CAIRO: An Egyptian man plans to fight a lion in an effort to promote tourism to the country. The man is arrested by Egyptian authorities. They allege he has mental problems and that a lion was never purchased. This was the story that was told to Bikya Masr by a number of animal welfare activists in the country, but according to comments on the arrest article, it may prove false. El-Sayad el-Essawy may still be at large and the “lion fight” could still happen, sources close to the man have reported. According to one poster to the article, “It's going to happen. He's going to fight that lion. He is no longer under arrest, and he still has the lion, which he did in fact buy off the black market. I know him. He's insane.” The ministry of agriculture and the ministry of tourism declined to comment on the issue. Bikya Masr cannot report either way whether the man is in jail, whether he purchased a lion, or if the fight is going to happen. According to local reports in late May, the Egyptian citizen purchased a lion for around 25,000 Egyptian pounds – in violation of stated international wildlife regulations – and is “”to fight the lion to death with swords.” It has been learned that the lion was in fact not purchased. Egyptian Arabic newspaper al-Youm al-Saba'a said the idea was to “raise public attention and media to invite tourists to Egypt.” In its statement on the “arrest” Minister of Tourism Munir Fakhry Abdel-Nour said that “under no circumstance will the Ministry of Tourism tolerate any degree of inhumane acts against animals.” For now, it is a waiting game as to whether the lion exists, the man is free or what is happening. Such is the nature of information regarding animal rights in Egypt, a country that has done little to support the existence of animals in its midst. Along the Red Sea, almost monthly reports of poisoning of stray animals, dogs, cats and others, are reported. “It is simply shocking to me that anyone would think that the vast majority of tourists that are thinking about coming to Egypt, or are in Egypt right now, would want to see this fight actually take place,” said Helen Reese, a British national who has lived in Egypt for over two years and is an ardent animal activist, when the news of the fight first arose. “I just wish that there was a stronger movement to stop this cruelty,” she added. BM
