Horrifying photos from a zoo in Sudan show African lions who have lost so much weight their bones are showing through their skin.
The completely malnourished and emaciated cats are said to be stuck behind bars at Al-Qureshi animal park in the capital, Khartoum.
According to an online campaign, the animals have not been given food or medicine in weeks because the country is in the midst of a huge economic crisis.
Reports suggest one of the five lions has already died after a lack of food and nourishment left it looking like nothing more than a bag of ‘skin and bones’.
An online campaign has been launched in a desperate bid to find the neglected animals a safe and new place to live before they all die of malnutrition.
The campaign, Sudan Animal Rescue, was launched on Facebook by Osman Salih, who wrote:
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.
As per The Sun, a manager at the privately funded park, Essamelddine Hajjar, said:
Food is not always available so often we buy it from our own money to feed them.
The terrible living conditions are also believed to be causing the animals severe ill health in addition to the malnutrition.
Vets have warned the lions’ health has seriously gone downhill in recent weeks, with some of the cats having lost two-thirds of their body weight.
Caretaker Moataz Mahmoud said:
They are suffering from severe illnesses. They are sick and appear to be malnourished.
When journalists travelled to the park, one of the lions was reported to be tied with a rope while it was fed fluids through a drip as it recovered from severe dehydration.
The Guardian reports that chunks of rotten meat covered in flies were seen scattered near the rusty cages.
African lions are regarded as ‘vulnerable’ animals according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Their population is believed to have dropped by 43% between 1993 and 2014, with an estimated 20,000 said to be in existence today.
Sudan’s economic crisis was prompted by soaring food prices and a major shortage of foreign currency.
It’s unknown how many lions live in Sudan, however several more are living at the Dinder park on the border with Ethiopia.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.