GAZA CITY: Three day-old lion cubs were on display Saturday Aug 13 in a cardboard box at a Gaza City zoo, a rare joyous sight for children and adults alike, just days after Israeli aircraft pounded the territory and Gaza militants fired hundreds or rockets at Israel.
Veterinarian Mahmoud al-Sultan said each cub weighed about 700 g and he felt lucky that the birth was successful despite the deafening sound of constant explosions during three days of fighting. Al-Sultan said the mother of the cubs had suffered miscarriages in the past.
Loud noise causes stress to the wild animals, especially the lions, whose roars get higher, and they keep moving in a circular way inside the cage he said.
The cubs were born on Friday, several hours apart, and five days after an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire stopped the fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad militants. Forty-nine Palestinians, including 17 children, were killed and several hundred were injured in the fighting.