Study reveals four unique giraffe species across Africa

RESEARCHERS at the University of Copenhagen found evidence suggesting there may actually be four distinct giraffe species across Africa. This completely changes our understanding of giraffes. Recognising four giraffe species would mean developing separate plans to protect each one.

According to this article, Nubian giraffes are found in South Sudan and the Kordofan giraffe inhabits Cameroon, CAR, and possibly Sudan. Read more.

From Earth.com
By Sanjana Gajbhiye
Earth.com staff writer
Dated Wednesday, 13 March 2024

Study reveals four unique giraffe species across Africa

Giraffes have long been admired for their beauty and stateliness. However, scientists have recently discovered a surprising fact about these animals: they may not be just one species.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen found evidence suggesting there may actually be four distinct giraffe species across Africa. This completely changes our understanding of giraffes. Recognizing four giraffe species would mean developing separate plans to protect each one.

Four giraffe species

Previously, all the giraffes were recognized as one species – Giraffa camelopardalis. The research provided strong genetic evidence that all the giraffes are distinct enough to be classified as separate species.

Northern Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

All Northern Giraffes have lighter colored spots. They are divided into three subspecies, each found in different geographical locations:

• Nubian giraffe: Found in Ethiopia and South Sudan.
• West African giraffe: Located in Niger.
• Kordofan giraffe: Inhabits Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, and possibly Sudan.

Reticulated Giraffe (Giraffa reticulata)

This species is also called the Somali giraffe, is known for its unique brown spots with clear white borders that look like a net. They live in northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia, and Somalia.

Masai Giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi)

Masai is the biggest and darkest colored of all, with patches shaped like stars that go all the way down to their hooves. You’ll find them in central and southern Kenya and throughout Tanzania.

Southern Giraffe (Giraffa giraffa)

Southern Giraffes have round or blotched spots, which are more uneven and less defined than the Reticulated Giraffe’s spots. They are classified further into two subspecies:

• South African giraffe: Inhabits northern South Africa, southern Botswana, southern Zimbabwe, and southwestern Mozambique.
• Angolan giraffe: Found in northern Namibia, southern Botswana, southwestern Zambia, and western Zimbabwe.

All of the groups are connected and some even mix, like the reticulated giraffe which has genes from both the northern and southern giraffe ancestors. The researchers were surprised by this interconnectedness.

“When we started getting results from our analyses of gene flow between different giraffe lineages, we had to check twice,” recalled Laura D. Bertola, a postdoc at the Department of Biology and one of the authors on the study.

Redefining giraffe species

This widespread mixing between giraffe groups throws a wrench into how we define a species. Traditionally, scientists thought extensive gene sharing only happened within a single species. But the giraffes’ story flips that idea on its head.

It suggests that the amount of genetic difference might not be the clear-cut way to identify new species as we once believed. “Our findings touch on a very delicate matter in biology, namely that we do not have a universally agreed species concept.” said Rasmus Heller, one of the senior authors.

Instead of trying to pinpoint the exact number of giraffe species, the study aims to highlight the fluidity of gene flow among giraffes, which remains possible under the right conditions.

Conservation of giraffe species

This discovery is a game-changer for giraffe species conservation. Traditionally, we’ve focused on protecting different species entirely. But this study emphasizes the need to consider the genetic variation within a species as well. Each giraffe lineage, regardless of its specific taxonomic classification, boasts a unique genetic makeup that deserves protection.

“Giraffes are such endlessly fascinating animals, and this study confirms just how much genetic variation there is even on small geographical scales,” noted Yoshan Moodley, a co-author of the study from the University of Venda in South Africa.

The findings from the University of Copenhagen are part of a broader effort under the African Wildlife Genomics research framework, associated with the African BioGenome Project.

The study is published in the journal Current Biology.

View original: https://www.earth.com/news/study-reveals-four-unique-giraffe-species-across-africa/

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S.O.S. please help the animals in Sudan and Sara Abdalla, director of zoo at Khartoum University

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Well done Samy for reporting on animals in need. I hope the report is followed up on with news of how the animals in Khartoum are surviving. Are they being cared for? Does anyone care?  

At the start of the Sudan crisis I donated to the British Red Cross to help the people of Sudan and South Sudan. I wish Red Cross could help animals too.

Report from Chronograph.com

By SAMY MAGDY, Associated Press

Wednesday 10 May 2023

Updated: May 10, 2023 4:06 a.m.

Fears over scores of zoo animals caught in Sudan crossfire

ASWAN, Egypt (AP) — Dozens of zoo animals in Sudan's capital — including an elderly crocodile, parrots and giant lizards — are feared dead after street battles between the country's rival forces made the location unreachable.

At least 100 animals, all kept inside enclosures, will have gone more than three weeks without food or water, said Sara Abdalla, the head zoologist at the zoo, which is part of the Sudan Natural History Museum.

Millions of people in Sudan have endured shortages of food, water and medicines after the conflict halted the most basic services. But as the sounds of explosions ring across the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, Abdalla has been wracked with worry over her animal charges, particularly those that are increasingly rare to find in their natural habitats in Sudan. 

“I feel a great deal of misery and sadness, as well as helplessness,” she said in a telephone interview from Khartoum. “I have assumed that we lost the birds and mammals.”

The zoo is home to species including an African grey parrot, a vervet monkey, giant lizards known as Nile monitors, a desert tortoise, a horned viper snake and a Nubian spitting cobra. Prior to the fighting, these were all fed twice a day. But the last time they received their meals and for some, medications, was on April 14, the day before fighting broke out, according to Abdalla.

The conflict, which capped months of tensions between Sudan’s rival generals, pits the Sudanese military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, who is the head of the ruling sovereign council, against the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The RSF is commanded by Burhan’s deputy on the council, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Abdalla said neither has heeded appeals to allow access to the zoo.

The conflict has turned much of Khartoum and the adjacent city of Omdurman into a battlefield, with both sides using heavy weapons, including artillery and airstrikes, inside urban areas. The urban combat has badly damaged infrastructure and properties and poses great risk to civilians trying to move in the city streets.

Residents fleeing the capital have described seeing bodies littering sidewalks and central squares, particularly in areas not far from the museum. Roughly 500 civilians have been killed in the fighting so far, according to Sudan's doctors' syndicate, though the true number of dead is believed to be higher.

The zoo, which is housed inside the University of Khartoum, is one of the oldest in Sudan. The facility was established about a century ago as part of Gordon Memorial College, an educational institution built in the early 1900s when Sudan was a part of the British empire. It was annexed to the University of Khartoum two years after Sudan won independence in 1956.

Its current location is close to the military’s headquarters, where fighting has been heavy, preventing access to the museum.

Abdalla, who teaches zoology at the University of Khartoum, began working at the museum in 2006, and was appointed director of the facility in 2020. It was a job she had dreamed of since she visited the museum as a child. Now, trapped at her home in southern Khartoum with her husband and their two children — 9-year-old Yara, and 4-year-old Mohamed — she worries about the animals that have already survived years of unrest, economic collapse and pandemic lockdowns.

Neither the military nor the RSF responded to requests for comment on the plight of the animals and their caretakers.

“Unless someone released the animals early on when the clashes started, I don’t see how any would or could have survived for over two weeks with no care,” said Kamal M. Ibrahim, a biology professor at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale in an email. He is familiar with the museum and its work, having graduated from the University of Khartoum and spending a sabbatical there.

The museum documents the wildlife of Sudan and its neighbor South Sudan. The facility serves both scientists and the general public. It also contains hundreds of valuable preserved animal specimens, some of which are now extinct, according to Abdalla.

Both Ibrahim and Abdalla are particularly worried about a Nile crocodile, raised from an egg at the facility since 1971. Abdalla said the crocodile was on a regimen of medicine and vitamins due advanced age. The crocodiles are increasingly rare to find in the Blue and White Nile rivers that cut their way through the country.

“It could have fared better if released from its enclosure,” Ibrahim said.

In this undated photo released by Sara Abdalla, director of the zoological park at the University of Khartoum, a vervet monkey is pictured inside its enclosure in Khartoum, Sudan. The animal is one of dozens feared dead or missing inside the park in Sudan's capital after intense fighting made the location unreachable. (Sara Abdalla via AP AP

In this undated photo released by Sara Abdalla, director of the zoological park at the University of Khartoum, a Nile crocodile is pictured inside its enclosure in Khartoum, Sudan. The 50-year-old reptile was raised in captivity from an egg, and is one of dozens feared dead or missing inside the park in Sudan's capital after intense fighting made the location unreachable. (Sara Abdalla via AP) AP

In this undated photo released by Sara Abdalla, director of the zoological park at the University of Khartoum, a Nubian spitting cobra is pictured inside its enclosure in Khartoum, Sudan. The animal is one of dozens feared dead or missing inside the park in Sudan's capital after intense fighting made the location unreachable. (Sara Abdalla via AP) AP

In this undated photo released by Sara Abdalla, director of the zoological park at the University of Khartoum, a carpet viper is pictured inside its enclosure in Khartoum, Sudan. The animal is one of dozens feared dead or missing inside the park in Sudan's capital after intense fighting made the location unreachable. (Sara Abdalla via AP) AP

In this undated photo released by Sara Abdalla, director of the zoological park at the University of Khartoum, a Nile monitor lizard is pictured inside its enclosure in Khartoum, Sudan. The animal is one of dozens feared dead or missing inside the park in Sudan's capital after intense fighting made the location unreachable. (Sara Abdalla via AP) AP

View original: https://www.chron.com/news/world/article/fears-over-scores-of-zoo-animals-caught-in-sudan-18090097.php

[Ends]

Sudan...The Animal Museum Cries For War. Importance of Sudan's Natural History Museum

THIS is so sad. Let's hope it's true that people are giving water to animals.

Report from EasternHerald.com 

By Arab Desk

Dated Friday 19 May 2023 - full copy:

Sudan.. The Animal Museum Cries For War

And the clashes, which have not ceased since April 15, have made it impossible to access the museum site, which includes no less than 100 animals, which were placed in their cages the day before the outbreak of the fighting.

The director of the Natural History Museum said in statements exclusive to Sky News Arabia that things are still unclear regarding the position of the animals inside the museum, before I receive unofficial reports that some members of the Sudanese army were providing water to the animals, which represents a breakthrough for repeated distress calls throughout the past few weeks.

Despite this breakthrough, the situation remains difficult for the animals of the Sudan Museum, while “Said” identified this case in several points:

- Animals face a difficult fate, and of course there are some who have died from these very complex conditions, depending on how long they were left unattended.

- I expect the death of many animals, mainly birds and mammals which cannot endure a month without monitoring, feeding or monitoring, and we cannot reach them yet, because the water supply of their cages is was doing at the start of the war, and we cannot set a timetable for the armed forces to respond to distress calls. It is more likely that she died of hunger and thirst.

- Some other animals can withstand these conditions as long as possible, these are reptiles like desert tortoises. Because they store water in their body.

- From a scientific point of view, birds cannot survive more than 5 consecutive days without food or water, especially in extreme temperatures that reach 46 degrees Celsius.

- The pets that some Sudanese used to keep at home are also in a difficult situation. Because many citizens have been displaced and left these animals behind.

- We cannot go to the headquarters of the zoo, because things are very complicated considering the location of the museum near the general command of the armed forces, which is a very dangerous area for the movement of civilians, who can be targeted by both sides of the conflict.

- I tried as much as possible to reach the museum, but I was in an area where the sounds of bullets had never been silenced, and I couldn’t; Therefore, no one has any information or assessment of the situation and the number of dead animals.

Importance of the Natural History Museum

- The Natural History Museum zoo is home to many species of animals including lion, African gray parrot, vervet monkey, giant lizards called Nile monitor lizards, desert tortoise, horned snake and nubian cobra.

- The site of the museum, which is close to the headquarters of the Sudanese army, where fighting was taking place there, prevented people from accessing it and rescuing the animals.

- The museum documents wildlife in Sudan as well as the state of South Sudan, and serves scientists, scholars and visitors.

- The museum contains hundreds of valuable preserved animal specimens, some of which are now extinct.

- The Sudanese fear the repercussions of the current crisis on the historical legacy of Sudan, which is difficult to compensate for in the light of the continuous clashes between the two parties to the conflict, with no hope of an immediate solution.

View original: https://www.easternherald.com/2023/05/19/sudan-the-animal-museum-cries-for-war/

Sudan: 0smano & Four Paws update from Khartoum #SudanAnimalRescue #SaveSudanLions #اسود_حديقة_القرشي

Photo credit: 

Osmano instagram 21 Feb 2020 - Lion cub from a zoo in Khartoum

Copy of instagram by Osmano in Khartoum, Sudan 03 Feb 2020:

0smano

Another day of amazing work by the dedicated and caring @four_paws_international team. The team spent the day at Sudan University Vetinary college which is within Kukoo Zoo. They carried out theoretical training as well as alot of hands on practical training for the students and staff of the University. Procedures were done on a lion cub (umbilical cord infection), monkey (fracture), crane and other bird. Once again there dedication and care leaves us speachless. Would like to thank the University, especially Dr Hind for all the help in organising and help in getting equipment out of airport for them.
Team work makes the dream work! 📸 Four Paws International © | Marion Lombard @_rapaper_
#SudanAnimalRescue
#SaveSudanLions
#اسود_حديقة_القرشي

[ Sudan Watch Ed: to visit the above instagram with photos click here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B8zPCYmn73t/ ]

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Photo credit: 

Osmano instagram 21 Feb 2020 - Four Paws' vet treating bird in Khartoum

Copy of instagram by Four Paws in Khartoum, Sudan 03 Feb 2020:

four_paws_international

🔻🇸🇩🔻#SaveSudanLions 🦁: Another daily update from Sudan 

Here is another look at the current mission in Sudan. Besides Kandaka and Mansour, the two other lions, a male and a female, have received special care from our emergency team on-site. Since these two lions arrived in Al Qurashi Family Park Zoo only two months ago, they are in much better condition than Kandaka and Mansour. Still, the female already has bowel issues due to the improper feeding. The two lions, as well as the other animals on-site, are receiving species-appropriate food and medical attention.
Please keep the animals in your thoughts and support the mission team on-site➡ http://bit.ly/sudan-lions [LINK IN BIO]

[ Sudan Watch Ed: to visit the above instagram with video click here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B8G3kfAiqGB/ ]

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Photo credit: 

Osmano instagram 21 Feb 2020 - Four Paws' vet treating monkey in Khartoum

Photo credit: 

Osmano instagram 21 Feb 2020 - Four Paws' vet visiting Khartoum

Photo credit: 

Osmano instagram 21 Feb 2020 - Four Paws' vet visiting Khartoum

Photo credit: 

Osmano instagram 21 Feb 2020 - Four Paws' vet visiting Khartoum

RELATED STORY

Sudan: International help for starving lions in Khartoum zoo - Osman Salih's story goes viral

Sudan Watch - 20 Feb 2020

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2020/02/sudan-international-help-for-starving.html

South Sudan: images reveal global hotspot for biodiversity

South Sudan: latest images reveal a global hotspot for biodiversity

Report from Fauna & Flora International (FFI)

Written by Nathan Williams

Dated 16 August 2019

In 1979 the government of the Democratic Republic of Sudan and the government of Italy began working together to survey the incredible wildlife in the forests of Sudan’s Southern National Park in preparation for drawing up what they called a “Master Plan” for protecting the park.

Surveys undertaken over the following two years revealed a spectacular variety of animals, including elephants, pangolins, leopards, chimpanzees, monkeys, servals, hyenas and much more. With logging and hunting growing as threats, officials and researchers said, in an official report produced in 1981, that the protection of the park should be considered a “priority.” The stage seemed set for one of the world’s most biodiverse regions to secure the protection it deserved. 

But when civil war broke out soon afterwards, the plans were shelved. Conservationists left the country, government focus switched to fighting a war, and wildlife protection efforts were derailed for the best part of 30 years.

In recent years, despite the huge challenges, that has started to change. Fauna & FIora International (FFI) began working in South Sudan (when it was still part of Sudan) in 2010, and over the ensuing decade has built the trust and relationships essential to working in an environment still riven by civil conflict.

A significant development in FFI’s South Sudan work was reached when FFI and Bucknell University researchers teamed up with government authorities and local partners to deploy motion-sensing camera traps to record South Sudan’s still poorly understood wildlife.

Hundreds of thousands of images later, stunning pictures have emerged that shed light on the vast array of wildlife that inhabit these remote forests.

Through these images researchers have documented species not previously known to be found in this richly forested area, where the wildlife of East and Central Africa collide to form a unique tropical forest belt. From African golden cats to leopards, chimpanzees to aardvarks, the stunning images captured over the last year are evidence that this patch of Africa is home to some of the most varied wildlife on Earth.

Photo: A young bongo. Credit: Bucknell University/FFI

The images are hosted on Zooniverse, the world’s largest platform for online citizen science; a collaborative project of the University of Oxford, Chicago’s Adler Planetarium, and the broader Citizen Science Alliance.

Community engagement

This region of South Sudan has historically fallen within a regional wildlife trafficking corridor from Central to North Africa, so to enforce laws and step up protection FFI and its partners have initiated patrols, involving local people and communities, focused on working within two reserves.

Delivering this protected area management and maintaining community led conservation efforts within community managed areas requires the Wildlife Service rangers and the communities adjacent to the Game Reserves to work closely together – cooperation that is unique to this area of South Sudan. The bridges that have been built between communities and government officials has created a pocket of stability and security which is enabling the continued build-up of on-the-ground efforts.

Photo: A curious chimpanzee. Credit: Bucknell University/FFI

And these efforts are very much field-based. Despite the huge challenges of working in this region, FFI staff and its partners are not stuck in a compound but are out every day getting their hands dirty monitoring boundaries and conducting field work across a wide area of the landscape.

FFI’s approach also goes beyond dedicated species work and includes assisting communities with food security issues as well as equipping them with the tools for natural resource management. FFI’s goal is to see these communities become strong, long-term stewards of nature.

Photo: An African golden cat. Credit: Bucknell University/FFI

With civil strife a sadly regular feature of Sudanese life in recent years it would have been easy to pack up and declare South Sudan too difficult or dangerous to work in. Instead FFI has maintained a presence, adapting to situations and the reward is clear to see: some of the world’s most iconic species roaming the land they have called home for thousands of years, protected by a growing network of communities and conservationists.

Written by: Nathan Williams

Communications Executive, Press & Media

Nathan has a background in climate communications, journalism, and PR.

View Original: https://www.fauna-flora.org/news/south-sudan-latest-images-reveal-global-hotspot-biodiversity

Sudan: International help for starving lions in Khartoum zoo - Osman Salih's story goes viral

Sudan's starving lions 'getting help'

Getty Images

Photos of starving lions at the Sudanese zoo shocked people

The starving lions in a zoo in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, whose photos caused an online outcry earlier this week, are now getting treatment, news agency Reuters reports.

A plea from the Sudan Wildlife Research Centre (SWRC), and an online campaign, have resulted in help arriving for the malnourished lions, it says.

One of the lions died earlier this week.

Conservationists from SWRC say the lions belong to a rare subspecies that are only found in areas near Sudan and Ethiopia.

It is unclear how many lions are left in the wild in Sudan.

Sudan is in the middle of an economic crisis which has led to soaring food prices and a shortage of foreign currency.

[Sudan Watch editor: Apologies to the author of the above report, I got so upset and distracted reading it, I mislaid its date and hyperlink. I'm guessing the report is from the BBC's file of Animal Cruelty reports]

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International help for starving lions in Sudan zoo
Report from BBC News - www.bbc.co.uk

Written by MARY HARPER, Africa editor, BBC World Service

Published 27 January 2020 at 17:08

A team of wildlife conservationists has flown to Sudan to look after four starving lions in a zoo in the capital Khartoum.

The animals went hungry during the months of political and economic turmoil last year. They lost as much as two-thirds of their body weight.

A lioness at the zoo died from dehydration last week, despite receiving intravenous fluids.

The conservationists say their first priority is to provide food and medical care for the lions. They will then look for a long-term solution.

Photo: Four Paws animal welfare group

There has been widespread concern about the plight of the lions

[Sudan Watch Ed: Apologies to the author of above report, I was so shocked and upset reading it I mislaid its hyperlink]

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Sudan lions: outpouring of support for emaciated cats after viral campaign

Report from The National - www.thenational.ae 

By Hamza Hendawi

Published 29 January 2020

When images of the starving lions circulated online, many in Khartoum stepped in to offer donations – despite poverty, food insecurity and unemployment being widespread

Photo: A team of international wildlife conservationists from Four Paws organisation examine one of the fours starving and sick lions at a zoo in the Sudanese capital on January 27, 2020 where a lioness died last week. Months of political and economic turmoil that rocked Sudan from late 2018 severely damaged the health of the lions faced with shortages of food and medicine. Al-Qureshi Park is run by Khartoum municipality but funded partly by private donations, which have dried up due to the economic crisis that sparked nationwide protests though much of last year. / AFP / ASHRAF SHAZLY

Help has finally arrived for four starving lions in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum after images went viral online showing the emaciated big cats.

The predicament of the lions first came to local and international attention when a Khartoum software engineer, Osman Salih, visited Al Qureshi park and posted images of the starving cats.

"It's so upsetting. These lions have been suffering for so long," Mr Salih told AFP.

Subsequent images, including video clips, also posted online showed them walking with extreme difficulty with flies swarming over open wounds. All the lions had protruding bones.

The park is run by the Khartoum municipality and officials there said the animals were left to starve because of lack of resources. They added that the chaos and violence that swept the Sudanese capital during months of street protests that began in December 2018 against the 29-year rule of dictator Omar Al Bashir, who was removed by the military in April, contributed to the decline in their condition.

The images prompted many in Khartoum to rush to the rescue of the animals. An online campaign with the hashtag #SudanAnimalRescue [ https://twitter.com/hashtag/SudanAnimalRescue?src=hashtag_click and  https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/sudananimalrescue/ and #SaveSudanLions https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaveSudanLions?src=hashtag_click ] produced generous donations of meat and medicine and drew attention to the unrelated danger faced by the African lion.

“Lots of fresh meat was brought by several donors as well as two sheep,” Mr Salih wrote on Facebook last week. “Supply of regular meat from factories and slaughterhouses was also secured.”

On Monday, a rapid response team of wildlife conservationists from the Vienna-based Four Paws flew into Khartoum to treat the animals, but it was too late for a lioness that died last week from dehydration and starvation even though local veterinaries tried to save her with intravenous fluids.

"It's now important to improve the conditions of the animals... and the next step is to find a long-term solution," Amir Khalil of Four Paws told AFP.

Mr Khalil said carrying out tests on the animals would not be easy. "It's very difficult to approach the animals and very risky," he said. Mr Khalil was quoted by The Associated Press on Tuesday as saying two of the four surviving lions were in “critical condition” having lost a third of their weight.

“Their muscles are not even able to move. I don’t know how we will be able to do injections,” he said.

"The animals are very weak at this moment, so moving them won't be the best thing," said Juno Van Zon, another member of the team.

"I think for now we have to focus on getting the animals healthy and also to train the people."

Sudan’s wildlife has greatly suffered from the country’s near-constant civil wars since independence in 1956, especially decades of conflict in southern Sudan. The fighting forced a significant number of animals to escape to neighbouring countries in search of safety.

The tragedy of the Khartoum lions, meanwhile, has come to world attention at a time when the African lion is thought by conservationists to be “vulnerable,” with an estimated 20,000 of them left in the entire continent. That figure underlines a staggering decline of 43 per cent in the period between 1994 and 2014, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Humans are not doing much better in Sudan, a vast Afro-Arab country that, beside civil wars, has suffered a series of famines since the 1980s. The United Nations says that of a population of some 43 million people, 9.3 million – 23 per cent of the population – will need humanitarian assistance in 2020.

Throughout Sudan, said the UN, 58 per cent of households cannot afford basic daily food basket and over 2.7 million children suffer from acute malnutrition.

View Original: https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/sudan-lions-outpouring-of-support-for-emaciated-cats-after-viral-campaign-1.971359

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UPDATE - 11 February 2020 ❤️❤️❤️

Look who is feeling better!

To see a heartwarming collage of lion Kandaka's 'before and after' photos click here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8cbWcrpiAu/

With thanks to @Osmano [ https://www.instagram.com/0smano/ ]

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Sudan: The Forgotten Lions

NOTE from Sudan Watch editor: I have used 'Google translate' to copy the following report, originally written in German, in English. To view a video of the poor forgotten lions in Sudan click here: https://www.daserste.de/information/politik-weltgeschehen/weltspiegel/sendung/sudan-vergessene-loewen-100.html 

News report from Das Erste - www.daserste.de

Author: Daniel Hechler/ARD Studio Cairo

Published 16 February 2020 8:27 PM

Title: Sudan: The Forgotten Lions

She was just a shadow of herself. Skin and bones after weeks without food. Today Kendaka is back on her feet. Still weak and thin, almost blind. But back in life and full of curiosity. A fighter. Even if there remain scars that tell of their suffering.

He saved them. Osman Sali strolls through a park in Khartoum in mid-January, discovering this creepy mini-zoo in a corner. Wild animals crammed together on a few square meters, without any care. Hyenas, eagles, lizards and also five lions. Three of them completely exhausted. Kendaka seems doomed. Osman is stunned.

"You couldn't see any fat, you couldn't see any more muscles. She was a skeleton on the ground, couldn't move. The cage was extremely dirty. It was sad to see them like this," says Osman Sali, an IT specialist.

Osman confronts the operator of the zoo. He reacts coolly. He ran out of food. Finally, everyone would suffer in Sudan. For the 35-year-old family man, nothing more than a stupid excuse, as he tells us.

"It's not fair to say that. Unlike humans, the lions are trapped in a cage. You can't go out, ask for help, shop, don't even go begging in the street," says Osman Sali.

Animals become a symbol of suffering and hunger in Sudan

At home, the IT specialist reaches into the buttons and uploads the photos. His wife and children are also shocked. Together they want to save the lions. Somehow. On Facebook, his post sparked outrage. Hundreds of comments in a few hours. The animals become a symbol of suffering and hunger in Sudan. 

But also for the determination to fight against not leaving them alone. "I was overwhelmed. I couldn't handle the pressure. It was just too much news. I had to turn my phone on silently because it rang all the time and I wanted to focus on solving the problem," says Osman Sali.

It will be hectic days for Osman. He commutes through Khartoum, organizes food, medicines, contacts the government, animal welfare organizations and experiences enormous helpfulness. Despite poverty, hardship and shortage in Sudan. The economic crisis is paralysing the country. Miles of queues in front of the petrol stations, the gasoline is scarce. There are also shortages of medicines, jobs, prospects.

"I have to take a taxi from morning to evening to make ends meet and put some money aside for my wedding," says Kassem Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, a taxi driver.

Everyone wants to help the lions

It is the legacy of 30 years of dictatorship and nepotism. The people have brought down the regime. After months of mass protests. The military and the opposition have agreed on a joint government and a roadmap for new elections. "I love my country very much. And I really hope that things will get better now," Osman Sali hopes. However, not much has been said for people about change. They have to queue for bread, often for hours. Money is running out, prices are rising. And yet many are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. 

"I'm optimistic. When people stand together, good things come into being. Our country has abundant natural resources. Three rivers, fertile soil. This will enable us to provide for the whole of Sudan," says Hamdi Abdel Kader.

Pride, solidarity, confidence. They also feel this in the zoo. According to Osman's posts, meat and food pile up there. Volunteers prepare special food for the emaciated lions. Minced meat, cat food, vitamins, proteins, antibiotics. 

Teamwork with Happy End

Amir Khalid from the organization 'Four Paws' offers help, flies in from Vienna. The veterinarian specialises in emergency operations. But he has never experienced one in 30 years. First, the Egyptian is skeptical whether the lions can survive. Gradually, however, they gain confidence, take on food and develop magnificently.

"They lost almost two-thirds of their body weight at that time, the chance of survival was zero percent. I'm so happy, it's 90 percent now, the muscles are very good, the immune system. I'm happy, it was a team effort. Especially the lions themselves, they want to live," says Amir Khalid, a veterinarian.

A team effort with a happy ending. And a proof of humanity also towards animals, as Amir Khalid and Osman Sali believe. 

"I am so relieved, grateful, happy with what we have achieved. She finally looks like a lioness again," says Osman Sali.

The government now wants to make a site at the gates of the capital available for the animals. Appropriate with plenty of spout. Osman and Dr. Amir are impressed by the plans. Everyone is pulling together now. It's a story that gives hope to the lions, but also to the whole country. A country in transition.

View Original: https://www.daserste.de/information/politik-weltgeschehen/weltspiegel/sendung/sudan-vergessene-loewen-100.html