Home Found for 4 Doomed E. German Lions
An East German circus found a West German home Friday for four lions that it said it could no longer afford to feed under the country’s new free-market economy.
A West German safari park in the north-central town of Stukenbrock volunteered to adopt the Indian lions after the Busch circus said it would have to put them to sleep if no new owners were found.
“Our money crunch was so bad we already had to sell our horse, Pascha, for just 1,500 deutschemarks (about $938) so we could pay for fuel for our caravan,” circus manager Hartmut Schultz was quoted as saying in the mass-circulation tabloid Bild.
Gandhi, Bombay, Radja and Boy were among 16 lions in Berlin’s oldest circus.
Schultz said it costs an estimated 13,000 deutschemarks (about $8,125) a month for meat to feed all the lions.
East Germany’s three circuses were heavily subsidized by the Communist government. The subsidies disappeared when East Germany merged its economic, social and currency systems last Sunday.
The Busch Circus, founded in 1912, had to cancel a May-June tour due to slumping ticket sales, Schultz said.
“It’s an honor to take in these lions,” Bild quoted the new owner, Fritz Wurms, as saying. “Maybe they’ll even have cubs in the park.”
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
