Israeli Police seized a lion cub near Kafr Kassem and another monkey in Lod over the weekend, police announced Saturday.
Inspectors from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) transferred the wild animals to a shelter for examination and treatment.
Over the weekend during an undercover operation, officers discovered the lion cub in an open area in Lod. The officers called in inspectors from the INPA to the police station. The cub will be referred to a secure shelter at the Kiryat Motzkin Zoo.
In a separate case in Lod, authorities found an adult monkey in a private residence confined in a container too small for its size and tightly restrained with iron chains.
The monkey was discovered during a search of the residence by border police and local station detectives. The INPA took custody of the monkey, which appeared to have been smuggled into Israel.
The INPA stressed the dangers of the illegal wildlife trade, stating that smuggled monkeys may carry diseases such as tuberculosis and rabies even if they do not show symptoms. Blood samples from the rescued monkey were sent abroad for testing.
Illegal wildlife trade in Israel
On Friday, a monkey was discovered in an improvised cage in an open area near Kibbutz Mashabei Sadeh. On Wednesday, police found two lion cubs in the Bedouin village of Bir Hadaj in the northern Negev, near Kibbutz Revivim, inside a pit. On Tuesday, police rescued a monkey found in an open area near Rahat.
The latest monkey and lion cub discovery mark the ninth and fourth find of each respective species in Israel in operations carried out by police in cooperation with the INPA.