A year after their rescue from cruel Guatemalan circuses, a dozen lions and five tigers are thriving at a sanctuary in South Africa.
Animal Defenders International (ADI) rescued the big cats from years of captivity and mistreatment in early 2020. The findings from “Operation Liberty” helped authorities finally enforce a ban on circus animals that went into effect in 2018.
“This has been the toughest operation we have ever had,” ADI President Jan Creamer told Reuters at the time. “We had lots of threats to ourselves, to the animals, and to the operation, and we had to really battle our way through it.”
The mission started after the organization encountered an unexpected, sudden deadline to remove the lions and tigers from Guatemala. Staff rushed to airlift the 17 animals to a sanctuary in South Africa, passing through Mexico, Belgium, and Qatar during the 34-hour journey.
A year later, the once-ailing big cats are much healthier and thriving. They will spend the rest of their lives enjoying the space and freedom of the sanctuary’s vast natural habitats, since they can’t be released to the wild.
And most importantly, they will never suffer the cruel confines of circus captivity again.
What’s New…
I was crying tears of joy after having seen so many videos of animals bring hurt and tortured. I carry those images constantly in my head and my heart. To see these precious big cats free to play, to sniff the air, to roll in the grass and the water- it was such a gift to my heart. To watch all the love and care and effort to safely transport them was truly inspiring. All I can say is thank you, God bless you.
Une bonne nouvelle de temps en temps , cela fait du bien! Merci à tous ceux qui ont participé à cette belle action!
Thank God they were rescued
I’m so happy for them I’m crying the whole time watching this! And praying for the rest of the animals that need saving from crazy people.
Great
So good to see these big cats with grass under their feet and the wind in their hair, just hanging and chilling out. It certainly took a village of people working together to bring these cats to sanctuary. Good job!
Hope they have a greatttttttt life, may be not 100% free but safe, and no human can murder them with a gun.
Thank you to the people who saved them.
Peace to all Animals.
Love from uk
What a beautiful thing, to see these lions and tigers happy! Thank you for rescuing them from the cruelty they endured living in the circus world!!!
What a beautiful thing, to see these lions and tigers happy! Thank you for rescuing them from the cruelty they endured living in the circus world!!!
Thank you for saving those poor creatures from exploitation of man. Tears of happiness are rolling down my face.