Thirty lions and tigers that were kept alive — barely — for years in cramped concrete cages at a shuttered Argentine zoo began entering jumbo-size transport crates Friday as they embarked on ambitious journeys to wildlife sanctuaries halfway across the world in South Africa and the United States.
The cats are being rescued from the former Luján Zoo, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) northwest of Argentina's capital of Buenos Aires, after years of uncertainty over their fate. Four Paws, the international animal-welfare organization overseeing the transfer, described it as one of the largest relocations of captive big cats in the world.
