Three weeks ago, Goliath and Coralie stepped onto African soil for the first time at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. Today, they woke up in the African sunshine, yawned, and roared to the other lions.

Goliath and Coralie had spent a decade in a tiny, bare cage in a circus in France. They must have thought they didn’t have a friend in the world, but in the end people all over the world came together to help bring them home to Africa.

Thanks to France’s ban on wild animals in circuses (which comes fully into force in 2028) and an investigation by Free Life they were removed from the circus and taken to Tonga Terre d’Accueil, a temporary holding facility for confiscated wildlife. That’s where ADI stepped in to offer them a home for the rest of their lives, which we hope will be ten or more years, and Qatar Airways Cargo offered a free flight home to Africa.

Currently, Goliath and Coralie are in a 2.5 acre quarantine facility at ADIWS but after quarantine will be moved to a huge 7.5+ acre habitat.

See images of their story of transformation: