On Sunday, the Sudan Wildlife Park launched an appeal for help for the animals in the park, including 25 hungry lions, with power outages and food shortages, at a time when battles between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have been going on for more than a week.

The fierce battles taking place in Sudan since April 15 between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo have killed more than 420 people and wounded 3,700.

"The situation of the zoo and animals has become very critical," the Sudan Wildlife Park said in a statement posted on social media.

The park is located in Bagir, southeast of Khartoum, near one of the military headquarters, "which witnesses clashes on a daily basis."

According to the park, "the siege tightened on us due to the power outage, and our stocks of animal food and drink began to run out," stressing that since the start of the battles, "we face all risks on a daily basis to perform our duties towards animals."

The park is home to 25 lions, six hyenas, many monkeys, birds, six deer, two camels, dogs, squirrels and wild cats.

"Our car, which we use to perform our duties, was stolen, and even fuel has become impossible to provide," the statement said.

AFP visited the volunteer-run reserve in Bagir last year, which opened in 2020. They told how they distribute between 5 and 10 kilograms of meat to each lion and a handful of hyenas.

There are only 20,000 lions left in the wild in Africa, including a handful living in Sudan in the Dinder National Park near the border with Ethiopia.