The 9-year-old rescued white lions arrived at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in the early hours of Sunday morning, after a 15+ hour journey following their evacuation from Panthera Africa Big Cat Sanctuary, which was devastated by a wildfire last week.

Lei-ah and Elsa had an unimaginable, terrifying, experience surviving the fire and will have found the long journey bewildering and frightening, taken away from their home. They arrived at ADIWS agitated and anxious – much more so than the many lions and tigers we have moved, who have time to get used to the crates, and get to know their new carers. They remained in their house throughout Sunday with Elsa staying inside her crate with a Resident Welfare Team member sitting with them for comfort.

Today, they have both eaten and stepped out into their feeding camp. This camp is an area of roughly 7,000 square feet, where the lions can get their bearings and our team can observe them, some meals are served here, when not in the night house. Once they appear confident, they will have access to a 2.5 (1ha) natural habitat.

Both lions only have partial sight, therefore Dr Peter Caldwell, who treated all injured animals at Panthera and oversaw the evacuation, recommended they come to ADIWS due to our experience with big cats with sight problems. We will be assessing their vision, to see what adaptations we need to make in our communications with them, and the facilities we can provide to help them get around (eg markers around gateways).

White lions like Elsa and Lei-ah look stunning to humans, but they are not a natural part of their normal environment, they are the result of a genetic mutation, like albinism. Tragically, this mutation is exploited by constantly inbreeding to create a curiosity for human entertainment, but this has cruel and disastrous effects on their health and well-being. Side effects of the inbreeding include deafness, partial or complete blindness and other health problems. Cynical breeders and exhibitors often claim they are conserving a rare species, that is not true. Never support such exhibits. Elsa and Lei-ah will remain with ADI until Panthera can rebuild which could be many months or even a year or more. These are unexpected additions to our family at ADIWS, but they are very welcome and of course, we did not hesitate when a friend’s home was burning. They are in our quarantine unit at present, but we will need to provide a longer-term space to keep the quarantine open for others in need, such as the 7 Guatemala tigers. Please help with the additional veterinary, food, and care costs.

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