After a Palestinian Zoo was shut down in war-torn Gaza, two little lion cubs, then named “Mona” and “Alex”, were left behind.
Struggling to get on their feet again, the owners of the run down zoo resigned themselves to selling the two brother and sister in an effort to raise their dwindling profits and benefit the other animals. The siblings, then only a couple of weeks old, were bought by a man living in Gaza who housed them in his small apartment.
Although they were considered “members of the family”, their growing appetites meant that the owner was faced with “loaning” them out to amusement parks and restaurants as attractions for extra money, but luckily for the two sweet cubs, they avoided this fate.
FOUR PAWS, an animal rights organisation based in the Middle East, arranged for the rescue of Alex and Mona, who were then whisked away to a new and comfy home in Jordan after a long and harrowing border control ordeal.
The cubs, now five months old, were renamed “Shalom” and “Salam” to represent their new freedom and are living comfortably in a shelter, but as ever, remain side-by-side.
Take a look at all the pictures from their amazing journey.
All images via FOUR PAWS facebook.
