father with cubs

March 31, 2012.
After successfully giving the mother a birth control implant, the father is now allowed back with the family.

Are the implants to control the male’s predisposition to infanticide? Are captive lions at a risk of killing young that they sire?

No the implant was given to the female to prevent the birth of a second litter while we still have this litter. We actually did put them back together a few months ago under the assumption they would not mate while she was nursing young cubs. It became immediately obvious that the mother and father had no issues with resuming mating behavior with the cubs around, so we separated them until the female could successfully be given a birth control implant. (It was inserted between the shoulders and the first one was ripped out by the cubs, so we had to wait for that to heal and then put in a new one and wait a few weeks for it to take full effect).

I see that is a more direct explanation then the behavior based assumption I made.