Harrowing Footage Shows Emaciated Lion At Sudan Zoo

Harrowing new footage has been released showing a group of emaciated lions being kept in cages at a zoo in Sudan.

The heartbreaking clip shows people looking on as a painfully thin lion stumbles around its cage, struggling to keep itself upright, its bones protruding through its skin.

This comes after an online campaign was started to save the group of starving animals at Al-Qureshi Park in the country's capital city of Khartoum.

Earlier this week shocking photographs were posted on social media, in an effort to show the danger they are in and drum up support for their rescue.

According to reports, the lions have barely eaten in weeks, with the zoo's owners struggling to feed them. One of the lionesses has since died, as a result.

The campaign is now gaining momentum, with worldwide condemnation for the zoo and its administrators.

It is now hoped that outside agencies will remove the lions, taking them to a better location where they will be fed and looked after.

AP

Writing on Facebook, Osman Salih launched the #Sudananimalrescue campaign.

He said: "I was shaken when I saw these lions at the park... their bones are protruding from the skin. I urge interested people and institutions to help them."

Updating his Facebook account with news of the animals' conditions, Mr Salih said that one had sadly passed away.

He wrote: "I regret to inform you that the sick female lion has died. The other female is getting better and the male is OK."

Park officials and medics have said the lions' conditions have deteriorated over the past few weeks, with some losing around two-thirds of their body weight.

Speaking to AFP about the horrific story, a manager from Al-Qureshi Park said it is extremely difficult to feed the lions.

AP

They told the agency: "Food is not always available, so often we buy it from our own money to feed them."

Moataz Mahmoud, one of the caretakers at the park, added: "They are suffering from severe illnesses. They are sick and appear to be malnourished."

In an update on his page, Mr Salih went on to add that emergency responders had visited the park to offer medical assistance to the malnourished lions, with work being done to find another home for them.

Writing yesterday (19 January), he added: "Today was a positive day at Qurashi Park. We had good meetings with the park administration and the wildlife police.

"Lots of fresh meat was brought by several donors as well as two sheep. Supply of regular meat from factories and slaughter houses was also secured.

"Best news of the day was the willingness of FOUR PAWS International to send an emergency rescue to rehabilitate the animals not only at Qurashi zoo but other parks in Sudan as well as train staff at wildlife authority."

According to figures reported by AFP, the African lion's population dropped by 43 percent between 1993 and 2014, and only around 20,000 are still alive today.

Topics: World News, Interesting, Animals

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

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