Mane event: 33 lions flown home after rescue from life in the circus
Big cats arrive in South Africa, where sanctuary beckons, after having suffered cruel treatment in Colombia and Peru
AFP in Johannesburg
Saturday 30 April 2016 19.25 EDT
The roars of lions filled the cargo section of Johannesburg’s main international airport on Saturday evening as 33 lions rescued from South American circuses landed in South Africa. The animals will now be released into a bush sanctuary for big cats. It was the largest airlift of lions in history, said Jan Creamer, president of Animal Defenders International, which carried out the operation.
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The lions will be placed in quarantine in enclosures at the 5,000-hectare (12,355-acre) Emoya big cat sanctuary in Vaalwater in northern South Africa, started three years ago by Savannah Heuser and her mother Minunette.
The 33 lions will be monitored by a vet for their first weeks in Africa. They will then be introduced to each other in a 1-hectare bonding enclosure. Many of the lions were never allowed to have direct physical contact with other lions and have never been together without a fence or a cage separating them.
Their poor physical state means the lions will never be able to hunt again and will have to be cared for with food and water for the rest of their lives. The Emoya sanctuary will feed the cats with game meat which it buys in bulk. The enclosures will be fitted with drinking pools, platforms and toys to ensure the lions do not become bored and will be steadily expanded as they become familiar with their new life, said Savannah Heuser. Emoya, in an area with a mix of habitats including mountainous regions, rolling grasslands, forests, cliff caves and river gorges, has a strict non-breeding policy, Heuser said.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/01/mane-event-33-lions-flown-home-after-rescue-from-life-in-the-circus
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