Horrifying Pics Of Starving Lions In Sudan Park Spark Campaign To Save Them

Pictures of five malnourished lions from Sudan have gone viral as it showed these majestic animals in the poorest condition ever. Their ribs were protruding and they looked lethargic as well as sick.

These lions can be found in Khartoum’s Al-Qureshi Park, located in an upscale district of the capital. The economic crisis has hit the country and this has made procuring food hard for zookeepers. For weeks now, carers have used their own money to buy food, but it wasn’t enough.

Osman Salih, the man behind the online campaign to save these vulnerable species, commented, “I was shaken when I saw these lions at the park… their bones are protruding from the skin.” He also started the slogan #Sudananimalrescue.

Online campaign #Sudananimalrescue is being pushed to help get these to safety.

The lions looks lethargic and spent a lot of time sleeping and resting. Flies were also seen swarming their faces but they had too little energy to care. Injuries are seen untreated with their bodies so thin that their ribs were visible.

Park officials have also explained that the animals have lost two-thirds of their body weight and couldn’t buy food nor medicines for the past few weeks. “Food is not always available, so often we buy it from our own money to feed them,” says manager Essamelddine Hajjar from Al-Qureshi park.

Economic crisis that hit the country has caused prices of food to soar uncontrollably. The park is also funded in part by private donors although it’s managed by Khartoum municipality. Fortunately, viral pictures have brought flocks of tourists, citizens and journalists.

Rotten meat is also seen scattered around the cages as the hungry and weak lions walk around in their tight cage. Caretaker Moataz Mahmoud from the park said, “They are suffering from severe illnesses. They are sick and appear to be malnourished.”

The African lions are classified as ‘vulnerable’ species by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). And during the last two decades, their population has dropped by 40% with only 20,000 alive today. Unfortunately, one of them have died.

The most recent update shows that one of the females, however, is recovering and ate minced meat.