Author: animaldefendersinternational

Watermelon surprise for Ruben

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Ruben seems over the moon to receive his watermelon treat ahead of Valentine’s Day! This is Ruben’s first Valentine’s Day at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary after he was rescued last year from a life of lonely suffering in Armenia. He loves his toys, especially his special teddy bears made out of recycled coffee sacks. We can’t wait to treat him to more watermelon on Valentine’s Day – it will be another tasty treat for him to enjoy. Thanks to Sharon Barber who donated watermelon treats for all the animals at ADIWS.

Keep the fun going for Ruben, while supporting his physiotherapy. Donate toward more enrichment.

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Urgent call to give five young lions a future

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Will you help us give five young lions, victims of the illegal pet trade in Kuwait, a new life at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary?

The lions were either seized, captured after being dumped, or voluntarily surrendered, and are now in custody at the closed Kuwait Zoo. We are thankful to the staff and volunteers who have been caring for them until a home could be found. They heard how ADI had rescued Ruben from another closed zoo and asked for our help.

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Ruben loves his A-frame

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Enjoying the shade on a summer’s day…. Ruben absolutely loves the A-frame shelters in his habitat and when the African summer sun gets hot, that’s where you’ll usually find him. He even carries his toys and tucks them inside, and as we all know how much he loves his toys, that means he sees his A-frames as a safe place. Ruben’s confidence continues to grow, and his movement has improved greatly since those first wobbly steps when he arrived.

Giving a donation for enrichment at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary pays for lots of different things – catnip sacks, giant balls, structures to hang toys up, A-frames for snoozing and watching the world. Toys for lions and tigers need to be regularly repaired and replaced – destruction is half their fun! Chino and Coco use their A-frames as gym equipment and Kesari likes to lean on his until he flattens it!

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Tarzan king of the jungle

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Tarzan settles under the trees in Augie Habitat at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, South Africa. It’s four years since he arrived with Tanya from Guatemala on the Operation Liberty Airlift of 17 tigers and lions. Many will remember how Tarzan looked when we rescued him. A tiger had attacked him in the circus and torn his lip from his face and it healed hanging from his chin. Although no longer causing pain it must have been uncomfortable making his mouth dry and collecting bits of dirt and grass. He had a partial lip lift at ADIWS to repair the damage and you can see the difference that made in this picture.

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Good morning from Leo

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MORNING ALL! Leo, father of the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary pride, is up and about early in the morning sunshine. On these South African summer days the lions and tigers at ADIWS are up and about early, usually starting the roaring chorus at 5am and getting active before sheltering for the hottest part of the day then getting active again in the afternoon and evening. Despite his senior years, the old lion rescued from a circus in Peru a decade ago and now 21 years old, follows a similar ritual, pottering about in the cool morning before settling under one of the trees in Abbey Habitat to sleep – often very heavily to the occasional consternation of the ADIWS Resident Care Team trying to call him for dinner!
Have a great week.

To adopt Leo: US $ | UK £

Storm tears roof off lion houses

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Tuesday began as a beautiful summer’s day with barely a breeze. Then, shortly after 3pm the sky darkened and huge storm barreled into the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary with incredibly powerful winds, the level of which we have not experienced before. The wind tore the roofs off the lion houses belonging to Rey Cusco in Stephanides Habitat and Chino and Coco in Kornberg Habitat. The lions were hunkered down in their expansive main habitats, safe and seemingly unbothered by the weather. The ADIWS team checked that all the animals were safe, the free-ranging donkeys, farm animals and everyone in the lion and tiger habitats was secure.

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Stripes on patrol

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Stripes on patrol at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. Stripes and brother Max enjoy the 5+ acre Kakato by April Fong Habitat at the Sanctuary. They have two pools, Stripes is passing the largest, two big platforms, trees, various enrichment, a feeding camp and two room night house. Rescued as six-month old cubs from a circus cage in a junkyard in Guatemala, we wonder if they remember much of those early months when they were being passed from person to person for photographs?

Remember: Never pay money to have photographs with or cuddle baby animals.

Matilda and gang

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As the movie said, “If you build it they will come”, and with no sanctuary for farm animals in our region in South Africa, the cows, sheep, goats, and pigs Roosevelt and Churchill seem to have been queuing up for a place in our fields of dreams! Matilda arrived with a motley crew of eight goats and two sheep all rescued from different abuses, many tethered barely able to move in the hot sun and the two sheep rescued en route to being killed at a political rally. The gang all move around together and Matilda – who loves being hand fed apples – watches over all the smaller animals very protectively. It’s quite a sight watching the gang all walking together led by ADIWS team member Sello up to the top of the Sanctuary and, especially, coming back with the goats and sheep all starting to skip and run as they get close to the habitat where they currently live.

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This is the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary

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Seeing Kiara (left) and Africa sitting in the shade from the South African summer surrounded by lush grass and flowers, it’s hard to believe they were rescued from a tiny circus cage in the middle of the desert in Peru. The circus holding Africa, Kiara and their mother, Muñeca, had evaded ADI for months until we tracked them down in northern Peru near the border with Ecuador. The circus made a run for it and a dramatic chase ensued with the rescue almost thwarted when a herd of goats blocked the ADI team vehicles from crossing a bridge. But the circus was finally cornered in a small village and the three lionesses and two capuchin monkeys were rescued.

The monkeys went to an Amazon forest sanctuary in ADI care, Muñeca enjoyed many years reunited with Leo, and Africa and Kiara enjoy the 5-acre Davis Habitat you see stretching out behind them (Dad Leo is their neighbor).