By Erma Edera Animal welfare groups are calling for the closure of Manila Zoo after a video of a lion experiencing seizures went viral on social media. (Screengrabbed from Mark Lee's video via Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) In the video uploaded by Mark Lee on Facebook last Sunday, the lion was seen having a seizure, lying on its side and trashing its legs. “The lion in the video is having a seizure.. probably suffering from canine distemper disease. Please help and investigate Manila Zoo. Thank you,” Lee captioned his video. Animal Kingdom Foundation (AKF), a non-governmental organization has called for an investigation of the said incident. “We strongly appeal to the management of Manila Zoo to investigate this serious case of “Raffy” and all the resident animals. Please make sure that they are fully protected and given proper health care and that they are not being endangered or their welfare compromised. It is already an immense inconvenience for them being confined and restricted in cages, the least the Manila Zoo management can do is to look after them and ensure that they are well maintained and treated humanely,” AKF’s statement read. The zoo’s failure to act on it may be deemed a violation of the Animal Welfare Act, AKF added. On the other hand, some groups also said that animals in Manila Zoo have long been experiencing cruelty. “There are standards for zoos…And we don’t see that in Manila Zoo. The place reeks of urine and the animals are thin. They don’t have anything to play with or to occupy their interest. It is mental torture for animals,” Anna Cabrera, executive director of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) said. Cabrera said that Manila Zoo personnel should have been immediately present after the animal experienced seizures. The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) also reiterated the negative aspects of maintaining zoos. “It is not surprising because we have been receiving complaints from people about how animals in Manila Zoo are suffering. In the zoo, they are incarcerated, they are in cages, they are in small spaces,” said PETA’s policy manager Rochelle Regodon. “Peta will always advocate for all zoos to be shut down, in particular with Manila Zoo. It’s time for them to move with the times,” she added. “There are many zoos around the world, even in Asia that are at least transferring their elephants to sanctuaries, more progressive zoos.” Not malnourished The zoo also denied that its animals are malnourished after netizens pointed out that lionesses inside the zoo were thin. “We are not discounting that he had a fit, but it could be due to stress or typhoon Ompong,” said Dr. Patrick Domingo, officer-in-charge of Manila Zoo’s zoological division. The lion will be confined in their service area and will be under observation for two weeks, Domingo added. Well funded “Raffy has been healthy since the day he arrived at the zoo 5 years ago. This is the first time something like this happened to him. We will just have to wait for the results before I can comment further," said Jerry Young, vice president for Operations of Zoo Crew Philippines. “ For the record, Manila Zoo is well funded when it comes to food allocation at P50,000/day. Kung may pagkukulang sila I'd say sa variety lang. May budget din for medications. Ang wala ay funding for repair of infrastructures,” he added. Read more: Netizens concerned about lions’ condition at Manila zoo