Giza Zoo Lions

        I remember when I used to go to the Giza Zoo when I was a kid with the trips organized by my school. Although I was still a kid but I remember that the zoo was a beautiful, clean and organized place. When I grew up and knew how does a decent zoo should look like, I discovered that the Giza Zoo is one of those zoos that can be called a ghost zoo. The zoo doesn't compare to the worst of zoos in any North American or European zoos. There is no conservation efforts at all. The zoo is very dirty and dusty. The keepers are unfortunately illiterate people who don't care about the animals, just making a living. The cages are very tight and dirty. A zoo vet is an illusion. Food is provided by instinct, not on a scientific basis or organized scheduele. Water is not available a lot of times. The zoo guests cause a lot of noise and try to provoke the animals all the time. Basically, the zoo is practicing everything that is against the fundamentals of a real zoo.

        The sad thing is that the zoo is considered one of the oldest zoos in the world as it was built in the 1860s. Also, the size of the zoo land is big and the potential to create a worldwide class zoo is available. Unfortunately, the zoo is at the bottom of the priority list of the Egyptian Department of Agriculture. The Giza Zoo lions are some of the helpless suferers of the zoo. I was shocked when I saw the horrible conditions that those lions live, and the sad thing is that the zoo doesn't have 5 or 6 zoos, the zoo actually hosts 29 lions and lionesses!!!

        The same negatives I listed above about the zoo apply exactly to the lions. Cages are extremely dirty and small. Four or five lions are hosted in the same small cage. Some of the lions have untreated wounds. Water bowls are hardly available. The keepers use long sticks to beat the lions and disturb them. People throw paper, stones, etc. at the lions with no interference at all from the keepers. A lot of the keepers grab the lions through the cage bars to get a tip from the zoo guests. The lions themselves are very dirty, slim, and a lot of them look totally inactive. To summarize, 29 lions are living a very humiliating life. The king is no longer majesitc

        After my visit to the zoo, I talked with a British naturalist who lives in Egypt. Dr. Richard Hoath is an English professor in the American University in Cairo. He has been working with Born Free Foundation to improve the living conditions of the Giza Zoo lions. Dr. Hoath told me that the foundation spent thousands of British Sterlings on the Giza Zoo lion project but there was no cooperation at all from the zoo directors of the Egyptian Department of Agriculture. Finally, the foundation gave up and discarded the project after they saw no hope at all. I collected some brief data of the lions I saw in the zoo and gathered the data in the tables below. Also, the picturs of the lions and the zoo can be seen here. The remaining question is:

What can be done to help and save the Giza Zoo lions?!!

Brief data of the Giza Zoo lions as of November 16th, 2001

Cage #1 (Outside)
Number Male/Female Approximate age Obvious marks Physical appearance Surroundings
1 Male 4 Dirty fur Slim Poor
2 Female 3 Dirty fur Average Poor
3 Female 3 Dirty fur Average Poor
4 Female 4 Dirty fur Average Poor
5 Female 3 Dirty fur Average Poor

Cage #2 (Outside)
Number Male/Female Approximate age Obvious marks Physical appearance Surroundings
1 Male 4 Dirty fur Slim Poor
2 Female 4 Dirty fur Slim Poor
3 Female 4 Dirty fur Slim Poor
4 Female 4 Dirty fur Slim Poor
5 Female 4 Dirty fur Slim Poor
6 Female 4 Dirty fur Slim Poor

Cage #3 (Outside)
Number Male/Female Approximate age Obvious marks Physical appearance Surroundings
1 Male 15 Good fur Average Poor
2 Female 6 Dirty fur Average Poor

Cage #4 (Outside)
Number Male/Female Approximate age Obvious marks Physical appearance Surroundings
1 Male 5 Dirty fur Slim Poor
2 Female 4 Dirty fur Slim Poor
3 Female 3 Dirty fur Slim Poor
4 Female 3 Dirty fur Slim Poor

Cage #5 (Outside)
Number Male/Female Approximate age Obvious marks Physical appearance Surroundings
1 Male 5 Dirty fur Slim Poor
2 Male 5 Dirty fur Slim Poor
3 Male 5 Dirty fur Slim Poor

Cage #6 (Inside)
Number Male/Female Approximate age Obvious marks Physical appearance Surroundings
1 Male 6 Dirty fur Slim Poor

Cage #7 (Inside)
Number Male/Female Approximate age Obvious marks Physical appearance Surroundings
1 Female 8 Dirty fur Slim Poor

Cage #8 (Inside)
Number Male/Female Approximate age Obvious marks Physical appearance Surroundings
1 Male 17 Dirty fur Average Poor

Cage #9 (Inside)
Number Male/Female Approximate age Obvious marks Physical appearance Surroundings
1 Male 4 Dirty fur & deep, untreated woound in forehead Slim Poor

Cage #10 (Inside)
Number Male/Female Approximate age Obvious marks Physical appearance Surroundings
1 Male 4 Dirty fur & deep, untreated woound in forehead Slim Poor

Cage #11 (Inside)
Number Male/Female Approximate age Obvious marks Physical appearance Surroundings
1 Male 4 Dirty fur Slim Poor
2 Female 4 Dirty fur Slim Poor

Cage #12 (Inside)
Number Male/Female Approximate age Obvious marks Physical appearance Surroundings
1 Female 6 Dirty fur Good Poor
2 Female 6 Dirty fur Good Poor

© Copyright Hany Amin 2001. All Rights Reserved