Five lions originating from Baia Mare Zoo, which has been recently disbanded, have been sent to a reservation in South Africa on Wednesday, as no other zoo in Romania could shelter them.
The lions, baptized with Romanian names-Lidia, Lavinia, Petrica, Tarhon Big and Marin- have been put to sleep, loaded in special cages, embarked in light lorries and transported to Frankfurt airport in Germany, wherefrom they will arrive in South Africa on Thursday.
Vier Pfoten, which took care of the lions’ transport, explained they will be sheltered by LIONSROCK reservation laying on a several hundred-area in South Africa. The cats will live in reservations and will have the meal provided. However, they will not be reintegrated in the wild, as a wilding living in captivity for so long, cannot readapt 100 percent and resume its natural behavior.
Romanian zoos are hosting about 175 big cats, with most of them being lions (82), tigers (57) and jaguars (17). The rest are lynxes (12), leopards (4) and puma (3).
24 of these animals are currently living in unauthorized zoos, such the ones in Craiova, Ramnicu Valcea, Turda or Galati. In many of these zoos, the animals are living in poor conditions, failing enough space in the cages, decent food or specialized medical care.