A lion and a tigress who live in cages in Santiago del Estero are transferred to South Africa – 03/14/2019

A lion and a tigress, who were staying in two cages of the former zoo of the municipality of Santiago del Estero, were transferred yesterday, by land, to Ezeiza, then were shipped to a reserve in South Africa. The felines were incarcerated for more than three years under the supervision of the municipal staff, during which the zoo was closed to the public.

These are the first two cats that will be returned to their habitatafter the closure of the municipal zoo more than three years ago. It's "Melena" and "Tika", the latter is the tigress. Three other cats are still waiting in the zoo facilities, pending their transfer.

The animals were sent to two specially conditioned containers by land at the Ezeiza International Airport; from there, they will fly to San Pablo, where they will finally be dropped off in a booking in Joha-Johannesburg, South Africa.

The operation took place quite discreetly yesterday (the media were not informed) and was supervised by the intendant Norma Fuentes in person. "Seeing empty cages is a feat for those of us who are committed to working to provide the quality of life that animals deserve, and we continue to work for the remaining animals so that their transfer is completed in the best possible way. deadlines, while respecting the required conditions because the approval of two cities is required, from the receiving country and the sending country, "he said.

From the municipality they explained to Clarin that cats will arrive in Johannesburg on Saturday morning. The operation has been running since last year and, according to the authorities, last December, the veterinarians responsible for cat health applied anti-rabies and antiparasitic vaccines, a requirement imposed, inter alia, by South Africa for animals to enter. .

Then they prepared the boxes in which they would do the loading for their transfer, for which they were given a sedative to get them in, by injecting them with various medications.

The provincial government also intervened in the operation, he was responsible for speeding up the approval process, called Cites, in front of national agencies such as Senasa, customs, etc., added the mayor Norma Fuentes.