Animal City in Lebanon has come to our attention because of this video:
As you can see, the poor lion is obviously distressed. He’s angry and frustrated. But the girls in the glass box keep mocking him. The post first aired on Instagram, but the original has been removed. News sites report that animal activists across the world are outraged. And righty so.
Animal City is supposed to be an animal sanctuary. A place where animals can go to rest and recuperate. A place where they should be safe and well looked after. But that is definitely not the case.
It’s a Zoo

What animal city actually is, is a zoo. Where animals are used as entertainment. Their wellbeing isn’t the first priority – money is. Animal City obviously doesn’t care about the lion’s psychological health. They uploaded this disgusting video to Instagram themselves. They wanted to attract more paying customers by promoting this “wildlife photo opp” – instead, they just revealed how vile and disgusting they really are.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of these types of sanctuaries around. So if there are photo ops available with wildlife, or you know the facility actively breeds with wildlife to sell on to other zoos – STAY AWAY!
Another problem we uncovered is that a lot of wildlife facilities in Lebanon are suffering under financial strain because of the bad economy. That makes “tourist attractions” like this lion and the glass box more popular – because it lures more people.
What you can do
Of course, signing this petition is the first step. But you can also help to spread awareness. Lions and other big or exotic wildlife are being used to lure people in. The words “sanctuary” or “rescue” aren’t being used truthfully. And in the end, it boils down to making money instead of actually caring for the animals. The more these types of facilities are boycotted, the better. They will be forced to close their doors and hand over their animals to REAL sanctuaries and rescue centers.
So, sign this petition and get out there to spread the word that an animal’s wellbeing is more important than a cool photo opp.