Two lion cubs drown in Gujarat village well

May 22nd, 2008 - 1:26 am ICT by admin

Junagadh (Gujarat), May 21 (IANS) Two one-month-old lion cubs were found dead in a well in a village near Gujarat’s Gir forest Wednesday, even as a cub rescued from a well in another village was reunited with its mother. The two cubs, a male and a female, had fallen into the well owned by farmer Chagganbhai Parshottambhai in Khilavad village, 195 km from here. Chagganbhai saw the carcasses in the morning and informed forest officials.

Assistant conservator of forests J.K. Dhami told IANS that a lioness and her cubs could have wandered near the farm in search of prey. The cubs might have entered the machine room, where a large steel pipe is connected directly to the well, he said.

The autopsy confirmed they had died due to drowning, Dhami said.

Meanwhile, a six-month-old lion cub that was rescued Monday from a well near Sutrapada village, 150 km from here, was reunited with its mother Tuesday night.

To unite the cub with the lioness, forest officials put the young animal in a cage and left it near the border of the village. Their efforts paid off when a lioness came near the cage Tuesday night to retrieve her cub. As soon as the door of the cage was opened, the six-month-old rushed to its mother, who carried it away to a nearby forest.

Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/two-lion-cubs-drown-in-gujarat-village-well_10051322.html