Zookeepers in Malaysia's southern Johor state have named two new African lion cubs after US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a news report said today.

Obama and Hillary, along with another female cub yet to be named, were born in captivity at the Johor Zoo Jan 16, zookeeper Mohamad Sham said.

"Obama, the president, and Obama, the lion cub, can both trace their ancestry back to Africa, so there is a definite connection there," Sham was quoted as saying by the Star daily.