Moment lion cub was ‘crushed’ at Safari park run by Carrie Symonds’ zoo charity

A safari park owned by Carrie Symonds‘ new employer has been accused of a cover-up over the death of a second lion cub in a month after a video appeared to show the moment it was seriously injured.

Three lions were born at the Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve last month, which is owned by the Aspinall Foundation – whose new Head of Communications is Prime Minister Boris Johnson‘s 32-year-old fiancee.  

However, one cub died just three days after the January birth at the park near Hythe, Kent – and a second was tragically found dead on Tuesday.  

Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve said the second lion cub had died after venturing out in the freezing weather as Storm Darcy blankets parts of Britain in snow, causes transport difficulties and isolates small communities.

But eagle-eyed webcam viewers claim they saw the poor little lion being crushed by another lion on the park’s Cub Cam livestream and accused the park of deleting comments supporting these claims. 

Now, part of the video casts doubt on the claims that the cub succumbed to the cold.  The two-minute clip shows the little lion surrounded by others in the pride. 

It then appears to show the cub looking weak being tended to by the lioness, adding weight to claims that it was laid on by ‘one of its brothers’. 

The Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve – run by the Aspinall Foundation which has appointed Boris Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds as head of comms – has been approached for comment.   

Eagle-eyed webcam viewers earlier claimed they saw the poor little lion being crushed by another lion on the park’s Cub Cam livestream and accused the park of deleting comments supporting these claims.

Others questioned why the cub was allowed outside in sub-zero conditions when lions usually live in temperatures around 30C. The webcam has now been switched off at the park. 

The Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve earlier appealed to fans with the footage to come forward so they can look into the claims.

The Aspinall Foundation has been contacted for comment. 

A spokesman for the Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve said earlier on Thursday: ‘During the early hours of this morning, we became aware that one of the lion cubs was not visible. We believe it ventured out through the bedroom door unnoticed by its mother.

‘With below freezing temperatures, it would have become weak and succumbed to the elements very quickly. It later became clear that it had indeed passed away during the night.

‘We are all incredibly upset by these events but the remaining cub appears strong and Oudrika, its mother, has taken it to the other shelter where she is protecting it.

‘We expect mother and cub to return to the bedroom dens soon.’

But one person claimed: ‘The cub last night didn’t die from the cold. His older brother lay on him and suffocated him by accident, people witnessed it on the live cam and Port Lympne are deleting comments from anyone who dares mention it on this thread.’

Another said: ‘I don’t understand, why would they feel the need to lie, it would still be an accident? How awful.’

‘This is incredible. You are lying. We are a lot of people that yesterday watch in stream the truth,’ one person wrote.

‘You are hiding the truth. Why did you decide to stop the chat of the cameras? You have fear that people connect and talk about your irresponsibilities.

‘You have lifes [sic] in your hands and you must keep animals in good conditions in all terms, and you didn’t provide a necessary space for keep the cubs alive. You are guilty.’

Another added: ‘I too have been watching the lions from the cub birth.

‘The problem seems to have been a young male lion totally besotted with his mother who has sadly fatally injured two of the cubs in his quest to try and get closer to his mother.

‘This is all so sad as the zoo had a massive following and community on the cameras.

‘This lioness has previously raised three cubs successfully but with only one male present.’

And one claimed: ‘In the wild, lionesses leave the pride to have their cubs, then after about 10 weeks bring them back.

‘Having five large lions and three, then two, tiny cubs in a small room, where the teenagers were over-excited, trying to play very roughly with them sometimes and often slamming down on top of them and trying to suckle their mother, was a recipe for disaster.

‘I hope that the next time she is expecting, that the Aspinall Foundation find a way to separate her with her own indoor shelter.

‘But being able to see the others through the fence. I’m absolutely gutted.’

A Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve spokesman added: ‘To the best of our knowledge we believe that the cub wandered out and succumbed to the elements, we have no evidence to support other scenarios.

‘We do not have the ability to watch back the live stream from Monday night into Tuesday morning. Therefore we can only surmise that the cub had left the warmth of the pride.

‘If any of our livestream viewers recorded the evening, as has been claimed, we would welcome the opportunity to review the footage.’ 

He added: ‘With regards to splitting the pride up, we always leave cubs in the protection of their parents unless they are rejected or the behaviour of the group becomes dangerous. 

‘The remaining cub is being closely watched by their mother Oudrika.’

Ms Symonds, an animal lover who is thought to have turned the Prime Minister’s head on green issues, joined the animal conservation charity last month.

The Aspinall Foundation is dedicated to protecting endangered species and returning captive animals to the wild.

The charity also funds and manages animal protection projects in Congo, Gabon, Java and Madagascar, as well as supporting schemes in India and Cambodia. 

A patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, Ms Symonds was named activist group Peta’s 2020 person of the year for her ‘unwavering voice for animals’.

Last July, supermarkets stopped selling coconut products marketed by several Asian brands after she highlighted how chained monkeys were being used to harvest the fruit from trees on farms in Thailand.

Before having Wilfred, she spent two years with the marine conservation group Oceana. She will continue to advise it as a consultant.

Ms Symonds was previously director of communications for the Conservative Party, having earlier worked for Tory MP John Whittingdale and the former chancellor Sajid Javid as a special adviser.