Polish zoo fundraising PLN 500,000 for lion enclosure
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
14.04.2017 14:41
A Polish zoo hopes to raise PLN 500,000 (EUR 118,000) in a drive to build a lion sanctuary to accommodate two cubs, which were most likely smuggled into the country.
A lion cub. Photo: Pexels.com/Nick Duell.
The zoo in Poznań, in western Poland, expects the two lions to later be joined by other animals, that will be taken from smugglers and circuses.
“Having developed a partnership with customs and animal rights organisations we see that animal smuggling is growing problem in Poland,” the zoo's spokeswoman, Małgorzata Chodyła, said.
“We have for a long time talked about the need to build a special sanctuary for animals, which do not have a home, but which are live, protected, large, wild and dangerous,” Chodyła said.
“Animals are illegally introduced, illegally bred and the need to create a suitable place for them is huge,” she added.
The campaign is run on the fundraising portal PolakPomaga.pl in association with the Viva! animal rights organisation.
The zoo plans to build a 3,000 square metre enclosure that imitates the savannah as well as a vet centre.
The planned enclosure's first tenants are expected to be two young lion cubs, one of which is just four months old, which police seized from their owners. (vb)
Source: PAP