No one can forget the sight of Sasha in her bare circus cage in Guatemala, her foot held up in pain. A toe had been crushed in a brutal ‘declawing’ operation and cancer spread up her leg. After her rescue, at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, South Africa, she underwent groundbreaking surgery removing diseased bone and replacing it with a titanium implant. She is no longer in pain but after almost a decade of pain, in the circus, the tendons in her leg had shortened and she still holds the leg aloft. So we need to give her physiotherapy, exercising, stretching and using her leg by playing with balls, catnip boxes, melons, and logs. The indomitable Sasha is a testament to what is possible with your support.
You can keep Sasha and our other rescued animals playing with Oba, the limited-edition lion toy. Our friends at The Elephant Project, have created a limited-edition stuffed lion named Oba (meaning ‘king ruler’ in West Africa) with 100% of net proceeds from sales going to ADI and other organizations.
Tanya takes her medicine as Tarzan waits outside for his princess. At the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, the day begins with medicines for several residents, before breakfast. Coming from a life of suffering, many of our circus survivors require treatment for arthritis and damage caused by in-breeding and poor nutrition as growing cubs. Many also have damaged and broken teeth. Tanya is receiving medicine for suspected toothache prior to a visit to the dentist. She previously had dental surgery in our field hospital in Guatemala soon after her rescue from the circus. Loyal Tarzan follows her to their house each morning and waits patiently outside while ADIWS Animal Care Manager, Hadio, gives Tanya her morning medication in a treat. ADIWS has strict COVID and other disease prevention measures in place, with all food prepared wearing gloves and masks. However, our residents are not so relaxed with people in masks, and so medications are given without masks.
Happy Caturday from David at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, South Africa. David was rescued from a circus in Peru and is now in our Operation Lonely Hearts project to introduce this handsome boy to Easy, a lioness rescued from a circus in Colombia. Watch for updates.
To support David’s care so he can continue to thrive:
WE ALWAYS TRAVEL WITH ADI… Well, it may look like an advert for ADI rescue and relocations, but it’s actually Africa and Kiara2 making the most of crate familiarization time at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. We pride ourselves on avoiding using anesthetics to move our rescues. That’s achieved by keeping them calm, trusting, and familiar with their travel crates and never afraid. Africa and Kiara2 were among 33 lions airlifted from Peru and Colombia as ADI emptied circuses there – the biggest airlift of its kind. Now, they are preparing for a much shorter relocation within the Sanctuary, as part of what we are calling “operation lonely hearts”. Our aim to bring together seven lions in three groups – David & Easy; Africa, Kiara2 and Rolex; Bumba and Iron.
When it rains in South Africa, it pours! Our habitats are green and lush and our natural wells feeding the residents’ habitats are full, but with more rains than usual this year, WE HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM. Our lion and tiger habitats cover over 60 acres and are connected by almost two miles of internal dirt roads, which are becoming increasingly churned up and on certain days, some are impassable.
Roads may not seem as exciting as flights or new habitats for rescued animals, but they are vital for lifelong feeding and daily care. Without these roads, we will be unable to add habitats to rescue more animals and run the risk of being prevented from getting a sick lion or tiger to hospital during heavy rains.
Big developments at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary as we start bringing together some key groups of animals: Easy with David, sisters Kiara2 and Africa with brother Rolex, and Iron with Bumba. Several of these animals have been sharing territory for some time, but we will be placing all (except Easy and David) in new, neutral territory, to start their new lives together. As part of this, one of our established pairs, Leo and Muñeca (rescued by ADI from a circus in Peru in 2014), have moved next door to Augie Habitat, from their Abbey Habitat. This is a lovely, very similar habitat to Abbey, and should give the pair an interesting change of scenery as they have always enjoyed exploring. It had been a while since Leo and Muñeca were in their travel crates, so we had three days of crate familiarization, to allow them to wander freely in and out of their crates, and have their meals in the crates. Once they were comfortable, we closed the crates and moved them to Augie Habitat where they first got oriented in the feeding camp and house.
Chino and Coco, two lions rescued from a circus in Peru by ADI, enjoying the morning sunshine at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary South Africa. The boys share the 2.5 acre Kornberg Habitat and anyone joining the ADIWS volunteer programme will almost certainly go to sleep and wake up to their roars and open their curtains in the morning to see the boys watching for the arrival of their breakfast. The launch of our sanctuary volunteer scheme was halted by the pandemic but we hope to have it up and running as soon as possible.
Want to know what it takes to rescue animals like Chino and Coco? Check out rescue documentary Lion Ark which is available to stream for the first time on EarthStream.app. As a special promotion, for every subscription made though this link, $30 (normally $20) will go to ADI and directly benefit our rescued animals. Click here to subscribe and tune in.
Were you watching as the lions and tigers rescued from circuses in Guatemala crossed the globe, stopping in Mexico, Belgium and Qatar on their way to a new life at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa? The flight of the 17 lions and tigers marked the end of a very tough 18-month enforcement operation of Guatemala’s ban on animal circuses. Fast forward two years, here they are now, at ADIWS this week.
Their lives changed under ADI care – from the day we removed them from the circus cages and put them in our Temporary Rescue Unit, they got to run and play on grass for the first time ever, and nobody can forget how the tigers splashed around in their first pools!
Simba and Rey are up and roaring again after a visit from Dr Caldwell. The lions and tigers at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary come from some of the worst possible conditions. In-breeding, malnutrition, physical abuse (blows to the head and smashed teeth), lack of exercise and years living confined on bare urine-soaked boards take their toll. Old age can come early for these warriors. Heartbreakingly, last week, years of abuse caught up with dear Bolillo rescued from a circus in Colombia.
It is with great sadness that we report that dear Bolillo has passed away. Like many of our circus survivors, almost a decade in a tiny circus cage, enduring abuse and poor nutrition in Colombia, took its toll on this senior lion. In October, after his last hospitalization, Bolillo was on palliative care for his arthritis and failing kidneys – we kept him comfortable as possible in his African home. He continued to enjoy life, slowly pottering around Augie Habitat dozing under the trees. Then in the past week Bolillo retreated to the safety of his house, venturing out only to bask in the sunshine, his appetite failing. He was clearly unhappy and uncomfortable and it was becoming hard to entice him to even take his medication treats. Dr Caldwell came to see him and under anaesthetic, discovered in addition to his deteriorating bones and kidneys, Bolillo had a large stomach tumour. It was time to do the kindest thing for him (and the toughest for us) and say goodbye to our elderly trooper.
With his spectacular mane, Bolillo had the air of a high court judge. He came across as an old-fashioned gentleman. He was one of our Colombian pride of nine, rescued over seven and a half years ago and taken into our temporary rescue center in Bucaramanga. The pictures of the lions in their circus cages were haunting; they looked completely broken and were some of the most heartbreaking we have seen. Released from the circus and in ADI’s care, they regained their spirits and love of life and finally, we returned them to the land of their forefathers Africa.
When ADI rescues large numbers of animals from a circus the beatings, horrific conditions, poor food, in-breeding and lack of veterinary care, we know that early suffering will likely begin to catch up with them in later life. This has been the case over the past 18 months with the loss of several senior members of the Colombian pride. Although their lives have been shortened by circus life, it is a comfort that they got to live and roar as lions should.
So, although we are heartbroken to say “goodbye”, we celebrate his great escape from the circus and those years under the African sun. Farewell Bolillo, it was an honour to know you and a privilege to care for you.
Thank you to everyone who helped give this lion those precious years of freedom and living as a lion should. Please continue to support the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary and give others like our beloved Bolillo a new life.
ADI Wildlife Sanctuary 