The lion that escaped from a circus near Rome posed no threat to the public, his handler insisted Sunday, as campaigners called for Italy to ban wild animals in entertainment.Residents of the seaside town of Ladispoli were told to stay indoors for more than five hours on Saturday evening while police, vets and circus staff tracked the lion, finally sedating and then capturing him.Extraordinary videos published by Italian media, apparently taken by locals, showed the fully-grown lion with a shaggy mane walking through dark and deserted residential streets, padding past parked cars.But Rony Vassallo, who is responsible for the animals in the Rony Roller Circus, said that while the thought of confronting a lion would make most people fearful, eight-year-old Kimba posed little danger.Residents of the seaside town of Ladispoli were told to stay indoors for more than five hours on Saturday evening while police, vets and circus staff tracked the lion."He met with people in an environment he wasn't used to... and nothing happened, he didn't even for a second have the instinct to attack a person," he told AFP at the circus site.He said his fear had been "that someone could have harm the animal, out of fear, or excess enthusiasm".Nearby, not far from the red and white striped main tent where preparations were under way for the afternoon show,...
Italian circus says escaped lion posed no risk
Two Big Cats from Infamous Tiger King Captivity Thriving in San Diego After Sanctuary Helps Save 69 Tigers

Jem and Zoe, rescued from Tiger King Park – credit: Lions, Tigers, and Bears Animal SanctuaryA San Diego wildlife sanctuary is proud to report that two of the 69 tigers rescued from the infamous collection of the ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic are thriving at their Alpine, CA location.Participating in the rescue of the cats, it took Lions, Tigers, and Bears Animal Sanctuary 3 years to help the pair of Bengal tigers, Jem and Zoe, to put on normal weight and get back to their wild ways, but that perseverance has paid off.Netflix broke the world of the US tiger trade to the world with a landmark docu-series Tiger King in 2021, which centered around the private menagerie collection of Joe Exotic, and his difficulties with a woman named Carole Baskin, the owner of Big Cat Rescue.Exotic is now in prison serving 21 years for conspiracy to commit murder after attempting to hire two hitmen to take Baskin out. Tiger King Park in Oklahoma was closed for ongoing violations of the Endangered Species Act.An organized effort to relocate his 69 captive tigers to sanctuaries around the country saw Lions, Tigers, and Bears (LTB) take in two adults Jem and Zoe.“Their condition was dire, marked by severe malnutrition, emaciation, dull skin, and other issues,” LTB told Fox News 5 San Diego. “The trauma from long-term abuse led to the development of uncharacteristic...
Lions added to endangered species list
In response to the alarming decline of lion populations in the wild, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed two lion subspecies as endangered and threatened. Without action to protect them, African lions could see their populations halved by 2035.
This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced it will list two lion subspecies under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Panthera leo leo – located in India and western and central Africa – will be listed as endangered, while Panthera leo melanochaita – found in eastern and southern Africa – will be listed as threatened. In the last 20 years, lion populations have declined by 43% due to a combination of habitat loss, loss of prey base, trophy hunting, poaching for skins and uses in Chinese traditional medicine, and retaliatory killing of lions by a growing human population. The killing of Cecil the lion in July of this year served to further highlight this issue. Coupled with inadequate financial and other resources for countries to effectively manage protected areas, the impact on lions in the wild has been substantial. Having once been present in south-eastern Europe and throughout much of the Middle East and India, the animals have now lost 85% of their historic range, as shown on the map below. Their numbers could be halved again by 2035, according to a...
A tiger, a probe and a test tube

By Rich Tosches: Today, in a mature and grown-up way, we will discuss a recent event at our village zoo in which a man with a giant vibrating electric anal probe collected semen samples from a 400-pound tiger. And to answer your first question: Yes. The brave, brave man is still alive. I, however, was also in the room and will never be the same, having witnessed the tiger make three, uh, donations in a short span of time in what's known as multi-sample collecting. (On a personal note, I have another phrase for three such events: All of September and part of November.) Anyway, the semen collecting at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was performed on a 5-year-old endangered Amur tiger, formerly known as a Siberian tiger, to determine whether he can reproduce or whether he is, in strict scientific terms, shooting blanks. I was allowed to watch because my wife is on the zoo's board of directors and also, apparently, because the women in the room needed someone to point at while they chuckled and whispered. The tiger who starred in the show came to our zoo with the actual name of Billy Ray, a sleek and beautiful cat who loves playing in his Asian Highlands exhibit, chewing on horse bones and, of course, NASCAR. Today his name has been changed to Grom, which means, literally, "Hey, what's with the giant electric prob ... ROAAAAR?!!!!!!"...
White tiger kills man who fell into its enclosure at Delhi zoo

A white tiger attacked and killed a young man who apparently slipped and fell into its enclosure at the Delhi zoo on Tuesday.(Disturbing images, not for children), Source: Article, Image: flickr.co...
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