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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Neil Pooran

Watch as vets give rescued lion at West Lothian zoo a health check

A video shows how a team of vets perform health checks on a rescued ex-circus lion at a zoo in West Lothian.

Two of Five Sisters Zoo's lions were anaesthetised to allow the team to check them over on Monday.

The huge felines are given gas to keep them asleep and lain down on a bed of hay at the zoo.

The four male lions arrived at the zoo from an animal sanctuary in Belgium, where they had been cared for since being rescued from a circus.

Each animal had been treated cruelly, with their front claws removed.

Four rescue lions have been revealed at Five Sisters Zoo, near Polbeth, West Lothian. Picture by Staff photographer Stuart Vance (Stuart Vance)

The zoo shared a video of the health check on Facebook, showing the level of care the big cats are now receiving.

The zoo said: "Two of our rescued ex-circus lions were anaesthetised for health checks yesterday.

"As Rescued animals they appear to have had difficult lives before coming to the zoo, and we try to regularly monitor their health to keep them healthy now.

"They were castrated before coming to the zoo, which is why they no longer have their manes despite being males, and also had their front claws cruelly removed by the circus.

"Because of their past rough treatment they have abnormal wear on some of their teeth which we need to monitor.

"We performed detailed dental x-rays to fully assess their teeth again, and monitor what future dental work they may need."

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