BenTzur and Ori, two young lions rescued from the illegal wildlife trade in Israel, have just spent two days in travel crates crossing the world to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa – a journey that saw us stop in Cairo, Egypt, then a 10+hour stopover in Frankfurt, Germany, before an overnight flight to Johannesburg.

They arrived at the Sanctuary yesterday afternoon and spent the night in their warm heated house, after they left summer in Israel for a very cold winter in South Africa. This morning the doors to the habitat were opened and they stepped out into their new life in Africa, and more space than they had ever known in their lives.

Those magic moments were captured during our LIVE this morning. They spent their first day of freedom exploring and mapping their territory; they know where everything is, and have seen the neighbours, who communicated their arrival to all the other residents. They had snuggled down into one of the dens, before coming back to the house for dinner. They will remain in the house overnight, to avoid the cold. TODAY THEIR LIVES CHANGED FOREVER.

Please keep supporting these boys who have their whole lives ahead of them.  We must cover the costs of preparing a habitat, flights and ground transport to bring them home, and the ongoing costs for food, care and veterinary needs for many years to come – our target is $100,000.

PLEASE HELP to cover these VITAL COSTS Donate US $, CA $ | Donate UK £, Euros, Rand