On July 6, 2009, three baby lions were born. However, one of them was small and listless, so we decided to artificially feed it. After a short time of artificial nursing, its physical condition improved, and after about a month, the difference in size between it and the other two lions almost disappeared, so we began training to return it to its parents.
However, it is not so easy to return a cub once it has been separated from its parents. Whenever the mother approached the cubs to sniff them, they became intimidated. The mother tried several times to get close to the cub, but the cub's attitude did not change at all. Finally, the mother felt stressed and began to treat the other two cubs roughly. The mother finally became stressed and started treating the other two cubs roughly.

So this time, we tried to have another mother lioness foster and nurse her cubs. In fact, just four days after these cubs were born, another lioness gave birth.
This attempt went well. The cubs did not exhibit the same behavior toward their foster parents that they had in the past, and they got along well with the other cubs. The mother did not seem to mind. Unfortunately, only the feeding did not go well, and the staff continued to bottle-feed her milk. Now she has started to eat meat and is growing up well in this foster home. We hope that she will continue to grow up healthy.
(Haruo Nakai)