Make their season merry and bright

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The rescued lions and tigers at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary are already tearing open Christmas presents – brightly wrapped boxes stuffed with hay and catnip and watermelons – thanks to ADI supporters. Enrichment like this is fun and serves a serious purpose, keeping the animals engaged mentally and physically – something our circus survivors never got to enjoy before their rescue. A huge thank you to Annabella Guiette for kickstarting our holiday appeal with treats for the lions and tigers. Watch out for our video on Christmas of all the fun.

Can you help keep the festivities going?

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GivingTuesday goal met!

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Tanya is jumping for joy! Thanks to you, we’ve raised enough funds for the main building of the night house for Tarzan and Tanya. This includes the foundation, walls, roof, two drop doors for Tarzan and Tanya to go in and out, and a human door to go in and clean, etc. We also raised enough to cover the plastering and painting inside, the rooms to enable hospitalization, separation for feeding, and protected introductions of animals, and the solar powered heater! That’s $12,209.44/ £9,168.92 of our GivingTuesday goal of $11,845/ £8,574.

These lifelong companions were rescued from a Guatemalan circus, where they were confined to a tiny, desolate cage and deprived of everything natural to them. Since their epic journey from Guatemala, the inseparable pair have been residing in the introduction habitat at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa. With your help, we can move them to a new and bigger habitat with more space than they’ve ever known, which is why we first need to build a night house.

Help build a night house for lion couple saved from circus suffering

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Our ex-circus survivors had the worst possible start in life. Lions Tarzan and Tanya, like so many of them, endured years confined in a tiny circus cage in appalling conditions, lacking exercise, and malnourished. They were rescued by ADI from a Guatemalan circus, and they still bear the marks of their cruel past. Tarzan’s torn lower lip is from a fight with a tiger in the circus, and Tanya’s scars are from defending him. 

At the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, we pick up the pieces of our battered lions and tigers, many of whom deal with arthritis, spine problems, and other health issues. That’s why night houses attached to their main habitats have rooms for treatment and observation and provide a warm place to sleep – all essential to their health and wellbeing.

This GivingTuesday, November 30 – the world’s biggest day of generosity – can you donate to help build a night house for our devoted couple Tarzan and Tanya? They are currently in our introduction habitat and we want to move them to a new and bigger habitat. You can donate through our dedicated donate page (for the UK click here) or our GivingTuesday Facebook fundraiser. 

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Happy Halloween for rescued lions and tigers

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Life used to be just about tricks for these circus survivors and now it’s only TREATS! This week our lions and tigers at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary enjoyed pumpkin treats sponsored by supporters of ADI. As well as giving the animals a lot of fun, treats help satisfy their inquisitive and exploring nature, always looking for the new, so helps them to be physically and mentally active. Have a great Halloween weekend.

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Our big cats want to go trick-or-treating this Halloween

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Although our lions and tigers have huge habitats to roam and other important enrichment like catnip and hay boxes, tires and other toys, pumpkins are always an extra special treat. Look at all the fun they had last year! Help them make up for all those years in the circus where they lived in tiny, miserable cages with nothing to interest or engage them.

Can you sponsor a pumpkin for Halloween? Just £1.50 / $2 buys a pumpkin and a whole lot of fun for a lion or tiger. Let’s see if we can raise enough to keep them playing for the rest of the year! Follow our social media posts to see what the lions and tigers get up to.

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Farewell Zeus

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It is with great sadness that we bring you the news we all feared, we have had to let Zeus go peacefully. Zeus had been in hospital for more than a week as Dr Peter Caldwell worked to find a way to alleviate the incurable spondylitis and irreversible degenerative neuropathy, causing the 16-year old lion to lose the use of his hind legs.

The problems are a result of his suffering in the circus and first identified in 2017 when Zeus was hospitalized.

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Bolillo is home from hospital

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Bolillo returned from hospital to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary yesterday with a new treatment regime for his arthritis and is moving around Augie Habitat more comfortably. Bolillo was rescued from a circus in Colombia seven years ago, where he and another lion had lived in a space the size of a queen-sized bed for almost a decade. With poor food, no exercise and living on urine-soaked boards, little wonder arthritis and other ailments catch up with these lions in later life.

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Two senior lions in hospital

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Please send your love to Colombian boys Bolillo and Zeus from the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary who are currently in Dr Peter Caldwell’s hospital under observation. The 16-year old lions were rescued by ADI from the same circus in Colombia seven years ago, where they suffered appalling conditions. This year, the past seems to be catching up with several of the lions we saved in Colombia.

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Fighting fires keeping our animals safe

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Last month saw a surge in wildfires in our region, and the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary team raced out to help fight them.

The most serious incident occurred in early September, when at 11.30am on a Saturday morning, Trevor, ADIWS Head of Security and local FireWatch, alerted everyone: “Huge fire approaching from the north, being pushed by wind towards our district…. It’s about 45km away…. Ensure all firefighting equipment are in order and ready.”

Trevor headed to the frontline to join others fighting the fire and kept us updated.

As half the Sanctuary team filled our firefighters, the other half began luring our lion and tiger residents into their night houses and feeding camps (their places of safety) while soaking the grass around them. This is where we keep the grass cut short, surrounding our residents with fire breaks.

Meanwhile, the fire was blazing through part of a local nature reserve, with the wind driving it across roads; it kept moving, and fast. With the fire 20km from the Sanctuary, at 1.30pm, Trevor instructed the team: “As soon as it approaches we need to fight the fire before it reaches the perimeter fences… please just control emotions, we need to stay calm and focus.”

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Rolex’s poorly paw

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Dr Peter Caldwell treated Rolex at the ADI Wildlife sanctuary for a cut on his paw last month, and Rolex (one of our Peru circus rescues) was soon back on his feet. Dr Caldwell will be back for his monthly check on all of the animals at the Sanctuary soon. Although in our picture it does look like Scarc is the one checking out Dr Caldwell and his team as much as the other way round!

All our circus survivors were rescued from horrendous conditions, and the malnutrition, physical abuse, and inbreeding can take its toll later in life. The lions and tigers we rescued from circuses in Guatemala have been especially prone to a range of health issues. Several of our lions rescued from Colombia and Peru are now in their senior years and facing challenges, while others, like Rolex, get a few bumps and scrapes from charging around the African landscape.

Please support our ADI Wildlife Sanctuary veterinary care.

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