On Sunday, BenTzur and Ori will begin their journey from Israel to a new life at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa.

This is the brand new house waiting to receive them thanks to a wonderful donation from Sharon and Art Barber.

The cubs were stolen from their mother as babies and illegally trafficked into Israel to be posed with as status symbols. Ori was found in a basement and BenTzur tied to a tree in a yard. Thankfully, they were seized by Israel’s Nature & Parks Authority (NPA) cracking down on the illegal wildlife trade. Now they are on the brink of heading home to the land of their ancestors.

The lions will be loaded into travel crates on Sunday afternoon (August 2) and will take off after midnight with an ADI team for Frankfurt. After a ten-hour stopover, the lions will leave Frankfurt on an overnight flight to Johannesburg arriving at 8.30am on Tuesday (August 4). We hope to reach the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in the afternoon. We will be LIVE whenever possible throughout the journey.

The boys will be released from their crates into their new house for their first night home in Africa. They will have a heated floor to keep them warm as they adjust from summer in the northern hemisphere to winter in the southern hemisphere. On August 5th the lions will enjoy their first steps on African soil – back where they belong. They will orientate in their feeding camp and then be released into the 2.5-acre Kakato Home Sweet Home Habitat.

A huge thank you to everyone supporting this rescue. We are raising funds for the cost to relocate the lions but also for their lifetime care – these young lions could be enjoying another 20 years with ADI. Ori and BenTzur need your support – any contribution is gratefully received.

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