Saadi Jamal with cubs
Photo: Reuters
Two lion cubs have become the star members of a family living in a Gaza refugee camp because of the weak economy in the coastal Palestinian territory.
For the past 10 weeks, "they've been living in the house like members of the family", he told AFP. The children in the three-room apartment and their local friends "play all day long with the cubs".
A cash-starved zoo in Rafah, in the southern Strip, sold the cubs to Saadi Jamal, a Palestinian Authority security employee who has taken them home – to the delight of his four children and their neighbors.
For the past 10 weeks, "they've been living in the house like members of the family", he told AFP. The children in the three-room apartment and their local friends "play all day long with the cubs".
But this extended family comes at a price.
They gobble up one pound of meat a day, a tall order in Gaza – blockaded by both Israel and Egypt – where prices have soared since the 50-day summer war between militants in the strip, led by Hamas, and the IDF.
"Once they turn five months," Jamal plans to make some money by leasing the cubs out to amusement parks, seaside resorts, and restaurants.
Jamal has even received a $9000 offer to buy them, but he won't say how much he paid the zoo.