Horror at German zoo as lioness suddenly eats her two newborn cubs

• Kigali the lioness gave birth to her first two cubs at Leipzig Zoo last Friday  
• Keepers said she was grooming the pair Monday night and suddenly ate them
• Zoo staff said they were shocked and cannot fully explain the behaviour 

A lioness has eaten her two cubs whole just three days after giving birth to them at a German zoo. 

Five-year-old Kigali gave birth to the pair, who had not yet been named, at Leipzig Zoo on Friday last week.

Keepers said she had been behaving normally up until Monday night, when she suddenly swallowed the pair whole while grooming them.

Kigali, a five-year-old lioness who lives at Leipzig Zoo in Germany, has stunned keepers after she ate two cubs that she gave birth to last week

A spokesman for the zoo said everyone was left ‘shocked’ by the attack and couldn’t explain it.

One possible explanation was that the cubs were ill or experiencing developmental issues, the zoo said.

But because both of the infants were swallowed whole, an autopsy to establish whether this was the case will not be possible, staff explained.

Another possible explanation is that Kigali, who has never given birth to cubs before, simply did not know what to do with them.

A spokesperson added: ‘It happens in the animal kingdom again and again, that mothers kill their kittens – especially with first-time mothers.’

Staff at the zoo (pictured) said Kigali had been looking after the youngsters well until Monday evening when she swallowed them whole during grooming

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