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 take care of the primary time in years.
The 62 huge cats and two brown bears had 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 latest association between Argentina and a world 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 considerations.
However the plight of the captive cats there solely worsened. For the previous 5 years, the animals had 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 take care of the stranded lions and tigers left behind.
Most didn’t make it.
When 4 Paws, a world 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, virtually half of the animals have succumbed to sicknesses from poor diet, 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,” mentioned 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 mentioned. “There’s quite a lot of hostility, combating.”
A single lion usually will get 10,000 sq. meters to itself at 4 Paws’ sanctuaries world wide.
After hanging an settlement with Argentina’s authorities earlier this yr, 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 typically run aground throughout 23 provinces which have their very own guidelines and rules.
Though the Vienna-based group has beforehand evacuated ravenous tigers from Syria’s civil struggle, 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 saved make this a a lot larger problem,” mentioned Dr. Amir Khalil, the veterinarian main the group’s emergency mission. “That is certainly one of our greatest missions … not solely in Argentina or Latin America, however worldwide.”
On Thursday, veterinarians and consultants from the group had 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, allotting vitamins, antibiotics and doses of ache medicine by way of IV drips.
The short checkups steadily 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 therapy 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 organize for his or her switch to extra expansive, pure properties world wide.
Some Argentine zookeepers who spent a long time feeding and caring for the massive cats say they’re pleased to see 4 Paws enhancing the circumstances. However there was additionally a way of nostalgia for a way issues had 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,” mentioned 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.”
