SOUF, Jordan – The odds had been stacked against Hajar, a lion cub born just hours after her mother Dana, rescued from a zoo in war-torn Syrian, was released into a wildlife reserve in Jordan.
Dana and 12 other animals, including four other lions and two tigers, had barely survived under harsh conditions in the Syrian city of Aleppo, once a major battleground.
They were transported from Syria to Turkey and then to Jordan by the animal charity Four Paws, stuck in cages most of the time. They arrived in Jordan on Friday.
Martin Bauer of Four Paws said Sunday that the cub might not have survived had it been born in a cage. He says the cub seems fine and is nursing.
He says Dana carries a second baby due any time.
