MACEDONIA, SKOPJE - A lion and a llama died of cold in a zoo in southern Macedonia this week as polar temperatures gripped the country, zoo authorities said on Thursday. The 25-year-old lion and the baby llama were found dead in their cages after temperatures in the southern city of Bitola, near the border with Greece, fell overnight to minus 28 degrees Celsius (minus 18.40 Fahrenheit).

Both animals lived in open bar cages with no heating.
Zoo authorities said the lion was too old to withstand the cold and the two-month-old lama too young to be taken from her mother and placed in a heated cage.
Animal care is not a priority in Macedonia, one of Europe's poorest countries. Conditions in most zoos are dire.
The country in recent days has been hit by what local media call a "polar winter", with temperatures plunging far below zero, especially in Bitola - the coldest city in the country with temperatures in the minus 20s.