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A member of Four Paws International team carries a pelican to be taken out of Gaza, at a zoo in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip August 23, 2016. Fifteen animals including a bengal tiger were removed from “the world’s worst zoo” in the Gaza town of Khan Younis as it was finally closed down. Animal welfare group, Four Paws International, will help bring most of the refugees to a zoo in Jordan, but the tiger will be taken to a refuge in South Africa. Five monkeys, a porcupine, an emu and the tiger, among others, crossed from the occupied territory into Israel after the zoo suffered from years of difficulty. With lack of awareness of animal welfare in Gaza, the densely-populated territory has previously made headlines after another zoo painted donkeys with stripes to resemble zebras in 2009. The original pair of zebras died of starvation during Israel’s war against Hamas. Four Paws had previously taken animals out of Gaza, including several lions and cubs. The wee ones were sold as pets to a resident from a refugee camp. In the latest rescue mission, the tiger named Laziz was kept in a 3 sq m (32 sq ft) cage alongside his stuffed counterpart. In his new home at the Lionsrock Lodge & Big Cat Sanctuary in Bethlehem, South Africa, he will have a 10,000 sq m (100,000 sq ft) enclosure. (Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)
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