St. Louis Zoo handraising 2 lion cubs

ST. LOUIS, March 27 (UPI) -- Staff members at the St. Louis Zoo are hand-rearing two lion cubs because their mother can't produce enough milk to feed them, zoo officials said.

The two cubs, Mtai and Serafina, were born to Cabara Feb. 14 along with two other cubs that died, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday.

"In the wild, it is not uncommon for lion mothers to rear fewer than 50 percent of the cubs born in a litter," said Steve Bircher, curator of mammals/carnivores at the zoo. "The cubs are growing rapidly and appear to be healthy."

In addition to bottled formula, Mtai and Serafina are now eating some meat, the newspaper said.