One of the volunteers who had helped released the big cats said 'The lion was so weak he couldn't move towards food that we brought for him. He also stated that the fur on the cats was in terrible condition and they were dehydrated. The lion which was locked in a small cage was in an extremely poor condition. The lioness was found in the upstairs bedroom of the owner and it seems the animals were being used for entertainment to attract customers.
Another volunteer IIdar Khantemeirov said that the lions were abandoned with old bones found in their cage. This was the only food they had been trying to survive on. He also found that the animals were scarred by wounds that showed they were being punished with a metal baton. The animals were about 18 months old.
Image Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
According to IIdar, The teenagers had found the two starving lions in the Russian hotel located in the Ramenskoye district of Moscow region. Ildar then went and informed prosecutors about the incident. The animals are now being shifted to a rehabilitation center although it is unlikely if they will ever recuperate enough to be released into the wild.
'This is a clear consequence of an utterly cruel black market of wild animals”, IIdar said. As per his knowledge, a three month old African lion cub can be purchased for as little as 140, 000 roubles or 1,900 pounds. The purchases are made without documents. All the buyer receives is a bag with a baby lion cub inside. There is no control or monitoring of such black market purchases. Animal experts feel that the two starving lions will take months to recover from their horrible ordeal.
Image Source: www.dailymail.co.uk