Lawsuit forces roadside zoo to remove endangered lions

Animals sent to sanctuary in Colorado

MANCHESTER, Iowa — Two endangered African lions have been removed from the roadside Cricket Hollow Zoo. 

A wildlife protection group says the two female lions have been removed from the little zoo in Manchester, Iowa, and sent to a Colorado sanctuary. The photo above is from a gallery by the Des Moines Register. View the entire gallery here.

It settles a lawsuit against the zoo in 2014 brought by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), complaining about horrible conditions, including small cages littered with feces and rotten food.

The zoo was none too happy with the lawsuit or the news, posting the picture to the right on its Facebook page, saying, “Perhaps the most evil part of the story is that the ALDF and five Iowa plaintiffs chose to inform the media before us that they intended to sue for the lions. … These are vile, evil, lying people who enjoy hurting others. God will be their judge.”

This is the second time that animals were removed from the Delaware County zoo because of an ALDF lawsuit, according to the Des Moines Register. Four tigers and three lemurs were removed in October 2015 when a different judge ruled that unsanitary conditions and lack of proper care violated the Endangered Species Act. A Santa Monica veterinarian testified during those proceedings that five tigers died at the zoo since June 2013.

We sued Cricket Hollow Zoo again, this time to protect lions. The hearing starts August 1st. https://t.co/muRiV3qHHG pic.twitter.com/HcghGhIHAO

— Stephen Wells (@StephenEWells) July 26, 2016

Cricket Hollow is the same zoo where two black bears – Patience and Prudence – from the old Myrick Park Zoo in La Crosse were sent when it was closed several years ago.

At the time, city parks boss Steve Carlyon called the zoo, “a retirement home for bears.”