watching to see if there might be more cubs from Shera. Shera’s sister, Nababiep, is also suspected to be pregnant (no high-fiving the Zoo’s male lion, guys) so there could be even more cubs coming soon.
UPDATE: Now with video goodness: