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lionsThe tigers and bears that managed to survive in poor conditions at a now-closed zoo on the outskirts Buenos AiresThe Argentines were pacing weakly in their claustrophobic cages on Thursday, waiting their turn to receive urgent veterinary care for the first time in years.
The 62 big cats and two brown bears were being assessed and treated ahead of their eventual transfer to giant wildlife sanctuaries abroad – one of the largest and most challenging since a recent arrangement between Argentina and an international animal welfare organisation.
Argentine authorities closed the Luján Zoo in 2020 due to growing safety concerns – famous for letting visitors pose and photograph with tigers and lions.
But the condition of the captive cats there became worse. For the past five years, the animals had been cared for by a few loyal zookeepers who, despite losing their jobs in Luján, took it upon themselves to feed and care for the trapped lions and tigers.
Most didn’t make it.
When the international animal welfare organization Four Paws first visited the zoo in 2023, caretakers counted 112 lions and tigers – out of the more than 200 big cats believed to be housed at the zoo at the time of its closure.
Two years later, about half the animals have died due to diseases caused by poor nutrition, wounds from fights with wild animals, infections caused by lack of medical care, and organ failure caused by the stress of living in such cramped conditions.
“It was really shocking,” said Luciana D’Abramo, the organization’s chief program officer, pointing to a 3-meter by 3-meter cage filled with seven female lions. “Overcrowded is an understatement.”
next door, two Asian Tigers share a small cage with two tigers African The lion – a “social creation that would never be found in nature,” said D’Abramo. “There’s a lot of hostility there, fighting.”
In Four Paws sanctuaries around the world, a single lion typically gets 10,000 square meters of space.
Four Paws took responsibility for the surviving wild animals in Luján last month, after reaching an agreement with the Argentine government earlier this year.
In the memorandum of understanding, Argentina committed to ending the sale and private ownership of exotic cats in the large South American country, where enforcement efforts often move across 23 provinces, which have their own rules and regulations.
Although the Vienna-based organization has previously rescued hungry tigers from Syria’s civil war, abandoned bears and hyenas from the war-ravaged Iraqi city of Mosul and neglected lion cubs from the besieged Gaza Strip, it has never before rescued such a large number of big cats.
“Here, the number of animals and the conditions they are kept in make it a huge challenge,” said Dr. Amir Khalil, a veterinarian who led the group’s emergency mission. “This is one of our biggest missions…not just in Argentina or Latin America, but around the world.”
On Thursday, veterinarians and experts from the organization were roaming around the abandoned zoo to assess the animals one by one. Most had not been vaccinated, sterilized or microchipped for identification.
The team placed unconscious lions and tigers on operating tables, administering nutrients, antibiotics and pain medication through IV drips.
Quick investigation often results in emergency surgery. One tiger was treated for a bleeding wound in its tail last week, another was treated for a vaginal tumor on Thursday. Many tigers and lions required root canals to repair infected molars broken on the steel cage bars.
Others received treatment for claws that had grown inward from too much walking on the unnatural, plank floors in the Spartan enclosures.
After evaluating each animal over the coming weeks, Four Paws will arrange for their transfer to more spacious, natural homes around the world.
Some zookeepers in Argentina, who have fed and cared for the big cats for decades, say they are happy to see improvements in conditions for Four Paws. But there was also a sense of nostalgia for the way things were.
“It used to be a very popular place … I’ve seen people cry because they could touch the lion or bottle feed the tiger,” said Alberto Diaz, who spent 27 years working with feral cats at the Lujan Zoo, overseeing hands-on experiences that have catered to countless tourists.
“Times change, laws change, and you have to adapt or be left behind.”