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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Time to say goodbye.
Seven lions, a bear, a camel and even a porcupine left Puerto Rico’s lone zoo Friday to move to a brand new dwelling in Colorado.
A U.S.-based animal rescue group began transferring the animals below a plan to search out higher locations for the animals than the zoo, the place numerous species have died.
Zoo workers and employees with the Wild Animal Sanctuary group ready the large cats and the opposite animals for the lengthy journey.
Activists have lengthy held the U.S. territory’s authorities chargeable for the deaths and in poor health well being of animals reported for greater than a decade on the zoo within the western city of Mayaguez.
Wild Animal Sanctuary is overseeing the elimination of the animals and different creatures on the zoo. They are going to be transferred initially to a refuge in Colorado till a everlasting house is discovered for them.
A number of the smaller specimens like reptiles and a few monkeys have been already transferred, however the larger mammals just like the lions, the bear and the camel required particular measures for touring.
A government-appointed committee stated that previously decade two pumas died on the zoo. It additionally raised considerations about an underweight chimpanzee in addition to a rhinoceros named Felipe that was limping and stated there was a scarcity of shelter for animals.
In January, an American black bear named Nina who had stopped consuming died from a coronary heart assault at greater than 20 years outdated. Black bears can dwell as much as 35 years in captivity.
In March, federal authorities stated they have been dropping all investigations into the zoo after reaching an settlement with native officers to switch the animals to sanctuaries on the U.S. mainland. The announcement angered many activists.
The zoo opened initially in 1954, however it has been closed since hurricanes Irma and Maria battered Puerto Rico in September 2017.