There was much chuffing and nuzzling as Kimba, Chiquita and Africa were reunited at the weekend. The three had been separated when they were sedated on Thursday for removal from Circo Rey Gitano in Guatemala by the government’s animal welfare division Unidad de Bienestar Animal (UBA) following an eight-year legal battle to enforce Guatemala’s 2018 ban on animals in circuses.
Seven rescued tigers are now in the ADI Temporary Rescue Unit in Guatemala while export protocols are followed for them to fly to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa.
In the circus fixed camp, Kimba, Chiquita and Africa were living in a tiny cage on a truck, measuring approximately 7.5 square meters in size (see last picture taken the day they were removed from the circus). The ADI Temporary Rescue Unit is a quarantine facility where the animals will be prepared for relocation to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary (ADIWS). At the ADI’s Guatemala Temporary Rescue Unit, the tigers already have more than twice the living space they had in the circus – 18 square meters. The exercise area being built will have small pools, giving them maximum space possible before the move. Once they reach the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, they will have a huge natural habitat of over 17,000 square meters, pools, and a heated three-room house. This past Sunday, the ADIWS went live to show what lies ahead for the tigers.
The ADI Temporary Rescue Unit operates under oversight of Guatemala’s Unidad de Bienestar Animal (UBA) and Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (CONAP) departments. We have full-time veterinary team and cover all costs, including all the trucks and cages used for the seizure of the animals. All funded by ADI supporters who want animal circuses ended and choose to support work like this to give animals a better life.
The ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, South Africa, will provide the tigers with a wonderful life. There is nowhere for them in Guatemala that can offer this. They have lived in the same very poor conditions for the past 8 years. It is time to do the right thing for these seven tigers and let them run on grass, splash or soak in the pool and have the space to be tigers.
There has been a huge amount of misinformation spread online about this rescue. It is still being claimed that a tiger died during the removal, which is untrue. All seven are alive. The animals have been inspected by officials and filmed by national news television in Guatemala since the rescue. People repeating the story that an animal died are lying and people believing it are being fooled.
If you want these tigers to have a life beyond cages on trucks, you can support this here:
