Lion cub stolen from Gaza zoo

JERUSALEM – As if Gaza didn’t have enough to contend with – now a lion is missing from its newly opened zoo.

Two weeks ago, masked men with assault rifles stole four-month-old lion cub Sabrina, said Soud al-Shawaa, director of the Gaza Strip’s only zoo. They also made off with two parrots prized for their ability to speak a few words of Arabic, and tried to steal Sabrina’s cage mate, Sakher, but he was stronger and resisted.

Police asked the zoo to keep the theft a secret while they investigated. With still no sign of Sabrina, they now hope publicity will help them track her down. The zoo has also offered a reward.

“Now you see we are forced to put armed guards at this zoo to protect our animals and birds,” al-Shawaa told AP Television News on Monday.

Sakher has been traumatized by the loss of Sabrina, refusing to eat his meat and acting listless, al-Shawaa said.

The Gaza Strip’s only zoo opened last month – a sign of normalization for many Palestinians looking for improvement in their lives after Israel withdrew from the coastal strip in September. The strip’s previous zoo in the border town of Rafah was destroyed in an Israeli army operation in 2004.

Life in Gaza has been chaotic in recent months, with gunmen controlling the streets as Palestinian security forces weakened by five years of fighting with Israel struggle to keep control.

Palestinian officials told the Israeli Yediot Ahronot newspaper that militants may have stolen the cub as a show of strength.