Lions aren’t supposed to be scrawny. You shouldn’t be able to see their ribs. Lions are the kings of beasts! They should have long manes, strong bodies, and huge roars. Then why are these three lions so lean?

The answer is sad. These lions lived in a zoo in Gaza, Palestine. A terrible war had been happening there for 50 days. Many people died. Animals from the Al-Bisan zoo were harmed, too. These three very hungry lions needed rescuing. People gave the big cats medicine so they could sleep. Then they placed them in metal cages. They loaded them onto a truck. The cats were headed to a better life at a wildlife sanctuary in the nearby country of Jordan.

What a topsy-turvy world we live in! One of nature’s mightiest animals needs saving! That kind of thing would never have happened before sin, pain, and death came into the world. We know that lions shouldn’t be skinny. We also know war shouldn’t destroy people. That’s why we try to help the world’s creatures—both people and animals. But one day, all will be as it should be again.

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” —Isaiah 11:6