Overview

• Tiergarten Nürnberg announced that the newborn Asiatic lion died days after birth and was probably eaten by its mother, Aarany.
• Zoo cameras recorded signs of the cub being suckled until August 10 but showed no visual or acoustic life signs from August 11 onward.
• After caretakers searched the enclosure on August 12 without finding the cub or any remains, the zoo concluded that a parent must have consumed it.
• The predator house reopened to visitors on August 14 despite heightened scrutiny of recent welfare incidents, including the filmed killing of baboons and cub euthanasia cases at other German zoos.
• Asiatic lions remain endangered in the wild and European zoos coordinate ex situ breeding programmes that balance genetic conservation goals against animal welfare risks.