Mexico: ‘Noah’s Ark’ of animals flees cartel violence for new home on coast

Officials at animal refuge near Culiacan, capital of violence-torn Sinaloa state, faced threats from powerful drug gangs

Hundreds of animals including elephants, crocodiles, lions and tigers have been moved from a violence-torn Mexican cartel heartland to a new home in an operation described as a 21st-century Noah's Ark".

The transported species, which also included exotic birds, had been housed at the Ostok animal refuge near Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, home to one of the country's most powerful drug gangs.