Four Paws, an international animal welfare group, has just completed the removal of the surviving 15 animals from the Khan Younis Zoo—dubbed the “worst zoo in the world”—in the Gaza Strip. Years of war, few visitors, and an Israeli blockade made it increasingly difficult to keep the zoo open and the remaining animals healthy—their numbers dwindling from 44 to 15. The zoo’s owner asked for outside help, and an evacuation was organized. A tiger, several monkeys, emus, a porcupine, and other creatures were given veterinary attention and shipped to facilities in Jordan, South Africa, and elsewhere. Khan Younis Zoo, once reduced to displaying the mummified carcasses of animals that had died in their care, has now shut down.
Animals Rescued From the 'Worst Zoo in the World' in Gaza
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Read moreA tiger named Laziz stands in its enclosure before it is taken out of Gaza by Four Paws International, at a zoo in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on August 23, 2016. #
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Read moreA Palestinian worker stands next to an ill baby deer, laying on mattresses in a metal cage, in a zoo in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on August 19, 2016. #
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Read moreA member of Four Paws International team carries a pelican to be taken out of Gaza on August 23, 2016. #
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Read moreA cooling fan runs in front of a wooden box where a tiger in to be transferred from the zoo of Khan Younis on August 23, 2016. #
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Read moreA monkey climbs the fence of a metal cage in a zoo in Khan Younis on August 19, 2016. #
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Read moreAmir Khalil, an Egyptian veterinarian and leader of a rescue mission by animal welfare charity "Four Paws", anesthetizes a monkey on June 10, 2016 on the first day of the organization's mission at a zoo in Khan Younis. #
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Read moreMembers of Four Paws International team examine a monkey before it is taken out of Gaza on August 23, 2016. #
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Read moreGaza's last tiger, named Laziz, which was evacuated from a zoo in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip is treated by members of the international non-government "Four Paws" organization and vets from the Israeli Hebrew University veterinary teaching hospital in Beit Dagan, near Tel Aviv, on August 24, 2016, prior to being transported to South Africa. #
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Read moreFour Paws marshals and airport workers load a crate with Laziz, Gaza's last tiger from the Khan Younis zoo, at the OR Tambo international airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 25, 2016, before being transported to the Big Cat Sanctuary Lionsrock. #
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Read moreIn this Tuesday August 23, 2016 photo, Palestinian Muhammed Owida, the owner of the Khan Younis zoo carries a tortoise out of its cage to be transferred out of the Gaza Strip. #
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Read moreRomanian Loana Dungler a member of the Four Paws International, examines a sedated deer as part of the preparations to transfer the animals out of the zoo of Khan Younis on August 23, 2016. #
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Read moreA Palestinian man fills water for an Emu to drink inside a metal cage in a zoo in Khan Younis on August 19, 2016. #
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Read moreCrates containing Khan Younis zoo animals are headed out of Gaza on August 23, 2016. #
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Read moreA monkey looks out of a crate on a truck as it waits to leave Gaza, at Erez Crossing between Israel and northern Gaza Strip, on August 24, 2016. #
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Read moreA member of Four Paws checks a hedgehog as they transport animals across the Erez border crossing into Israel on August 24, 2016. #
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Read moreLaziz, Gaza's last tiger from the Khan Younis zoo, waits in a cage at the OR Tambo international airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 25, 2016. #
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Read moreA member of Al Ma'wa for Nature and Wildlife Foundation move a tortoise which was taken out of Gaza by Four Paws International, after it arrived in Amman, Jordan, on August 24, 2016. #
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Read moreA pelican sits inside it's enclosure at the New Hope Centre, an animal refuge near Amman, Jordan, on August 25, 2016, after being evacuated from a zoo in the Gaza Strip. #
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Read moreA tortoise is fed inside its enclosure at the New Hope Centre near Amman, Jordan, on August 25, 2016. #
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Read moreEagles are seen inside their new enclosure in Jordan, at the New Hope Centre animal refuge on August 25, 2016. #
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Read moreA porcupine investigates its new enclosure at the New Hope Centre in Jordan on August 25, 2016. #
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Read moreA deer inside its new enclosure at the New Hope Centre, an animal refuge near Amman, Jordan, on August 25, 2016, after being evacuated from a zoo dubbed the "world's worst" in the Gaza Strip. #
Khalil Mazraawi / AFP / Getty
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