The images of starving lions, sick and malnourished in a Sudanese zoo, have toured the Internet and have generated many calls for donations and solidarity on social networks. Four lionesses and a lion are found in cages at Al-Qureshi Zoological Park, a wealthy neighborhood in Karthoum, the Sudanese capital. The big cats have suffered for weeks from lack of food and medicine.
An alert launched on Facebook
The alert was given by several photo and video publications on Facebook by Osman Salih, a Sudanese who visited the zoological park by chance and was alerted by the state of the lions, but also of the other animals.
“I was overwhelmed when I saw these protruding bones,” Osman Salih wrote on Facebook with the hashtag #Sudananimalrescue (“saving the animals of Sudan”), launching the start of a support campaign to help. to felines. The hashtag went viral on Sudanese Twitter over the weekend. “I urge people and institutions who feel concerned to help them,” he added.
Malnutrition and infections
After meeting with the zoological park administration, Osman Salih explains that it is government wildlife officials who are directly responsible for looking after the lions, their health and their food, but that they have stopped them feed for some time, for lack of budget. Some animals have lost two thirds of their body mass. They are said to suffer from malnutrition, as well as infections and parasites that could be linked to poor quality meat.
“Food is not always accessible and we often have to buy it with our own money,” Issameddine Hajjar, one of the park’s officials, told AFP.
Mobilization wave to save the five wild beasts
On Sunday, a crowd of citizens, volunteers and journalists flocked to the park to see the lions after photos of them went viral on social media. According to a staff member, the general deterioration in the state of the park affects animal health.
“They suffer from serious illnesses, they are sick and seem to be malnourished,” said Moataz Mahmoud, one of the guards.
According to Osman Salih, government wildlife officials in Sudan quickly mobilized after his photos toured social media. The organization Four Paws International also said he wanted to send a team to Sudan to help animals in the zoo, but also other parks in Sudan.
“Lots of fresh meat was brought in by donors, as well as two sheep. Regular supplies of meat from butchers and slaughterhouses were also confirmed. All medical supplies needed for emergency treatment, such as antibiotics, “Osman Salih told Facebook on Sunday evening.
In his latest tweet, the Sudanese man shared a video showing one of the lionesses, very weak, feeding on minced meat after receiving medical treatment on Tuesday morning.
A very sick lioness died on Monday
Another lioness, who had been on a drip for several days, died early Monday, said Issameddine Hajjar, an official with Al-Qureshi Park, where the wild animals have suffered for weeks from lack of food and medicine. After reporting her condition on social media, she was taken to the Soba Clinic in critical condition, says Osman Salih.
“One of the two sick lionesses died today (…). Yesterday the doctor gave them medicine, then they were fed,” said Issameddine Hajjar. The health of “one has improved but the other is dead. We are now making a diagnosis to find out the causes of death”.
The number of lions in Sudan is not known, but several are gathered in the Dinder Park, on the border with Ethiopia. Lions are a “vulnerable” species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Their population in Africa fell by 43% between 1993 and 2014 and only 20,000 survive today.
A year and a month after the start of an uprising against President Omar el-Bechir, who was removed from office last April, Sudan is facing a serious economic crisis, partly fueled by 20 years of the American embargo (1997-2017), in because of his alleged support for Islamist groups.
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