Thirty-Three Circus Lions Return Home To Africa After A Lifetime Of Captivity

Nov 12, 2019 by apost team

For the first time in their lives, 33 lions felt the warmth of the grass and the earth beneath their big paws. The lions were rescued by police and Animal Defenders International from traveling circuses in Peru and Colombia. Tim Phillips and Jan Creamer, of Animal Defenders International, which is abbreviated ADI, were behind the rescue.

National Geographic reports that the big cats lived in cages as small as two twin beds with iron bars surrounding them. Horrific acts of abuse committed by circus performers aimed at making the lions more docile, included de-clawing them and smashing their canine teeth.

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It was difficult for ADI to stop the circuses, which are banned in both countries, because they often traveled in rural areas. When Peru and Colombia passed bills aimed at stopping traveling circuses, ADI pledged their support in helping the governments of the two countries in bringing them home to Africa.

When police and ADI raided the circuses to seize the lions, they were often accompanied by SWAT teams to protect the rescuers according to ADI. In addition to lions, numerous other animals were removed from circuses by ADI, including bears and tigers. After successfully saving the lions from their captors, ADI was faced with the arduous task of bringing them from the rural areas of their imprisonment to rescue centers in more well-traveled areas of the countries.

These treks across the Andes Mountains took ADI approximately 18 months. The group then made arrangements to bring the lions to their native Africa. Phillips said that while they always intended for Africa to be the final home of the big cats, ADI also understood that, after everything that the lions had been through, they could not be released back into the wild.

Because they no longer have claws or teeth for hunting, the lions will need to be looked after for the rest of their lives. As such, the 33 lions were brought to Emoya Big Cat Sanctuary in Vaalwater, South Africa. In a special statement welcoming their newest residents, Savannah Heuser, founder of the sanctuary, said that at Emoya, the lions will remember who they are as they live out their days under the African sun and night sky.

What do you think of how Animal Defenders International was able to rescue the 33 lions from circuses in South America and bring them to Africa?