The head of an animal rescue centre in the middle of a war zone has told the BBC how difficult a task it has been to get stranded animals, including lions and hyenas, away to safety.
Osman Salih said it was a “nerve-wracking couple of days” to get the stranded animals out of the Sudan Animal Rescue centre on the outskirts of the capital, Khartoum.
Since war broke out seven months ago between Sudan’s national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), managing the animals, including getting food supplies, has not been easy.
“It was a very difficult task, we had a lot of our cars stolen that we used to bring supplies with… we had our base raided several times,” Osman Salih told the BBC’s Newsday programme.
At the beginning of the war, the centre had 23 lions, six hyenas and 30 other animal species.
But over the months, Mr Salih said some of the animals had died from illnesses, as vets were not able to go in or send medical supplies.
He said being in the middle of an area controlled by the RSF, the evacuation from the conflict area “took a lot of permissions, communications from both sides and a lot of time to organise”.
It was an “almost impossible task” to do and a “huge risk for the team”, he said.
The animals are now being safety rehabilitated in another city outside the capital.
Mr Salih says there are plans to have them re-housed in “species-appropriate places” and there were offers from a number of places both inside and outside the country.
