starving lions

FOUR PAWS cares for starving animals in Sudan 

Four lions have already lost two thirds of their natural body weight

24.1.2020

24.1.2020 – Finally help for the suffering animals, including four lions, in Sudan: A rescue team from the global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS is on its way to the capital Khartoum, where the big cats and other animals are on the brink of starvation in the Al Qurashi Family Park zoo. The Sudanese authorities have granted the team, led by FOUR PAWS veterinarian Amir Khalil, permission to enter the country and provide the animals with urgently needed food and medical care. The FOUR PAWS team is expected to arrive at the zoo on Monday, 27th January. However, the emergency mission is a race against time: one of the original five lions has already died. 

In the past few days photos of the emaciated lions circulated around the world and caused an international outcry. Due to a lack of financial resources, the starving animals could no longer be fed adequately. Thanks to FOUR PAWS the suffering of these animals will finally come to an end. 

“We were shocked by the pictures of the gaunt lions. It was clear to us that we had to act quickly because the animals would not last much longer. As soon as we are on site, we will provide the severely malnourished lions with proper food and medical care. The highest priority at the moment is to stabilise and improve the health condition of the animals, and determine long-term solutions for them,” 

says FOUR PAWS veterinarian and head of the emergency mission Amir Khalil. 

Expertise in crisis and conflict zones

Emergency animal rescues in delicate situations are no new territory for FOUR PAWS. Amir Khalil and his team have already worked in countries such as Libya or Egypt in the past. More recently, in 2016 and 2019 the FOUR PAWS team evacuated three zoos in the Gaza Strip. In 2017, FOUR PAWS rescued 13 animals from an amusement park near Aleppo in Syria as well as the last two surviving bears and lions from a zoo in Mosul, Iraq.

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FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organisation for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them.

Founded in 1988 in Vienna by Heli Dungler and friends, the organisation advocates for a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding. The sustainable campaigns and projects of FOUR PAWS focus on companion animals including stray dogs and cats, animals in fashion, farm animals, and wild animals – such as bears, big cats, and orangutans – kept in inappropriate conditions as well as in disaster and conflict zones.

With offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, the UK, the USA, and Vietnam as well as sanctuaries for rescued animals in eleven countries, FOUR PAWS provides rapid help and long-term solutions. www.four-paws.org.au

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