A few weeks ago a lioness gave birth to 4 cubs in a Zoo here in Norway, and now a newssite has put up a camera.

http://atvs.vg.no/player/?id=16995

Note that you may be subjected to a commercial when you open that link, but it will go away. Also, it's on CET(GMT+1) time, and they do switch off the light at night.
If you can't see the lioness or her cubs, just the pen, feel free to check the clip with the subtext 'Løveungene: - Jeg kan stå der i timesvis...' as it will give you an idea of how big the indoor pen is, and also the location of the camera.(Its fixed in position, so... we're just lucky that she prefers that corner)

Feel free to check out the other clips under the main feed, also.
(The rightmost is the oldest, just after they were born)

Very cool link!  Thanks for posting it!

I was only able to see one of the cubs sleeping in the corner, but I'd prefer to know that they have a large enclosure rather than having them living in such close quarters so that they're visible at all times.

We have a local zoo here that often has tiger cubs.  Unfortunately, they don't have nearly as large of an enclosure for them to stay in.  They have also been removed from their mother and are fed by hand.  Why that is, I'm not entirely sure.  Once they are weaned off of milk, however, they do get moved to a much improved enclosure (or off to other zoos).

Anyway, thanks again for the link!  And welcome to the message boards!

If you checked the clip with the subtext I mentioned you get a decent overview of the indoors pen. This isn't an area where the public have access, normally, so the lions are not bothered there.

At the moment, the lioness and her cubs are separated from the other lions, and can't go outside, but the outside area is 'quite large', to put it simple.
Besides, as I understand it, it's very difficult to get lions to breed if they don't feel comfortable with the area.

I can't find any pictures of the lions' enclosure, but...

Here you'll find a picture of the Siberian Tigress Ryeka in their outdoor area:
http://www.dyreparken.com/index.jsp?a=16215

And on this page:
http://www.dyreparken.com/index.jsp?a=9739
you also see Ryeka, her mate Ulysses,and their three offspring, Tinka(later sent to Switzerland in the hope of starting another family, there) and the twins Ingrid Alexandra(named after a princess, and now to be found in  Park Lymphne Animal Park, England) and Rex.

According to one page, the tiger enclosure is 8dekar.
(8000square meters, or .8hektar)
Edit: That would be just under 2acre...  

--Last edited by Anthony Lion on 2008-06-21 11:58:59 --

Thanks for posting this! Been watching them for three hours now....

**watches a very sleepy lioness**

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John wrote : We have a local zoo here that often has tiger cubs.  Unfortunately, they don't have nearly as large of an enclosure for them to stay in.  They have also been removed from their mother and are fed by hand.  Why that is, I'm not entirely sure.

I'm not an expert on this, of course, but I remember from watching "Aweseome Pawsome" on Animal Planet that they sometimes do this with tigers to increase the tiger-human bond so that the cats are safer to have around as they grow up.  Of course, they have to spend a lot of time teaching the cubs manners too so that they'll be safer.  (Not to call them "safe".)

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yuoofox wrote : **watches a very sleepy lioness**

Eh...

That's a very CONTENT lioness...

Sleepy is the natural state of all cats, big and small...

Andy Goldfarb, one of the trainers who worked with the tigers of Awesome Pawsome came to visit and shared lots of stories about the tigers and filming the year long documentary.  He was actually injured by his tiger when it caught the smell of his boots that had been used the day before for horseback riding.  Strange story but he was sidelined for over 6 months because of it.  Of course, as Andy said, it wasn't the tigers fault.  But he reiterated that tigers are not for the faint of heart

Awesome Pawsome is still running on Animal Planet periodically so be sure to catch it.  I personally found it frightening to have children walk up behind the tigers to pet them as they walked through the park, but that's just my personal opinion.  Uncle John knows sometimes even the most cautious people get hurt

cheryl

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He was actually injured by his tiger when it caught the smell of his boots that had been used the day before for horseback riding.

I keep warning people about the dangers of horeback riding, but nobody ever listens to me.

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I personally found it frightening to have children walk up behind the tigers to pet them as they walked through the park, but that's just my personal opinion.

I found that rather disconcerting, as well.  Of course, Tiger Island would be one of my top choices of destinations if I ever happen to be on Australia's Gold Coast.

I'm sure the Tiger Walk would not be legal here in the US.

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Uncle John knows sometimes even the most cautious people get hurt.

You weren't out of work for that long.  Plus, as Andy Goldfarb would attest, horses are much more dangerous animals.  

--Last edited by john on 2008-06-23 09:41:48 --

Want to see the cubs being weighed?

http://www.vgtv.no/?id=17574

Unfortunately, the largest(a female) managed to crawl out of the way under a treeroot, so she wasn't weighed this time, but they're all over 5Kg(the female is probably over 6Kg) and are adding about .5Kg/week.

Also, another lioness gave birth to two cubs on July 4. but because of her nervousness, they weren't avle to enter the pen until this week some time to check the cubs and sex them.(It's a male and a female)

Here's a short cut of the lioness and her two cubs:
http://atvs.vg.no/player/?id=17513

About the original live feed, it seems they have some sort of problem with the feed, so it's a bit choppy at the moment.
Of course, as they had originally planned to take it down almost two weeks ago... (They've had over a million hits, and lots of thank you messages from around the world... )