PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA — Researchers at the University of Pretoria have successfully used artificial insemination to birth two lion cubs.<br /><br />According to AFP, researchers collected sperm from a male lion and blood samples from a lioness to determine her hormone levels.<br /><br />After the blood samples indicated it was the correct time, she was artificially inseminated.<br /><br />In the past, lions would have been moved out of their habitat. Using the new method, the lioness was able to stay in her current environment.<br /><br />Scientists are hoping this new method can be repeated in order to save the wild lion population in Africa which has been declining over the last two decades.<br /><br />Lions in 26 African nations are extinct, while those in the wild have plummeted by 43 percent over the past 20 years, according to the International Union for Conservation Nation.<br /><br />Animal welfare groups however argue that lion breeding in South Africa revolves around tourism rather than conservation.
