A lifetime of suffering in the circus takes its toll. When ADI empties the cages and helps enforce national laws to end a whole industry, the animals saved require lifelong care and veterinary attention to deal with their physical and psychological damage.
At the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, we are currently caring for 42 lions and tigers, all bar one rescued from circuses in South America. Most have been cruelly mutilated through declawing. Many came into our care with broken teeth, dental treatment relieving them of years of pain. Others require ongoing medication and supplements to deal with health conditions caused through inbreeding and the long-term effects of their past abuse, confinement, and deprivation. To provide this, and to give these animals who have suffered so much the best possible life, we are reliant on our supporters and the public.
This GivingTuesday – a global day of generosity taking place on December 1st – can you donate $10 / £8 for a Ticket To Thrive to care for one of our rescued animals for one day? You can do so through our dedicated donate page (for the UK click here) or our GivingTuesday Facebook fundraiser.
Sisters Sun, Moon, Luna and Jade demolish their hay bales at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa. The joy and sense of fun these tigers show was simply never seen when they lived in constant fear in tiny, bare cages in a circus in Guatemala.
Sasha is recovering after several hours of highly complex surgery on her leg, to repair damage caused by a botched declawing operation in the circus. Her toes were cut off, but Sasha was left with a damaged, infected toe.
With its uplifting and positive message, this is a t-shirt that perfectly sums up the ADI ethos – that everything is possible when it comes to helping animals.
It’s Spring in South Africa and our sanctuary residents have been busy, busy, busy – enjoying themselves and watching the humans working hard to keep them safe.
This week Zeus was taken to hospital after having difficulty getting up and being unsteady when he walked. Our veterinarian, Peter, decided Zeus needed to come into hospital.
There have always been wildfires but climate change is making them worse, and human lack of care for our planetary systems is the cause.
Since 1998, we have had the ten hottest years on record, and nine of those have been since 2005. Overall our planet is getting hotter. Record breaking temperatures and drought have preceded many of the worst fires – fuelled by dried out land and plants, the fires have grown larger and faster.
In a region where wildfires are a seasonal part of life, to protect the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary it is surrounded by a 70ft firebreak, and there are firebreaks around every animal habitat. Thanks to a generous, anonymous founder we now have four firefighters – portable water tanks with motors and high-pressure hoses. Our new truck, sponsored by the Robert R Sprague Foundation, and the trailer our supporters helped purchase, have improved the speed of our response. We can be at all points of the sanctuary very quickly, and have added overhead water stations to top up the firefighters at speed.
We are part of a community working together to put out fires in the area. Hadio, who patiently gives our animals their medications, has also put out a local blaze spotted by the ADIWS team. Last year, when a car crashed nearby, exploded and sent flames racing towards the sanctuary, our team scrambled and the fire was stopped dead in its tracks at our perimeter firebreak.
To stop the human-caused warming of our planet, we must cut greenhouse gases by replacing fossil fuels with renewable clean energy, as we are doing with solar power at the ADIWS. We understand it is not yet possible for everything – air travel with renewable energy is years away, but people are working on it.
We are setting up a scheme to enable people who must travel by air, to offset it with a donation to plant trees at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary! This will be based on existing carbon pollution offset schemes – and you will be able to see tangible results, your trees growing and our sanctuary transforming. Until this is available, you can support tree-planting at the ADIWS here.
When we first announced we would be building a sanctuary, we said we would make it a green sanctuary. We have planted trees and begun returning land to nature that had been degraded by farming and chemicals. Our fences, motorised gates, heated floors for senior animals, security lights and CCTV cameras are all solar powered. Recently we began converting the hot water in our accommodation to solar. We are self-sufficient in water from our springs and taking steps to preserve this precious resource. We plan to install our own eco-friendly waste disposal and water re-cycling and filtration system.
Our friends at sanctuary Big Cat Rescue in Florida (where ADI took ex-circus tigers Hoover, Max, Simba, and Kimba) realized how important this project is, and understand the financial challenges for a new sanctuary. BCR has kindly offered ADI a matching grant of $50,000 towards our green waste recycling system. If we can raise $50,000 in the coming months we will have sustainable, planet-friendly waste disposal and clean water security forever. Can you help?
Education – governments and next generations: To bring about change, we need to educate and increase awareness of the damage we do, without thinking. We must make governments pay attention and accelerate the shift to renewable energy that is kind to our planet and other earthlings. End government subsidies for industries that damage the planet, and transfer assistance to earthling-kind industries. With your help, our Jean Warner Sprague Education Center will be taking this message to South African school children.
ADI Wildlife Sanctuary 