Animal captivity

A final recommendation on the lion’s fate will be announced Thursday to the Ministers of Environment, and Agriculture and Livestock, followed by a public announcement.

Laboratory tests conducted on the lion last month showed symptoms of chronic kidney disease. Results are now under evaluation in a laboratory in the United States.

Kivú has been behaving normally as he recovers from anesthesia; he drank water and ate beef, chicken and innards.

Kivú’s new home it’s a 300-square-meter (some 3,300 square feet) area away from visitors and surrounded by nature.

Environment Minister Édgar Gutiérrez confirmed that the government has received three requests from organizations willing to provide Kivú with a new home and finally get him out of his cage for good.

Officials of the Fundación Pro Zoológicos, the administrator of the Simón Bolívar Zoo, announced that they will launch a fundraiser to build a new space for Kivú the lion at his current home in downtown San José.

Officials from the Environment and Agriculture ministries said their ruling on Kivú is final and that no further appeals will be considered.

With just over two weeks left of the year, reports of animal abuse have already surpassed by 15 percent those recorded last year, the National Animal Health Service (SENASA) reported Friday.

Rescuers found beagles, Chihuahuas and American Staffordshire Terriers during the raid, along with 39 birds.

A first tiny cub - pink, hairless and only about the size of an adult mouse - was born at 5:35 pm (2135 GMT) Saturday and Mei Xiang reacted by tenderly picking up it up. Just when conservationists thought they had heard all the good news, the zoo tweeted: "We can confirm a second cub was born at 10:07. It appears healthy. #PandaStory."