Animal baby boom at Palestinian zoo after people disappear

A lion lies in an enclosure at the Qalqilya Zoo where workers say a coronavirus lockdown has led to a boom in animal births, in Qalqilya in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 11, 2020. Picture taken June 11, 2020. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta

QALQILYA, West Bank (Reuters) - Peacocks, ostriches and baboons joined in an animal baby boom at a Palestinian zoo during the coronavirus closure as they let nature take its course free from human distractions.

Fifteen animals were born at the tiny Qalqilya Zoo in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during the two months that it shut its doors to visitors - three times more than usual, zoo officials said.