Gaza zookeeper forced to sell lion cubs, one named in honor of Erdoğan

The owner of a private zoo in the impoverished Gaza Strip has put three lion cubs, one named after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, up for sale, saying he can no longer afford to feed them.

Mohammad Ahmad Jumaa took to social media to advertise the animals at 3,500 Jordanian dinars ($5,000) each.

"Because of the bad economic situation and the difficulty of finding food and drink [for the animals], I was forced to put up for sale three cubs born around a month ago," he said.

He said he needed the money to pay for the upkeep of the rest of his pride -- two male and three female lions.

Jumaa, who has owned the animal park in Rafah on the border with Egypt for 23 years, said feeding his animals costs around $345 a month.

He had named the cubs Palestine, Al-Quds (Jerusalem in Arabic), and Erdoğan.

He had received calls about the advert on Facebook but had not so far sold any of the cubs.

In 2016, a tiger, two turtles, two eagles, two porcupines, a pelican, an emu and a deer were transferred from a dilapidated Gaza zoo to new homes in South Africa, Jordan and Israel.

Many other animals died because of poor conditions as the owners ran out of money in the enclave hit by three wars with Israel since 2008 and a decade-long Israeli blockade.

President Erdoğan and Turkey have showed strong support for Palestinians, speaking out against the recent U.S. declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Erdoğan called the move a "red line" for all Muslims, and that Turkey could go as far as severing all diplomatic ties with Israel if the U.S. moved ahead with the decision.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.