Critically undernourished lions found stranded in terrifying conditions at a Sudan zoo

Terrifying photographs show severely emaciated African lions caged at a Sudan zoo.

Clearly, the malnourished animals have lost so much weight their bones are showing through their skin. Some of the lions not only mere skin and bones but also deeply wounded.

The starved lions are stranded at Al-Qureshi animal park in Khartoum, Sudan.

Apparently, they have not been given any food or medicine in weeks. According to an online campaign, the animals have been treated so badly because of the immense economic crisis in the country.

The activist Osman Salih posted shocking images of the emaciated cats. He wrote in a Facebook post:

“After seeing the fires in Australia kill soo many precious creatures recently seeing these animals caged and be treated this way made my blood boil.”

Sadly, one of the lions has already lost its life due to the lack of nourishment.

Osman wrote in another post that one of the female lions has died due to her sickness and the lack of medical care and food.

The Sudan activist has launched the online campaign ‘SudanAnimalRescue’ to save the suffering animals before they all die of malnutrition.

“The issue is not simply food but most importantly the animals need detailed and special treatment to rid them of infections and issues probably brought about from infested meat and poor diet.”

Park officials believe the lions ate suffering because of the Sudan’s economic crisis prompted by soaring food prices and a major shortage of foreign currency. Some of the starved animals are believed to have lost more than two-thirds of their body weight.

After seeing Salih’s Facebook post, a group of activists visited the zoo on Saturday. Salih himself suggests it’s better to bring food directly to the lions, instead of donating to the park.

This story is tragic not only for the animals in Al-Qureshi but for the faith of African lions in general. According to World Wildlife Foundation, they are officially classified as a ‘vulnerable’ species, with only 20,000 remaining in the wild. Over the last three generations, the numbers of African lions have rapidly decreased by 40%.