A zoo on the edge?

This article sheds light on the infamous Lion Village located on the way to Alexandria. I'm actually surprised that the reporter was evidently shocked by the amount of garbage littering the place. Obviously they have never visited Giza Zoo; the trash there, as I pointed out in my blog post about it, was one of the biggest problems they had to face.

I also wonder why the reporter mentions nothing about visitors' ability to have their pictures taken with the "tame" lion cubs and lionesses.

The report is shocking, and begs the question as to why the zoo is being granted a new license, but when you see who is overseeing this licensing, it's sadly less surprising.

Taken from Al-Masri Al-Yawm, the report is below.

Lion Village: A zoo on the edge

In recent years, the environmental office has been regularly asked by visitors and activists to take measures to improve the state of the zoo at the Lion Village, located an hour and a half from Cairo, at Km 59 of the Cairo-Alexandria desert road. After two inspections over the past month by the environmental office, the license should be renewed shortly even though the zoo’s state is far from being ideal.

The first thing customers notice when they step into the zoo is a big cage in which a lion and a lioness are lying down. Although the zoo is located in the middle of the desert and experiences scorching heat in this season, the lions’ cage is obviously devoid of a water trough, and none can be spotted anywhere nearby.

When justifying himself, Ahmed al-Timsah, the owner and captain of the Lion Village, is full of contradictions. At one point he says that “every now and then, a worker puts water in a bucket and then removes it because otherwise the lions spill it”, but later asserts that there is a trough in a corner of a cage attached to the first one, which provides unlimited access to water all day. Black, filthy water fills its bottom.

When night comes, the lions retreat into inside compartments, where they cannot reach the water trough, which according to Timsah is fine, as “they are not thirsty at night anyway.”

As the zoo tour starts, one might notice how low the ostriches’ fence is, enough to let them approach and bite you.

“Ostriches, just like camels and dogs, are all predators but they’re not dangerous,” explains Timsah. Laughing out loud, he exclaims “Bite? Ostriches don’t bite!" but does not say what they do with their famous, harmful nozzle move that people fear so much.

   

Next stop: the hyena’s cage. One on each side, they walk back and forth. They do not stop. They do not pay attention to each other or the visitors. Timsah comments that “they’re just playing because it’s breeding period." But hyenas do not usually walk back and forth when breeding - on the contrary they tend to approach and court each other.

Around the corner, trash covers the animals’ cages. A monkey is playing, chewing a plastic bag as if it were a branch, while his neighbor has to deal with three plastic bags and some burger packaging on the ground of its cage. A bit further along, plastic cups and more trash are stashed in the cavity of a tree in the dogs' area. This tree is out of reach for customers, and Timsah says that “a little kid or a worker” must have put the trash there: “the place is usually very clean, it’s just not today.” He apologizes and adds “Egyptian people are very bad, as well as the people who work here.”  

Talking about misbehaving, some might have fun opening the cage door as there is no lock. "Bad" people who enjoy themselves by throwing trash in cages - or climbing a fence to hide a cup in the dogs’ area - might find it hilarious to free rabbits, dogs or other mammals.

The tour reaches the eastern side of the village and roars become louder as the tiny cages in which breeding lions lie becomes visible. The narrow cages don’t enable stretching in width, only in length. In the tiniest, two lion cubs sit next to each other, unable to move far from each other. Timsah justifies this by saying: “They were small when we got the cages.”

Despite the state of the zoo, Abdelwahab Khaddam, who inspected it on the behalf of the Wildlife Department of Giza Zoo last June, insists “it’s a very good place, and as long as the animals look happy and the standards are respected, the Lion Village can have a license.” Later mentioning the public complaints about it, Khaddam comes back on his comment : “it’s not that bad but it’s not very great.”

   

The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) came on 13 July to renew Timsah’s yearly license, which expired at least five months ago. He requested a new one in October 2010, but no one from the environmental office showed up before June 2011.

According to the EEAA report and Timsah, their recommendations deal with the trash, the lion’s sleeping area, and the care given to water treatment, as most of the troughs were filled with dark and dirty water. Nothing else. They promised him that he would get a license within four days, while he promised that those changes would be made within seven days. In other words, he will be granted his license before starting any improvement work.

Update on the Lion fight!

My last post about the idiotic lion fighter was a re-post from al-Masri al-Yawm. I was shocked by the reaction that most people gave this article; they found it very humerous, particularly the part where he claims that his next stint will be pulling a "plane by his teeth."

This update is for everyone who thought that the original article was so "funny." This is to show you the reality of how "funny" this situation really was.

I can thankfully report that the Egyptian authorities stepped in and put a stop to the fight, although they have not arrested the culprit, nor have they confiscated the lion.

Al-Sayed al-Essawy is no longer an unknown name in Egypt. For some, he is the symbol of an "Egyptian hero." For others, he is the symbol of how much work is still needed in Egypt to protect the innocent lives of animals and help ensure that animal cruelty will no longer be accepted and practiced throughout the country.

Al-Essawy claimed that his lion fight was intended to bring back tourism to Egypt, and spark international attention back onto the Egyptian Arena. Well, mission accomplished in many ways. People around the world stood up in protest to what was being allowed to happen. A lion, who would knowingly be drugged, was to be fought in a cage to the death, all in an effort to A) Bring tourism back to Egypt, and B) demonstrate the Israeli oppression of the Middle East (How, I'm not exactly sure - other than him promising to drape the dead lion with an Israeli flag, this is really just more hoopla to get more people talking about him).

He planned to drape the Israeli flag over the lion's body

I was so happy to read last night that the Egyptian authorities put a stop to the lion fight. I was not happy however, when the details surrounding it were leaked. 

Pictured below is one of the lions Al-Essawy was intending to fight. You can see that not only is the lion already injured (above his eye), he has clearly been sedated. Reports surfaced that Al-Essawy and his cronies ensured that four days prior to the match the lion was unable to sleep. Here you see the "man" and the "beast," or really, the shadow of the beast. 

Bear in mind when Al-Assawy was first proclaiming that he would fight the lion, he promised to do so bare handed. In the picture above it is not only evident that he is NOT bare handed, he is in fact carrying: A spear, a shield, and a dagger in the sheath on his side. 

The Egyptian Minister of Tourism openly declared his condemnation of the expected fight, yet authorities continued to bleat feebly that they were unsure of where the lion fight would take place. Interestingly enough, in the actual location of the fight were many journalists and members of the press, but no army or police personnel unless they were plain clothed. 

And he thinks himself a "man"

Although I am happy that the fight was stopped, I am saddened by the fact that Al-Assawy was not detained, nor was the lion confiscated. Why? There were no "vets on hand nor was CITES present" and Al-Assawy escaped to an unknown location. 

So answer me this...If you really condemned the fight, then why show up to "stop" it without any vets or experts on big cats? Was it really a surprise that there were lions present? I suppose one step at a time. At least the fight was stopped (15 minutes after it started) but yes...focus on the positive. Dear Egypt, please let this serve as a reminder that barbaric cruelty will not help revive the tourism industry. If anything, it is increasing international pressure for the relevant authorities to finally enact some animal cruelty legislation. 

The Born Free Foundation is now also involved in the case, and are trying to uncover the whereabouts of the lion to take it into safe custody. I shall continue to update here as I learn more about the details. 

If you want to let your disgust with this situation be known, below are some relevant emails that you can send your complaints and comments to: 

egypt@egypttourism.org
emarketing@egypt.travel
feedback@touregypt.net

Egyptian Lion Fighter

I was sent this article by a friend of mine today (you can find the article below), about a man in Egypt who claims to want to revive the Egyptian economy by staging fights against a lion. I do not mean lion on lion; this man claims to have "super-human" strength and will fight the lion in an enclosure himself. He has already received a lot of flack from animal rights lovers, but clearly not enough.

Although I do not doubt that such a story deserves media attention, I deplore how al-Masri al-Yawm has gone about presenting the article. A man who will willingly aggravate an animal to the point of an animal "fighting" him should not be positively reinforced in any way, shape, or form.

But don't worry animal lovers, he won't kill the lion. "If he chooses to withdraw, or surrender, and lets me tie him up." Which seems brilliant, minus the fact that this man has had little to no contact with the lion at all, fearing that he may get "too attached." Wonder how many minutes he'll last in the ring before the lion attacks him.

As to where he got the lion, it's up for anyone to guess. The black market trade of animals in Egypt is no stranger to lion cubs; speak to the right animal breeder and you'll find them in Cairo for sale.

Evidently this man is violent, as he claims that his "training" involved fighting dog breeds, including the "three most aggressive."

When, Egypt, when will you learn that the biggest threat to our planet and the species living here is mankind. When will society here learn that as the animal at the top of the food chain, we have a responsibility to ensure that other animals are protected. This man should not be allowed to fight, be it a secret location or not! He should be arrested for animal abuse!!

To read the article in full, click here.