BRAZIL SEEKS NEW HOMES FOR LIONS

Brazil seeks new homes for lions
By Tim Hirsch BBC News, Sao Paulo.

Brazil is now considering a ban on importing lions. Environmental authorities in Brazil are struggling to find permanent homes for 68 lions abandoned by circuses across the country.
Some of the animals were found roaming the roadside, hungry and diseased.
The number of rescued lions surged after new laws banning wild animal displays in some regions.
In one of the most recent rescues, police found five bedraggled lions roaming by the side of the road in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais.
Many Brazilian states and municipalities have recently passed laws banning the use of live animals such as lions in travelling circuses, leading some owners simply to abandon them.
In one raid on a circus in the northern city of Belem, lions were described by the Brazilian environment agency, Ibama, as being just skin and bone, suffering from rickets and infections which caused them to lose their fur.
According to newspaper reports, abandoned lions are being cared for across the country, some in makeshift cages or even in police stations.
One was kept in a town's football field until a zoo found space for it.
Ibama wants all lions in Brazil to be sterilised and is trying to prevent further imports from their native Africa.

BBC NEWS REPORT.