The lioness might not be producing enough milk, keepers are supplementing the cub's diet

Jan 27, 2014 23:26 GMT  ·  By

Caretakers at Zoo Miami in the United States have reasons to believe that a lioness named Asha living in captivity at this facility is not producing enough milk for its cub.

Hence, they have decided that it might not be such a bad idea to step in and supplement the baby lion's diet.

The lion cub, pictured above, was born last year, on December 15. It is a male and, up until now, it has already had to fight both dehydration and a bacterial infection.

The tiny big cat appears to be in good health for the time being, but, to increase its chances of survival, keepers feed it three times a day from a special bottle.

Since the cub is still bonding with its mom, caretakers have opted for feeding it through a barrier, Zoo Borns reports.

Although the lioness seems to have no issue accepting the baby cat back at its side after the latter is fed by humans, zoo employees say that the following few months are critical for the cub's survival.