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ANIMAL

Newborn white lion cubs are pride of the circus

Four white lions born into the Krone Circus during its stop in Magdeburg yesterday find themselves in a Germany reliving a decades-old fight over exotic animals displayed for profit.

Newborn white lion cubs are pride of the circus
Photo:DPA

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The three male and one female cubs are the latest addition to the tribe of rare big cats native to the Timbavati region of South Africa.

Eight-year-old mother Princess took an instant dislike to her offspring's celebrity, growling as she moved to shield them from photographers' cameras.

A genetic mutation is responsible for the coloration of the ultra-rare felines, which aren't currently protected because they don't belong to a separate species from other African lions.

Princess and 12-year-old father King Tonga, are both also white.

PHOTO GALLERY: White lion cubs born in circus

Mother Princess licks lion cub. Photo: DPA

They were already the proud parents of a litter of six cubs born in 2012 in Konstanz. The circus was criticized at the time by animal rights activists for bringing the pregnant mother on the road.

Animal rights organisation PETA held demonstrations earlier this week to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of escaped circus elephant Tyke under a hail of police bullets in Hawaii.

PETA activists form the shape of an elephant in anti-circus protest at Berlin's Brandenburger Tor. Photo:DPA

Underwear-clad activists formed the shape of an elephant on the pavement in front of the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin.

Campaigners also presented a petition with 600,000 signatures to the Federal Food and Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday calling for a ban on wild animals being kept in circuses.

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ANIMAL

Paris authorities to shut down bird market over cruelty concerns

The Paris city council on Wednesday agreed to shut down a live bird market operating in the historic centre close to Notre Dame cathedral, responding to rights activists who called it a cruel and archaic operation.

Paris authorities to shut down bird market over cruelty concerns
Photo: AFP

The bird market on Louis Lepine square in the centre of the French capital has long been a fixture in Paris, operating close to the famous flower market.

But Christophe Najdovski, Paris' deputy mayor in charge of animal welfare, said that the market was a centre for bird trafficking in France while conditions for the birds were not acceptable.

“This is why we are committed to changing the regulations to ban the sale of birds and other animals,” he said.

The closure had been urged by activists from the Paris Animals Zoopolis collective who had called the practice of showing the caged birds “cruel and archaic”.

France and Paris have in the last months adopted a series of measures aiming to show they are at the forefront of efforts to protect animal welfare.

The government said in September it planned to “gradually” ban mink farms as well the use of wild animals in travelling circuses and dolphins and orcas in theme parks.

Parc Asterix, which normally has some two million visitors a year, announced last month it would close its dolphin and sea lion aquarium.

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