Gaza man raises two lion cubs as pets

A man in Gaza has achieved his dream of raising lions as his pets at home after he bought two cubs last months from the local zoo.

Saad Al-Deen Al-Jamal, 50, from the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, told Quds news site that he has always been passionate about lions and often visited the zoos in Rafah and Khan Younis and paid the zoo keeper extra money to allow him to play with the lions there.

Al-Jamal said: “My dream came true when the zoo owner agreed last month to sell two lion cubs who were born the earlier month to me.”

“I took the small cubs and raised them with my family,” Jamal pointed out.

Al-Jamal who lives in the Shabbora refugee camp with six other families including his brothers and their children said the cubs have become accustomed to seeing the children and have never attempted to hurt anyone.

They are very loyal and when one of the kids is late at school, they search the house looking for him, he explained.

To ensure his neighbours’ safety, Al-Jamal has designed a special cage which he will place on top of his house to keep the cubs when they grow older.

“I am very happy when I see the joy in the neighbourhood’s children’s eyes when they see and play with the cubs which they can normally only see on TV,” he explained.