A desperate effort is on-going to rescue a rare white lion named Mufasa from being auctioned off and shot by hunters.
Three-year-old Mufasa was confiscated from a South African family after law enforcement officials found out that he was kept as a pet without a permit.
Activists, however, fear that, because Mufasa is infertile, he would be of no interest to potential breeders and will be auctioned off to trophy hunters.
An online petition started by Carel Zietsman was launched in efforts to re-home and raise awareness about Mufasa's plight, along with his partner, Suraya.
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"Nature conservation officials refused permission for Mufasa to be relocated to a sanctuary. Instead, the rehab centre was told telephonically that Mufasa will be auctioned to raise funds for the department," the petition wrote.
More than 270,000 people have signed the petition, calling for Mufasa to be moved to a sanctuary.
The petition also mentioned there are fewer than 300 of Mufasa's kind left in the world. There are only 13 white lion in the wild.
A campaign called "Save Mufasa" by Wild for Life mentioned Mufasa had gone through a vasectomy and cannot be bred with, leaving only two options.
"The number of lion hunters is down and lions have been killed in high numbers for their bones to be exported to the East."
"Negotiations have come to nothing. We made an offer to exchange the cost of care against the ownership of the lion but have had no response. We now have to sue the authorities to prevent the two [Mufasa and Suraya] from being separated," the campaign added.
Comedian and animal rights activist Ricky Gervais expressed his support to Mufasa by tweeting "Shame on the pathetic sadist who pays money to shoot this animal, and shame on the snivelling coward who accepts the money too - Both worthless."
Newshub.
