Feature: Gaza lion cubs move to Jordan for better living conditions

Sami el-Jammal was forced to let go of his relationship with two lion cubs Sunday as they were transferred to a natural resort in Jordan through Israel for better living conditions.

In the past few months, the cubs were living with his family in Rafah in southern Gaza.

El-Jammal handed the two cubs over to a specialized team from the British-registered charity group Four Paws which treats and cares for wild animals worldwide.

El-Jammal and his five children were saddened as they bid farewell to the two little cubs. They said they got used to the two cubs living with them in Rafah for nine months.

"The two cubs were like my children, it is really difficult and sad to leave them. I took very good care of them and I succeeded in domesticating them until they became pets similar to non-harmful cats," el-Jammal told Xinhua.

During last summer's large-scale Israeli military operation on the Gaza Strip, the Rafah zoo was badly destroyed, however the two newly-born cubs survived. As the zoo closed down after the war, el-Jamal purchased the cubs from the zoo owner and raised them at his residence.

However, as the cubs grew bigger, neighbors complained that they could endanger children in the neighborhood. Increasing feeding expenses and required medical care took its toll on the poor refugee family.

Three months ago, lion experts from the Four Paws organization contacted el-Jammal and convinced him that the two cubs should be moved to a natural resort in Jordan for better living conditions.

Pictures of el-Jammal and his children with the two cubs were published on social media websites as they toured a park in Gaza city. Last week, members of the Four Paws organization arrived in Gaza, met with el-Jammal, checked the two lions and moved them to Jordan Sunday.

Ameer Khalil, the organization's Gazan representative, informed Xinhua that both the delegation and the two lions were supposed to leave Gaza Friday, but departure was postponed to Sunday upon Israel's demand, adding "Today we moved them through the crossing between Gaza and Israel."

"The two lions must move as soon as possible for better living conditions. I believe that for the two lions living in a house in a densely populated refugee camp in the Gaza Strip is outlandish and simultaneously very dangerous," said Khalil.

Israel has imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip as well as tight restrictions on the mobility of individuals, animals, cars and goods, since the Islamic Hamas movement's violent takeover of the coastal enclave in the summer of 2007.

This is the representatives' second visit to Gaza. Last year, organization representatives managed to move two adult lions, a male and a female, from a dilapidated zoo in the north of the Gaza Strip to Jordan who needed treatment from depression.

"Pervasively in the Gaza Strip, there are 45 lions living in several zoos lacking medical care and environmental enrichment," Khalil said, adding "We suggested the creation of a natural resort in Gaza for wild animals like lions and tigers to the ruling authorities." Endit