Lions transferred from Gaza to African game reserve

An Austrian organisation called Four Paws International has overseen the transfer of two lions from the Gaza Strip to a game reserve in Africa, Felesteen newspaper has reported.

The lion Alex and lioness Muna were put in two separate cages and taken through the Eretz Crossing into Israel under the supervision of three veterinary surgeons.

Jamal Al-Jamal, one of the family who brought the lions up since they were cubs, said that they accepted the arrangement in the belief that they would have a better quality of life. “We became unable to take care of them when they got too big and dangerous,” he said. The family took the cubs from a zoo when it could no longer afford to keep them but they too are now unable to look after them properly.

Following last summer’s Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, two other lions were taken to Jordan to have psychological treatment after the zoo where they were kept was attacked by a missile fired from an Israeli F16 jet.

Images from felesteen.ps.