Lions saved from Gaza zoo settle into SA home

In early April, 47 animals were rescued from the Rafah Zoo in Gaza. The animals were living in horrendous conditions with very little exposure to a natural environment. Two lions were among the animals rescued, and were both transported from Gaza to Lionsrock, a big cat sanctuary in the Free State, South Africa.

Lionsrock, located near Bethlehem, is home to over 90 big cats. These animals have been rescued from zoos, circuses and private ownership. International animal welfare organization FOUR PAWS has been responsible for rescuing these animals.

The two lions, Motan and Pisa, have slowly taken to their new home. Hildegard Pirker, head of the animal welfare department at the sanctuary, told Business Insider, ‘When we released them it became clear to us that they’ve probably been kept in tiny concrete cages and that they’ve never felt grass under their feet.

This means that they’ve been exposed to very little natural surrounds and that it took them a bit longer to settle in.’

Pirker said the animals were first released into the smaller feeding area of a large enclosure when they arrived at the sanctuary to introduce them to their new home slowly. Roughly two weeks after this and with intense monitoring, they were released into a larger part of the enclosure.