Gaza zookeeper puts lion cubs up for sale

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — The owner of a private zoo in the impoverished Gaza Strip has put three lion cubs up for sale, saying he can no longer afford to feed them. 

Mohammad Ahmad Jumaa took to social media to advertise the animals at 3,500 Jordanian dinars ($5,000) each.

"Because of the bad economic situation and the difficulty of finding food and drink (for the animals), I was forced to put up for sale three cubs born around a month ago," he said.

He said he needed the money to pay for the upkeep of the rest of his pride — two male and three female lions. 

Jumaa, who has owned the animal park in Rafah on the border with Egypt for 23 years, said feeding his animals costs around $345 a month.

He had named the cubs Palestine, Al Quds (Jerusalem in Arabic), and Erdogan (after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan).

He had received calls about the advert on Facebook but had not so far sold any of the cubs.

In 2016, a tiger, two turtles, two eagles, two porcupines, a pelican, an emu and a deer were transferred from a dilapidated Gaza zoo to new homes in Jordan, South Africa and Israel.

Many other animals died because of poor conditions as the owners ran out of money in the enclave hit by three wars with Israel since 2008 and a decade-long Israeli blockade.