First-born lion cubs in the world with test tube technology

Pretoria

Two small lion cubes playing in this picture of a conservation center in Pretoria, South Africa are a bit unusual. Indeed, these lion cubs are born from artificial insemination. This pair of lion cubs is the world's first such pair. The scientists of Pretoria University who are researching the reproductive system of African lionesses, with the help of IVF technology, these cubs

Andre Ganswind, director of Pretoria Mammal Research Institute, said that these two cubs, one male and a female born on August 25, are now completely healthy and normal. Scientists have achieved this success after about 18 months of intense testing and hard work. Andre Ganswind said that we had taken a healthy lion sperm for these cubs. After that, when the lioness hormone levels were in normal condition, we then transmitted the sperm artificially. The good thing is that we were successful in our experiment.

Andre Ganswand further said that we had made many efforts for this, but it did not take much time for us. He said that this success can be repeated and scientists hope that with the help of this technique other endangered species can also be saved. At the same time, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), "Lion species are on the verge of extinction in 26 African countries and their number has decrease 43 percent in the last two decades. There are about 20,000 lions left here at this time. If not tried to save them, they will actually become extinct.