Jorgito, a lion cub, is born at the Sancti Spiritus Zoo.

A lion cub was born at the Sancti Spiritus Zoo, a facility that in February was the center of criticism due to the situation in which the animals were found, with many surviving in empty ponds due to lack of water.

The newborn was named Jorgito, and he came into the world alongside another individual in a multiple birth, but only he managed to survive.

The mother of the cub is the lioness Mily, who had already made headlines in 2019 after undergoing surgery to remove a bullet from her right jaw, as reported by the Escambray newspaper. The lioness had been injured by the Cuban police to save a young worker from El Bosque cafeteria, who used to play with her.

Mily gave birth in captivity and is now breastfeeding her offspring, who is in good health, according to Taimí Mencía Venegas, director of the Zoo of Sancti Spíritus.

This birth is the first of lions in the zoo since 2016, when Raly, son of Bertha and Leoncio, was born.

The gestation period of lionesses lasts between 110 and 120 days, especially in multiple births. In the case of Mily, she shared her cage with only one male, which allowed for a more detailed monitoring of her pregnancy.

This new birth is a significant event for the park, which had not recorded lion births in several years.

For Miguel Concepción Echemendía, caregiver and Veterinary Medicine technician at the Zoo, Jorgito's birth was a deeply emotional event, amidst the crisis and hopelessness experienced on the island.

Concepción Echemendía, who named the little lion, described the experience as similar to having a child of her own. The birth took place during the night following Mother's Day, and since then, Miguel and his team have been constantly monitoring the cub's health, the newspaper emphasizes.

During the first eight weeks, Jorgito will be breastfed by his mother before being moved to a separate cage.

This is done to protect him from the adult male lion, explained the expert, who is in charge of more than 20 animals in the carnivore area of the zoo, including lions, jaguars, leopards, hyenas, crocodiles, and jackals.

Last February, a complaint emerged about the poor living conditions of animals such as crocodiles and turtles, which did not have water in their ponds.

The complainant added that she addressed her complaint to some employees of the place who calmly explained to her "that they receive water by tanker trucks and that the tanks for those poor animals have problems retaining the liquid."