JOHANNESBURG: Two lions rescued from ignored zoos in conflict zones in Iraq and Syria were transported to South Africa on Monday to reside at a sanctuary with other animals that survived harsh stipulations in captivity in other places on the earth.
The male lions arrived in Johannesburg in metal crates on a Qatar Airways flight after leaving an animal shelter in Jordan on Sunday. They were loaded onto cars for a power of a number of hours to their new home at the Lionsrock facility close to the city of Bethlehem.
The lions were emaciated and dehydrated after the global animal welfare group Four Paws extracted them from a zoo in japanese Mosul in Iraq and an amusement park close to Aleppo in Syria. The two towns have skilled one of the crucial worst combating that has hit each nations in recent years, killing massive numbers of people and leaving neighborhoods in ruins.
Most of the 40 animals at the Mosul zoo died of hunger or were killed in bombings while some escaped from their enclosures, in keeping with Four Paws. The group's participants reached the location a yr in the past and evacuated the only two animals they found _ a undergo and the roughly 4-year-old lion named Simba _ to Jordan.
The other lion, 2-year-old Saeed, was once rescued in July together with 12 other animals from Syria's Magic World amusement park. The animals reached Jordan after staying for 2 weeks in Turkey, whose government assisted with the evacuation.
Both lions were traumatized once they arrived at the Al-Ma'wa Animal Sanctuary in Jordan, Four Paws said. Since then, they have got received hospital treatment, together with vasectomies and dental paintings, and feature gained weight on a gentle nutrition that included lamb meat treats.
The lions can expect similar remedy at Lionsrock, whose 80 lions came from a German circus and zoos in France, Romania, Congo and in other places. Some are from South African captive-bred lion operations that frequently earmark the predators for ``trophy'' killings through shoppers.
Some of the captive-bred citizens of Lionsrock have deformities from inbreeding, and none may also be released into the wild, said Fiona Miles, director of Four Paws' South Africa operation.
She said a key goal is to lift awareness about the stipulations of lions and other animals in captivity all over the world.
Conservationists point to broader challenges dealing with Africa's wild lions, whose population has plummeted. Problems come with shrinking habitats and poaching, in which lions get trapped in snares laid down indiscriminately.
Another worry is call for in some Asian nations for lion bones utilized in traditional drugs. Currently, South Africa permits the prison, annual export of bones from loads of captive-bred lions to China and Southeast Asia.
There are nearly 2,900 wild lions and about 7,000 captive lions in South Africa, in keeping with the federal government.
Security at Lionsrock is tight, a necessary precaution in a rustic where poaching is a common risk. Last yr, poachers broke into any other wildlife sanctuary in South Africa, killing two of its large cats.
The male lions arrived in Johannesburg in metal crates on a Qatar Airways flight after leaving an animal shelter in Jordan on Sunday. They were loaded onto cars for a power of a number of hours to their new home at the Lionsrock facility close to the city of Bethlehem.
The lions were emaciated and dehydrated after the global animal welfare group Four Paws extracted them from a zoo in japanese Mosul in Iraq and an amusement park close to Aleppo in Syria. The two towns have skilled one of the crucial worst combating that has hit each nations in recent years, killing massive numbers of people and leaving neighborhoods in ruins.
Most of the 40 animals at the Mosul zoo died of hunger or were killed in bombings while some escaped from their enclosures, in keeping with Four Paws. The group's participants reached the location a yr in the past and evacuated the only two animals they found _ a undergo and the roughly 4-year-old lion named Simba _ to Jordan.
The other lion, 2-year-old Saeed, was once rescued in July together with 12 other animals from Syria's Magic World amusement park. The animals reached Jordan after staying for 2 weeks in Turkey, whose government assisted with the evacuation.
Both lions were traumatized once they arrived at the Al-Ma'wa Animal Sanctuary in Jordan, Four Paws said. Since then, they have got received hospital treatment, together with vasectomies and dental paintings, and feature gained weight on a gentle nutrition that included lamb meat treats.
The lions can expect similar remedy at Lionsrock, whose 80 lions came from a German circus and zoos in France, Romania, Congo and in other places. Some are from South African captive-bred lion operations that frequently earmark the predators for ``trophy'' killings through shoppers.
Some of the captive-bred citizens of Lionsrock have deformities from inbreeding, and none may also be released into the wild, said Fiona Miles, director of Four Paws' South Africa operation.
She said a key goal is to lift awareness about the stipulations of lions and other animals in captivity all over the world.
Conservationists point to broader challenges dealing with Africa's wild lions, whose population has plummeted. Problems come with shrinking habitats and poaching, in which lions get trapped in snares laid down indiscriminately.
Another worry is call for in some Asian nations for lion bones utilized in traditional drugs. Currently, South Africa permits the prison, annual export of bones from loads of captive-bred lions to China and Southeast Asia.
There are nearly 2,900 wild lions and about 7,000 captive lions in South Africa, in keeping with the federal government.
Security at Lionsrock is tight, a necessary precaution in a rustic where poaching is a common risk. Last yr, poachers broke into any other wildlife sanctuary in South Africa, killing two of its large cats.
2 lions from Mideast war zones head to South African refuge
![2 lions from Mideast war zones head to South African refuge]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
February 26, 2018
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