An international animal welfare organization, Four Paws, has launched an online petition urging the Bulgarian authorities and the European Commission “to ensure that Bulgaria ends the legalisation of inappropriate wild animal keeping!”

The petition comes after two lion cubs – Simba and Kossara - born as a result of inbreeding in the zoo in Blagoevgrad were temporarily taken, in grievous condition, to the zoo in Varna, where the facility is similarly unsuitable.

Out of the 19 licensed zoos in Bulgaria, most of them municipal, only 2 meet international standards, Four Paws says, as reported by BNR’s correspondent in Blagoevgrad Kety Trechneva.