A South African man living in Ukraine saw the desperate situation the zoos were in and decided to make a change. Now lions are heading back to SA.
Lionel de Lange (53) moved to Ukraine in 2006. He was browsing through Facebook one day when he saw the need for assistance with the zoo animals in 2014.
It was during the Maidan Revolution, the zoo animals were left to starve. Moved by this, Lionel spoke to his sister and asked for advice on how to help out. She had remembered a story about Lawrence Anthony, an amazing South African who had rescued zoo animals in Baghdad during the 2003 Iraq War. When looking into it, they learned that Lawrence had passed away in 2012 but a foundation had been set up in his name.
The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organisation (LAEO) works all over the world to save animals in need. Lionel got in contact and started working on setting up a branch in Ukraine.
The organisation started helping to feed a collection of lions and bears trapped in zoos across Ukraine. Aside from working to save animals, they have also started making plans to get the lions in Ukraine back to South Africa. After long, hard work, 3 lionesses and a lion cub are on their way back to a home in South Africa.
The lion cub called Nathan, and Luca, Charlie and Kai were rescued from a private zoo.
Nathan grew up in a cemented cage, he was never able to explore, go outside, or even just enjoy the simple pleasure of lazing in the sun! Lionel and his team have built a temporary enclosure for him to explore until we start with the relocation. Nathan is coming back to South Africa to live his life outside, freely and just be all he needs to be!
These girls grew up in a cemented cage, probably smaller than most standard bathrooms here in SA! They never felt the ground under their feet or EVEN saw the sky above them! These angels will be coming back to South Africa to live their lives the way nature intended!
Three months ago, the small pack were released from their cemented cages for the first time and got to feel grass, sand and soft earth for the first time.
Now, three months later, even better futures are on the horizon for these 4 lions. They are moving to South Africa!!! Their new home will be the Kragga Kamma Game Park in Port Elizabeth.
Preperations have started for their new enclosures where they will live out the rest of their lives. If you would like to help towards getting these beautiful African animals back, you can take a look here.
All the lions have been vaccinated, chipped and documented in accordance with CITES and are we now waiting CITES export certificate which should be soon, then we apply for CITES import in South Africa and when that is granted which should be about the 1st of 2nd week of October, they will fly HOME.
We cannot wait to see these 4 lions return home. Stay tuned for an update.
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