In November of this year of COVID19 2020, days after a starving lion and a number of other severely underfed animals were discovered by a shocked visitor to Gamji Gate Zoo in Kaduna State, a wildlife charity, Wild@Life e.V, in conjunction with the Nigerian Association of Zoological Gardens and Wildlife Parks (NAZAP) rescued the severely malnourished lion.
Francis Abioye, NAZAP National President, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Owerri that the distressed lion was trapped for five days in the zoo after a recent flood in the state. Abioye said the rescue could not be easily carried out due to lack of tranquillisers to administer on the lion to gain easy closeness to it, a situation, he said, caused the animal serious distress.