'Motherly instinct' reunites emaciated lion with owner in Columbia

Photograph of an emaciated lion in Columbia has taken the internet by storm prompting people to launch a campaign to save him. According to reports, leading efforts to rescue the lion comes from a woman who brought him up as her “son” in the circus he was born in.  

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In April 2019, environmental authorities reportedly confiscated Jupiter, the lion from its owner Ana Julia Torres over lack of required documentation and accusation that she was mistreating hundreds of wild animals. The 20-year-old lion was then transferred to Los Caimanes zoo in the department of Cordoba. After the zoo closed, he was taken to nearby facilities. However, soon his health started deteriorating. 

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Torres talking to international media said that when he was taken, he weighted 250 kilograms, however now he weighs only 90kgs. She further said that he was locked up and started losing weight. “He hasn't eaten for several days.” It's a fact that an animal deteriorates in such conditions, she added claiming that she felt a motherly instinct that her son need help. Taking note of his conditions, the country's defence Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo reportedly announced that lion would be sent home on an air force plane. 

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Starving lions in Sudan

In a similar incident, heartbreaking images of malnourished and starving lions in the Sudanese zoo which surfaced online in January had caused global concerns. Since then, the poor animals have been receiving medical aid from the donations that poured in from around the world after the images surfaced on the internet. Many lions have reportedly died in Sudan's Al-Qureshi Park in Khartoum after the wildlife staff allegedly failed to feed them regularly. The staff later blamed the country's poor economic crisis is one of the major factors for the animals' neglect.