KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip -- An international charity is rescuing animals from Gaza Strip's main zoo that it has dubbed "the worst in the world" and transferring them to better lives abroad.
Zoo owner Mohammad Eweda said on Friday the animals are being "donated" because the zoo doesn't "have the ability to give them anything."
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In the past, his zoo turned to taxidermy to keep its deceased animals on exhibit while another zoo in the strip painted stripes on donkeys to try and make them look like zebras.
The Four Paws charity said tortoises, an emu and other animals will be taken to a rescue center in Jordan and the zoo's single tiger to a sanctuary in South Africa. The zoo is now closed.
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There is little awareness of animal welfare in Gaza.
A mountain goat tries to eat grass from behind the metal bars of a damaged cage at Al-Bisan Zoo in northern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
The lioness was evacuated from a makeshift zoo in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, to join her mate who was moved earlier to a better zoo in the West Bank (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A lioness sits in a crate on a truck on the Palestinian side of Erez crossing with Israel in northern Gaza Strip. Monday, April. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
Wolves inside a damaged cage at Al-Bisan Zoo in northern Gaza Strip (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
Palestinian owner of the South Jungle Zoo, Mohammed Ouida, stands in front of the cage of the emaciated African tiger, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
A lion, previously moved from Gaza, stands in a zoo in the Atil village near the West Bank city of Tulkarem (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A Palestinians inspects a lioness after her arrival at a zoo in the Atil village near the West Bank city of Tulkarem (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Palestinians look at a lioness after her arrival at a zoo in the Atil village near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Monday, April 11, 2016 (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A monkey carries its baby as it tries to eat inside a damaged cage at Al-Bisan Zoo in northern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
A lioness sits after her arrival at a zoo in the Atil village near the West Bank city of Tulkarem (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A Palestinian man photographs a lioness siting in a crate on a truck on the Palestinian side of Erez crossing with Israel in northern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
A damaged bench is seen at Al-Bisan Zoo in northern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
Ostriches try to eat from behind the fence of a damaged s cage are in Al-Bisan Zoo in northern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
Palestinian owner of the South Jungle Zoo, Mohammed Ouida, shows mummified animals that died from hunger and Israeli strikes at the Jungle Zoo in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
Four adult lions and two cubs were evacuated from cash-strapped, conflict-ridden zoos in Gaza for treatment and better living conditions in the West Bank and Jordan (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A lioness sits in a crate on a truck on the Palestinian side of Erez crossing with Israel in northern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
Damaged animals cages are seen in Al-Bisan Zoo in northern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
Palestinians look at a lioness after her arrival at a zoo in the Atil village near the West Bank city of Tulkarem (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A lioness sits in a crate on a truck on the Palestinian side of Erez crossing with Israel in northern Gaza Strip. Monday, April. 11, 2016 (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
A monkey sites inside a damaged cage in Al-Bisan Zoo in northern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
Damaged animals cages are seen in Al-Bisan Zoo in northern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
A Palestinian man looks at a lioness after her arrival at a zoo in the Atil village near the West Bank city of Tulkarem (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A monkey climbs the fence of a metal cage in a zoo in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Two Palestinian workers clean the zoo in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
A tiger lays in a metal cage in a zoo in Khan Younis , southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Aug. 19, 2016 (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)