Gaza lions en route to Jordan, via Israel, after zoo damaged in recent Israel-Hamas war

A Palestinian worker loads a metal cage with a lion inside onto a truck at the Al-Bisan zoo, as a team prepares a transfer for three lions to Israel en route to a better life at a wildlife sanctuary in Jordan after their zoo was damaged in the recent Israel-Hamas war, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. Three lions, a pair of males and a pregnant female, were sedated before the big cats were placed in metal cages and loaded onto a truck that transferred them through the Erez border crossing into Israel. Amir Khalil of the Four Paws International welfare group said the zoo’s animals were in urgent need of care after the 50-day war. He said the zoo was badly damaged and more than 80 animals died as a result of the fighting. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) (The Associated Press)

A lion lays inside a metal cage at Al-Bisan zoo, as a medical team prepares to transfer three big cats to Israel en route to a better life at a wildlife sanctuary in Jordan after their zoo was damaged in the recent Israel-Hamas war, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. Three lions, a pair of males and a pregnant female, were sedated before the big cats were placed in metal cages and loaded onto a truck that transferred them through the Erez border crossing into Israel. Amir Khalil of the Four Paws International welfare group said the zoo’s animals were in urgent need of care after the 50-day war. He said the zoo was badly damaged and more than 80 animals died as a result of the fighting. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) (The Associated Press)

Dr. Amir Khalil, Director of Project Development, Four Paws International, sedates a lion at the Al-Bisan zoo, as a team prepares a transfer for three lions to Israel en route to a better life at a wildlife sanctuary in Jordan after their zoo was damaged in the recent Israel-Hamas war, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. Three lions, a pair of males and a pregnant female, were sedated before the big cats were placed in metal cages and loaded onto a truck that transferred them through the Erez border crossing into Israel. Amir Khalil of the Four Paws International welfare group said the zoo’s animals were in urgent need of care after the 50-day war. He said the zoo was badly damaged and more than 80 animals died as a result of the fighting. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) (The Associated Press)

A trio of scrawny lions has been brought into Israel from Gaza en route to a better life at a wildlife sanctuary in Jordan after their zoo was damaged in the recent Israel-Hamas war.

A pair of males and a pregnant female were sedated Tuesday at Al-Bisan zoo in Beit Lahiya before the big cats were placed in metal cages and loaded onto a truck that transferred them through the Erez border crossing into Israel.

Amir Khalil of the Four Paws International welfare group says the zoo's animals are in urgent need of care after the 50-day war. He says the zoo was badly damaged and more than 80 animals died as a result of the fighting.