This can't be right...

11:00 am Friday 12th of February we were alerted to the fact that there had been four lion cubs caught at the border between Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The story of these cubs is quite an intricate one which we are still sorting through to get the final picture. We know so far that they left Syria in a private car and entered Jordan through the Jaber border (the border between Syria and Jordan). On reaching the Saudi/Jordanian border, having travelled across Jordan, the woman in the car apparently got cold feet. She found a bus which was travelling back to Syria and asked the driver to take them back to Syria. It is at this point that the customs found them and confiscated them.


A team from the Royal Society for the conservation of nature (RSCN) and members of the confiscation team from the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) moved immediately to the border for the handover of the confiscated animals. Nothing prepared any of us for the sight we were met with.

The lion cubs had been crammed, two a piece, into tiny travel boxes, barely adequate enough for a regular cat! Even with the top of the cage removed, the cubs were still too cramped to be able to be taken out.

We quickly moved the cubs to the New Hope Centre for emergency treatment and care, where they were transferred to a larger crate before being introduced into their new enclosure.

The cubs settled well in their new enclosure but were initially terrified.

Today the cubs were transfered to a new enclosure and we are pleased to report they are doing a lot better.

The fact that these cubs have been taken from their mothers at such a young age is a crime, and we call on everyone to assist in stopping the illegal capture, transport and sale of these magnificent animals. One hates to think what kind of life they were headed for…