Winter is coming in South Africa, where it can get very cold, sometimes with ice on the lake at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary.
Hay bales are used to insulate the outdoor dens, which are also covered with conveyor belt rubber. Inside, a thick layer of nice soft teff grass. Although ADIWS residents have free access to their houses (heated for our seniors), they mainly like being out in their dens under their viewing platforms.
Fantastic news – RUBEN’S EXPORT PERMIT HAS BEEN ISSUED and we have applied for his import permit!
We’re getting ever closer to moving this lonely lion to the safety of the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, South Africa, where, for the first time in five years, he’ll be able to interact with his own kind.
Ruben was the last animal left in an abandoned private zoo in the Artsakh region. Confined to a small cage, his roars went unanswered. Eventually, he gave up, giving only the occasional pitiful cry.
But Ruben’s life will be transformed when he joins the rescued big cat community at the #ADIWildlifeSanctuary – and we cannot wait to hear him ROAR!
Ruben is currently being cared for in a bear sanctuary in Armenia run by the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife & Cultural Assets (FPWC). ADI is funding his care.
Even a small donation will help as we get closer to Ruben’s big move! Donate UK £ | Donate US $
Enjoy this celebration of an incredible life. A chance encounter over 20 years ago between the ADI founders and a young Peruvian musician, Alexis Diaz Limaco, would change the course of his life and the lives of countless animals. The undercover investigations he took part in would lead to campaigns to end circus suffering across South America, circus animal bans in multiple countries and ADI’s huge rescues, saving hundreds of animals. Alexis passed away in April, enjoy this tribute to a colleague and friend and see the animals whose lives he helped transform. A reminder of how each of us can make a huge impact. Thank you Alexis.
To donate towards the Alexis Memorial appeal, for which donations will be doubled, thanks to a generous matching pledge: Donate UK £ | Donate US $
Sasha is not quite sure what to choose – her new play center, Robust-a-balls, or melons.
The indomitable Sasha was rescued from a circus in Guatemala where they cut off her toes to prevent the claws growing, but one was crushed, her leg got infected. When ADI rescued her six years later, she had a permanent limp, the infection had turned into cancer and moved up her leg.
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Bumba, rescued from a circus in Colombia, is loving his A frame (made out of branches) at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. It provides just the right amount of shade while still allowing him to see through. These A frames are hugely popular because many of our ADIWS residents have FOMO (fear of missing out). So far, the A frames have also been given to Sasha lioness, ReyA and Simba, Tomas and Kimba, Kesari, and Sasha tiger. Stay tuned for more photos!
We would love to make more A frames for the rest of our residents to enjoy. Can you help? It costs UK £53 / US $66 / R1,200 each. You can donate towards one (or more) here: Donate UK £ | Donate US $
These are sisters Africa and Kiara today in the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, South Africa, looking just like two lionesses should. It seems almost unimaginable that the cage in the second picture was their entire world for years in a circus in Peru. We took the second picture just after we had rescued them following Peru’s circus ban. Thanks to that ban no lions will ever be forced to live in the cage again and Africa and Kiara get to enjoy life in their natural world.
READ ON TO FIND OUT HOW A DONATION FOR THE LIONESSES THIS WEEKEND WILL BE DOUBLED
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Smith is responding to treatment at Old Chapel Veterinary Hospital in Dr Peter Caldwell’s care and seems to be regaining his strength now. He enjoys sunning himself in the tunnel outside his hospital room and happily takes his medications out there (third pic). Good news is that he is eating 4kg a day. We can’t wait to get our big old boy back to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary but want to get him back to his old self.
We are so grateful to an anonymous donor who has supported the ADIWS veterinary costs. With the background of these animals and the fact that many are getting older now, this would have been a very difficult challenge without their help. Please remember that it is often the day to day, long term care of animals, feeding, transport, staff to look after them etc, for the years after they have been rescued that pose the biggest challenge for ourselves and indeed many sanctuaries.
These are the circus survivors from Latin America who made it home to Africa. In operations to enforce ban on animals in circuses in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Guatemala, ADI emptied the cages and rescued over 80 lions and tigers, most went to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, but also other sanctuaries. We currently have 30 of these warriors at ADIWS.
Today we say a huge lion-hearted thank you on their behalf, to Alexis Diaz Limaco, who passed away last week, who played an integral role saving them. These are the faces that say “campaigning for animals makes a real difference.”
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Yesterday, the animals lost a true champion with the passing of Alexis Diaz Limaco, ADI’s Latin America General Manager. His impact for animals was immense. The ADI family has lost a great friend and colleague.
It was a chance meeting in London over 20 years ago that led Jan and Tim to recruit a young Peruvian for ADI’s undercover team. He would prove to be the vital part of the jigsaw of skills which saw ADIs work change laws and attitudes across Latin America.
He began investigating circuses in Spain and Portugal, securing harrowing footage which subsequently help drive bans in both countries on wild animals in circuses. Then he returned to South America, and truly found his calling.
ADI had rescued Toto the chimpanzee from a circus in Chile and launched a campaign to ban animal circuses, tantalizingly close to a ban in Chile, but a major investigation of the Latin American circus industry was needed. Alexis headed home.
Alexis assembled a team. Moving from country to country, he and his team faced huge risks. In Bolivia, he fought off a gang of circus thugs with his tripod; on another occasion, his leg was broken by a circus after he was caught filming.
For two years, the team was undercover inside circuses in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil. The footage was horrific: appalling living conditions and animals were being beaten, kicked, punched, even having rocks hurled at them.
Alexis headed to the countries where we had the most evidence teaming up with local campaigners to launch the findings, getting our materials printed, organizing press conferences. The investigation shocked the continent, causing public outcry.
Alexis had been a human rights activist and now threw himself into lobbying for circus bans. Bolivia became the first South American country to ban animals in circuses and then, a new challenge emerged…
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Please send your thoughts and love to Smith, who is back in hospital. We were so pleased when Smith appeared to have bounced back after a slow recovery from a gastric infection, and was reunited with his brother Rey Cusco. Sadly, Smith’s condition deteriorated again, he stopped eating so we quickly got him back to Dr Caldwell at Old Chapel Veterinary Clinic. The pictures today show Smith is already looking brighter, and has eaten a little. He is having tests to find out what the problem is, so Smith will remain under observation for a while. We are all concerned but hoping for the best.
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