Your data on MRCVSonline
The nature of the services provided by Vision Media means that we might obtain certain information about you.
Please read our Data Protection and Privacy Policy for details.

In addition, (with your consent) some parts of our website may store a 'cookie' in your browser for the purposes of
functionality or performance monitoring.
Click here to manage your settings.
EmailIphone Application    Posted: 9th April 2019
If you would like to forward this story on to a friend, simply fill in the form below and click send.
Your friend's email:
Your email:
Your name:
 
 
Send Cancel

Vets complete Gaza zoo rescue mission
FOUR PAWS moved 47 animals out of Rafah Zoo in Gaza and transferred them to wildlife sanctuaries in Jordan and South Africa.

Animals rehomed in Jordan and South Africa

International veterinary charity FOUR PAWS has successfully completed its biggest rescue mission to date.

On Sunday (7 April) the rescue team moved 47 animals out of Rafah Zoo in Gaza and transferred them to wildlife sanctuaries in Jordan and South Africa. The mission was due to take place at the end of March but had to be postponed owing to ongoing unrest in the region.

FOUR PAWS vet and head of mission Amir Khalil said: “The intensive work of the last weeks has brought our team to its limits. To examine and load almost 50 animals in just a few days was a huge challenge.

“Thanks to the cooperation of all authorities, it was possible for us to bring the animals safely out of Gaza. From Israel to Palestine and Jordan, it was impressive to see how these three nations worked together for the animals from Rafah.”

The rescue team arrived in Gaza on 4 April and spent four days finalising the negotiations and logistics of transferring the animals. Once the animals had been loaded into their transport crates, they embarked on their 300-kilometre journey to Jordan.

On arrival at the Erez border, the crates had to be unloaded and loaded onto a new truck in the Israel-Gaza barrier. Four Paws continued their journey, flanked by the Israeli army, and arrived at the wildlife sanctuaries in Jordan later that evening.

The animals, including five lions, a hyena, several monkeys, wolves, porcupines, foxes, cats, dogs, emus, ostriches and squirrels, have been released into their new species-appropriate enclosures. Two older lions have been flown to their final home in South Africa, where they will live at the FOUR PAWS big cat rescue refuge LIONSROCK.

Having been active in Gaza since 2014, FOUR PAWS has already evacuated and closed two zoos – Al-Bisan Zoo and Khan Younis Zoo – in the region. After the rescue of the Rafah zoo animals, there are only two more zoos left in the Gaza Strip.

Image (C) FOUR PAWS/Bogdan Baraghin.

Become a member or log in to add this story to your CPD history

RCVS Knowledge appoints Veterinary Evidence editor-in-chief

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has welcomed Professor Peter Cockcroft as editor-in-chief for Veterinary Evidence.

A world-renowned expert in evidence-based veterinary medicine, Prof Cockcroft will lead the strategic development and editorial quality of the open-access journal. He was previously in the role from 2017-2020.

Katie Mantell, CEO of RCVS Knowledge, said: "We are excited about the extensive knowledge of evidence-based veterinary medicine and clinical veterinary research that Peter brings, and we look forward to working with him over this next phase of the journal's development." 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
CVS Group hit by cyber attack

CVS Group, which owns more than 450 veterinary practices in the UK, has been hit by a cyber attack.

In a statement, the group said the incident involved unauthorised external access to a limited number of its IT systems. As soon as the attack was discovered, the group took its IT systems temporarily offline, causing 'considerable operational disruption'.

It has warned that the security steps taken and ongoing plans to move its operational systems and IT infrastructure to the Cloud are likely to have an ongoing impact over a number of weeks.

Due to the risk that personal information was accessed, CVS has informed the Information Commissioner's Office. The company is working with third party consultants to investigate the incident.