This is the heartbreaking moment a young lion so feeble it can barely hold its head up is rescued from a cruel black market menagerie.
The lion, called Simba, was one of 44 animals seized from the sick zoo by wildlife officials and police in Derbent in Russia's Dagestan Republic.
Shock video footage shows emaciated Simba with a heavy chain around his neck, too weak to stand as his rescuers struggle to unlock him, local media reported on 20th April.
Other images show bear cubs so thin and stripped of their fur by untreated skin diseases that they are almost unrecognisable.
A further image shows another bear in a cramped cage with a floor made of mud and rubble, and bars that seem to have been cobbled together from old garden gates.
Picture shows the lion at the illegal zoo in Derbent district of Dagestan in Russia, undated. Sick animals kept in cramped cages for public amusement. Note: Governement photo. (Elena Sharoykina/Newsflash/NX)
Local media reports say wildlife rights groups have been battling to close down the illegal, unlicensed zoo, run by a black-market breeder, for a year.
Now, vets and wildlife experts have to make the agonising decision over which animals are too sick to save, which can be released into the wild and how many need homes at real zoos.
Animal rights activist Olga Shakhrayeva told local media: "All the animals are in terrible condition.
Picture shows bear at the illegal zoo in Derbent district of Dagestan in Russia, undated. Sick animals kept in cramped cages for public amusement. Note: Prosecution photo. (@vmpproku_ratura/Newsflash/NX)
"As far as I understand, they all have some kind of skin disease.
"On 5th August, two more lion cubs were born there. There are six lions and five huge bears in this shelter, one of which is in a one-metre by one-metre cage.
"He can't even just turn around and sit down."
The Dagestan Prosecutor's Office confirmed that the animals were being kept in appalling conditions.
Video shows the lion cub Simba, undated. Sick animals kept in cramped cages for public amusement in Dagestan, Russia. Note: Photo is a screenshot from a video(Elena Sharoykina/Newsflash/NX)
A spokesperson said: "Animals, birds and snakes are being kept in violation of the conditions stipulated by law.
"The premises and structures intended for animals do not correspond to the established minimum sizes.
"There is no possibility for them to hide from visitors. Daily veterinary monitoring of their health is not provided."
(Joseph Golder / newsX)