Puerto Rico zoo animals arrive in Colorado following closure
Thirteen exotic animals arrived in Colorado on Friday night, after being displaced by the closure of the Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo in Puerto Rico earlier this year.
Seven lions, two black bears, and a camel have been taken in by the Wild Animal Sanctuary, which operates three locations in Colorado. According to a Facebook post by the organization, one of the lions, a male named Tsavo, arrived with some medical needs.
Tsavo’s medical certificate indicates that he is 23 years old, however, the Wild Animal Sanctuary estimates that he is closer to 17.
“Either way, he is missing a lot of his teeth, including his large canine teeth. Basically, his mouth is a wreck, and he has difficulty holding his tongue inside his mouth most of the time. This is something we see in quite often with rescues, as lions with serious vitamin deficiencies have the same problem,” the post said.
According to the post, now that Tsavo and the other lions have better access to nutrition and opportunities for exercise, they are expected to dramatically improve their muscle tone and color in the coming months.
“We’ve seen this kind of transformation over and over hundreds of times so we look forward to having before and after pictures ready later this summer or fall,” officials said.
The remaining animals, a red kangaroo, a crested porcupine, and a marabou stork, have been taken in by the Denver Zoo. The Wild Animal Sanctuary has reported that the Denver Zoo’s new animals are “in good spirits”, and are undergoing rehabilitation.
“We want to thank all of the staff that traveled to PR for this group’s flight to freedom- and also thank the myriad of Fish & Wildlife – USDA – DNER and local police that helped keep the zoo secure yesterday and also helped us get the animals to Fed Ex’s Terminal at the Aguadilla Airport. Last, but most certainly not least, we want to thank the thousands of supporters that donated toward this project!” the post reads.
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