World News for Students of English

11-04-2022 15:00

When most people tell you that they have a couple of cats at home, you probably don’t expect them to have lion cubs, but it is true for one family in Gaza.

The cubs’ names are Mona and Alex, and they were born in the battle-torn Gaza Strip to parents that were smuggled through a tunnel along the border with Egypt. Gazan refugee Saed Eldin al-Jamal bought the baby lions from a zoo after the economic situation forced the zoo owner to sell them.

The owner used to take the cubs back to the zoo every night to be breastfed by their mom, but recently they have been weaned and now live in the family home all the time. The cats also became part of the local community and children play with them when they go out for walks.

The cubs look quite at home with the family, but animal experts warned that having lions at home with children can be dangerous and that they will need a more suitable environment when they grow bigger.

Difficult words: -torn (destroyed), smuggle (move something from one country to another illegally), refugee (a person who has to leave his or her country), wean (start eating food other than the mother’s milk).

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