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One of Port Lympne's three new lion cubs dies

By: Claire McWethy cmcwethy@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 12:17, 16 January 2021

Updated: 12:20, 16 January 2021

A lion cub born at a Kent animal park three days ago has sadly died.

In total, 22,000 people watched a live stream from Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve, near Hythe on Wednesday, which showed Oudrika giving birth to three babies.

The first cub was born at Port Lympne on Wednesday morning. Picture: Cub Cam

The first cub arrived in the morning, and keepers were sure the labour was not over. And they were right, with two more cubs arriving in the afternoon.

Keepers said Oudrika and her babies were all doing well and their father, Adras, was said to be watching over the pride from a distance.

Although the animal park, part of the Aspinall Foundation, is closed, visitors could still see the animals through live cameras dubbed Cub Cam, which attracted its highest ever audience.

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But sadly, during the early hours of this morning, Port Lympne posted an update to say one of the babies had passed away.

Three cubs have been born at the animal park. All pictures: Port Lympne

A spokesman said: "The pride noticed that one of the new cubs was unresponsive.

"Khari tried his best to stimulate the cub, but sadly it did not make it.

"We do not wish to intervene and remove cubs from the den at this time.

"We obviously want Oudrika to raise her cubs and will only step in if the pride abandon a cub or their behaviour becomes reckless, which is has not.

"Our team are reviewing all footage at the moment. The situation in the den remains calm and we will continue to monitor closely.

"We have chosen to share these precarious early days with the world and, unfortunately, this is the stark reality of nature which we so rarely get to see so closely."

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Read more: All the latest news from Hythe

Escaped animals, unusual finds and news from the RSPCA can all be found here

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