33 circus lions of Latin America set free in the wilds of Africa

A total of 33 circus lions from Latin America have been airlifted and released in a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa - these animals had suffered years of ill treatment in Latin American circuses. The roars of these lions filled the cargo terminal of an airport in Johannesburg. They were loaded from here onto trucks to continue their journey to a 5,000-hectare reserve.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 1 May 2016.

Even though set free, most of them would not be able to survive for long in the wild because they are in a poor physical state. Therefore, they will be cared for by humans and supplied with food, drinking pools and toys apart from ample space to roam around freely.
They have been freed by a charity and were misused by their owners who treated them as illegal attractions in Peru and Colombia. They have been beaten, starved, and deprived of everything that makes life worth living for a lion. Some of them had their claws removed and their teeth smashed with steel pipes while they were in captivity. One of them is almost blind, and another is missing an eye.
Since the lions have no conservation value, and some are inbred, there will be a strict no-breeding policy at their new home. Of course, it will be the first time for many of the lions to have direct physical contact without being separated by a cage or a fence.
In the opinion of Animal Defenders International, which led the effort to return the animals to their ancestral home, this transfer was the largest airlift of lions in history.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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