Last-ditch bid to save Romanian zoo’s lions from death
Fourteen lions at a squalid and crumbling Romanian zoo could be shot if an appeal to raise funds to move the ailing big cats to a British wildlife park falls short of its £150,000 target.
The head of Oradea Zoo, Daiana Ghender, readily admits that conditions at the communist-era park are inhumane but says the zoo lacks the resources to make improvements.
Some of Oradea’s lions are so weak and emaciated they can barely stand. Up to four of the creatures are caged at a time in enclosures measuring just 15 ft by 12 ft.
“We cannot afford to do any more for them,” Ghender told the News of the World. “I feel terrible when I look at them. They are sick and do not have the space for their bodies. There is no money and little food for them.”
Now, Yorkshire Wildlife Park hopes to raise £150,000 to bring the lions to the UK and house them in a proper enclosure after being alerted to their plight by a Romanian animal welfare charity called SOS Zoo.
“I went to Romania to see the lions and was shocked,” said John Minion, the park’s wildlife director. “Daiana and her staff are passionate about the animals and have done what they can. It would be an absolute tragedy if the lions had to be put down.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park is collecting funds via donations to the Wildlife Heritage Foundation through the www.lionrescue.co.uk website. So far the appeal has raised more than £17,000.