LUJAN, Argentina — Lions, tigers and bears that managed to outlive in substandard circumstances at a now-shuttered zoo on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, paced weakly of their claustrophobic cages on Thursday, ready their flip to obtain pressing veterinary look after the primary time in years.
The 62 huge cats and two brown bears have been being evaluated and handled earlier than their eventual switch to huge wildlife sanctuaries overseas — one of many largest and most difficult but after a current association between Argentina and a global animal welfare group.
Argentine authorities in 2020 shut down the Lujan Zoo — well-known for letting guests deal with and pose for footage with tigers and lions — over mounting security issues.
However the plight of the captive cats there solely worsened. For the previous 5 years, the animals have been sustained by little quite a lot of loyal zookeepers who, regardless of having misplaced their jobs at Lujan, took it upon themselves to feed and look after the stranded lions and tigers left behind.
Most didn’t make it.
When 4 Paws, a global animal welfare group, first visited the zoo in 2023, caretakers counted 112 lions and tigers — already down from the greater than 200 huge cats believed to have been housed within the zoo on the time of its closure.
Two years on, nearly half of the animals have succumbed to sicknesses from poor vitamin, wounds from fights with animals they’d by no means encounter within the wild, infections from lack of medical consideration and organ failure from the stress of residing in such cramped circumstances.
“It was actually surprising,” stated the group’s chief program officer, Luciana D’Abramo, pointing to a 3-meter by 3-meter cage filled with seven feminine lions. “Overcrowded is an understatement.”
Subsequent-door, two Asian tigers shared a tiny cage with two African lions — a “social composition that might by no means be present in nature,” D’Abramo stated. “There’s quite a lot of hostility, preventing.”
A single lion usually will get 10,000 sq. meters to itself at 4 Paws’ sanctuaries around the globe.
After putting an settlement with Argentina’s authorities earlier this 12 months, 4 Paws took over duty for the surviving wild animals in Lujan final month.
The memorandum of understanding concerned Argentina committing to finish the sale and personal possession of unique felines within the giant South American nation, the place enforcement efforts usually run aground throughout 23 provinces which have their very own guidelines and laws.
Though the Vienna-based group has beforehand evacuated ravenous tigers from Syria’s civil conflict, deserted bears and hyenas from the war-ravaged Iraqi metropolis of Mosul and uncared for lion cubs from the besieged Gaza Strip, it has by no means rescued such a lot of huge cats earlier than.
“Right here, the variety of animals and the circumstances the place they’re stored make this a a lot greater problem,” stated Dr. Amir Khalil, the veterinarian main the group’s emergency mission. “That is considered one of our greatest missions … not solely in Argentina or Latin America, however worldwide.”
On Thursday, veterinarians and consultants from the group have been scrambling across the derelict zoo to evaluate the animals one after the other. Most had not been vaccinated, sterilized or microchipped for identification.
The staff whisked sedated lions and tigers onto working tables, meting out vitamins, antibiotics and doses of ache treatment by way of IV drips.
The fast checkups incessantly remodeled into emergency surgical procedures. One tiger was handled for a bleeding gash in its tail final week, one other for a vaginal tumor on Thursday. A number of tigers and lions wanted root canals to restore contaminated molars that had been damaged on the metal cage bars.
Others acquired remedy for claws that had grown inward from strolling an excessive amount of on unnatural, plank flooring within the spartan enclosures.
After evaluating every animal within the coming weeks, 4 Paws will prepare for his or her switch to extra expansive, pure properties around the globe.
Some Argentine zookeepers who spent a long time feeding and caring for the large cats say they’re comfortable to see 4 Paws enhancing the circumstances. However there was additionally a way of nostalgia for the way issues have been.
“It was a very talked-about place … I’ve seen individuals cry as a result of they may contact a lion or feed a tiger with a bottle,” stated Alberto Díaz, who spent 27 years working with the wild cats on the Lujan Zoo, overseeing hands-on experiences that catered to numerous vacationers.
“Time adjustments, legal guidelines change, and it’s a must to adapt or get left behind.”
