At Delhi Zoo, 27 is the lucky date for lion family as Mahagauri awaits another litter

For Delhi Zoo, 27 is more than a date on the calendar; it is the number tied to every lion birth there since 2009, with another perhaps in the offing.

Pregnant Asiatic lioness Mahagauri, who delivered cubs last year, a first at the zoo after an 11-year gap, is expected to give birth again on June 27, raising hopes of fresh additions to the zoo’s lion family, an official said.

What makes the number stand out is that every successful lion birth at the zoo over the past 17 years took place on the 27th.

Cubs were born on June 27, 2009, September 27, 2014, and April 27, 2025, turning the date into a symbol of good fortune for the National Zoological Park, the official said.

While zoo officials describe it as coincidence, they admit that the pattern has become too obvious to ignore.

“It may be a numerical coincidence, but all the recent lion births at the zoo happened on the 27th. Naturally, it has become a memorable date for us,” the official said.

The anticipation surrounding Mahagauri’s pregnancy is also linked to another milestone. She is set to become the first lioness since 2009 to conceive again within about a year of giving birth, a rare phenomenon in the zoo’s recent breeding history, he said.

Lion breeding at the zoo remained healthy until 2009, with cubs born every few years. However, it declined sharply thereafter, with births becoming infrequent, the official said.

At one stage, the programme had nearly stalled.

By 2021, Sundaram, a lion born at the zoo in 2009, was the only lion left at the facility. Now 17 years old, Sundaram has grown old, prompting authorities to look for fresh breeding stock, he said.

To revive the lion population, the zoo brought one male and two female lions from Junagadh in Gujarat in 2021.

The trio – Maheshwar, Mahagauri and Shailja – were born in 2020 and were expected to give a fresh boost to Delhi Zoo’s breeding programme, the official said.

The plan, however, suffered a setback when Shailja sustained a serious injury while moving around her enclosure. She later developed a paralysis-like condition in her hind limbs that left her unable to breed, the official said.

As a result, hopes of expanding the lion population now rest largely on Mahagauri and Maheshwar.

Their first successful breeding resulted in the birth of five cubs on April 27, 2025. But the litter also exposed the challenges of a first pregnancy.

Three of the cubs died shortly after birth as they were not fully developed, while the remaining two survived only after veterinarians hand-reared them on artificial cat milk when Mahagauri was unable to nurse them, the official said.

The two cubs are now healthy and continue to grow under the care of zoo staff.

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The official feels Mahagauri’s second pregnancy could yield better results. Having already gone through one reproductive cycle, she is expected to give birth to stronger and more developed cubs this time.

Veterinarians are closely monitoring her health, diet and enclosure conditions as the delivery date approaches, he said.

The zoo currently houses three pairs of lions, including the two surviving cubs from Mahagauri’s previous litter.

And as the countdown begins for the arrival of the new cubs, staff members cannot help but glance occasionally at the calendar – particularly at the date that has repeatedly brought good news for Delhi Zoo’s lion family.