MEXICO CITY: The first of more than two dozen animals rescued from mistreatment by private owners in Mexico has been transferred to an animal sanctuary in Colorado.
Leonardo, a lion cub that belonged to a man who prematurely removed him from his mother to gift him to a young girl, was seized by Mexican authorities and made his way to America. The cub arrived malnourished at the The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg where he will now get a second chance at life.
Six lions, eight tigers, two leopards, a jaguar, a lynx, a puma, two spider monkeys, a bear, a coyote and a peccary will follow Leonardo within the rest of the year. It isn’t clear from who these animals were seized but they were all mistreated, overcrowded or abandoned by their private owners in Mexico.
They are being transferred to the US with the help of Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office for Environmental Protection.
After Mexico banned all wild animal acts in circuses last year, 136 circus animals have been seized by authorities because of concerns over mistreatment, living conditions and improper paperwork. The country is now seeking new homes for those mistreated animals.
