Yesterday we lost a giant at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary and today we look back on the life of a lion it was our privilege to know.

A lion who escaped the circus in Peru and came home to Africa. Someone who savored his freedom despite arthritis that distorted his legs and whose loyalty and love for his brother ReyA was an inspiration.

In 2014, as ADI enforced Peru’s ban on wild animals in circuses, we rescued Simba and ReyA from a bare circus cage in the city of Ayacucho, in the Andes mountains. We then drove the lions over the mountains through rain, sleet, and snow for 19 hours back to the ADI Temporary Rescue Unit (TRU) near Lima. Each time we checked on them they were cuddled up together keeping each other warm, their manes fluffed up, and they had made a nest in the hay – their first comfortable bed. 

In the ADI TRU they loved to play, especially chasing and bursting footballs. They were always together and their travel crates were side by side when we flew the 33 lions home to South Africa on the record-breaking Operation Spirit of Freedom Airlift – every lion from the circuses of Colombia and Peru came home to the land of their ancestors.  

Circus life had been lived on bare, urine-soaked boards for years and Simba was already arthritic. That, and early age malnutrition, would see the distortion of his back legs get worse over the years. Dr Caldwell worked to keep Simba comfortable, adjusting his medications, and we made adaptations to Guibord-Sprague Habitat. Five years ago, believing Simba was struggling to get onto his platform we added extra steps between each level – Simba thanked us next day by leaping up and down, avoiding the steps as if to say “I’m not an old man yet!”

One of the most moving things we have ever seen at ADIWS was three years ago, when ReyA returned from hospital. It was the first time the boys had ever been separated. On Rey’s return, they nuzzled, cuddled and Simba literally skipped around his brother on his rickety legs, before they walked the length of the 2.5-acre habitat, side by side, occasionally bumping shoulders and hips and roaring to the other lions – “Rey is back!”.

Simba and ReyA were two of the loudest voices at the Sanctuary, roaring daily at sunset and sunrise – their greeting of Ruben was the first time Ruben had heard the voices of his own kind for years. The morning and evening chorus with Chino, Coco, Kesari, and ReyA, will miss Simba’s deep roar.

Like so many of the battered warriors we rescue, Simba’s resilience, determination and his loyalty and love for brother ReyA will continue to inspire us. Today we celebrate the life of a lion who made it home.

While we are heartbroken, we know it is worse for ReyA who has lost his lifetime friend and companion. ReyA was able to see Simba as he passed and so he knows his brother is gone.  We have implemented our grief protocols with extra enrichments and calming pheromones (e.g., feliway) are sprayed on the dens, platforms and in the houses. Our Resident Welfare Manager has been designated Rey’s Grief Companion and will be monitoring him, providing companionship, a constant presence, and extra enrichment and treats.