Joy as First Photo Released of Rescued Lions Back In South Africa

The absolute joy of a former circus lion touching down on African soil has been captured in a photo at Emoya Big Cats sanctuary in South Africa.

A photograph of the first lion to be released, ‘Iron’, was published on social media by Animal Defenders International (ADI) Sunday, with the following message:

“Iron enjoys what is clearly a very satisfying rub against a tree, his first ever.

“Iron is one of the Colombian 9, the first animals to be handed over after the country’s wild animal circus ban was passed. With his cage-mate Ojiclaro, Iron was a pitiful sight, the years of suffering clearly visible on his face.

“Well, just look at him now!”

After some social media commenters expressed concern that South Africa is known for its ‘canned lion hunting’ (whereby relatively tame lions are allowed to be shot by local and foreign hunters for a large price), organisers reassured them that Emoya Big Cats is a “sanctuary set within a private estate and the lions will live in secure natural bush habitats”.

The journey of the 33 lions from South America back to their homeland South Africa has been widely reported in SAPeople and around the world. It started in 2014, when a hugely successful drive for funds was launched in the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper, to enable the rescue of 100 circus lions.

Animal Defenders International (ADI) helped coordinate the rescue of the 24 lions from circuses in Peru and nine from Colombia after both countries banned the use of wild animals in circuses.

You can help ADI care for Iron with a donation today:

Donate UK £http://bit.ly/1WXaj5X

Donate US $http://bit.ly/1TjatPq

Donate via PayPal & Euros http://bit.ly/1osTrkx

#‎33lions #‎lionsbacktoafrica

On Twitter

BREAKING NEWS:

The #33lions have reached @EmoyaBigCats and are now steadily being unloaded 🙂#lionsbacktoafrica pic.twitter.com/O8chZZdBm8

— ADI (@AnimalDefenders) May 1, 2016