Sweet lion Ruben has been alone for five years, in a private zoo which has closed. The other animals were relocated, but there was no room for him. At ten years old, he lost his whole family. He is close to an area in Armenia where there is an ongoing conflict, so before we can rescue him, we need to get him to a temporary place of safety.
Continue readinganimal rescue
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at ADI, and a HUGE THANK YOU for everything that you have helped us achieve in the past year from awareness and education campaigns to securing new laws to rescuing and caring for animals. For Thanksgiving this week, the lions and tigers at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary have been enjoying special melon treats. This gallery gives a taste of the fun they have been having.
Continue readingSave the date to help an ADI rescue!
GivingTuesday, 29 November, is the world’s biggest day of generosity and ADI will be announcing our next rescue and a very special appeal! Details to be released on Friday 25th November. Pictured are Easy, David and Sasha tiger at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary and the life, which if we raise enough, that you can give another suffering animal.
Continue readingSANCTUARIES UNITED TO SAVE ANIMALS.
The ADI Wildlife Sanctuary team was pleased to help with the release of two tigers at the new Isindile Big Cat Sanctuary in South Africa. We donated two of our Guatemala travel crates to the new sanctuary.
Three weeks ago, the team from Isindile spent a day at ADIWS training with Johannes, Jan, and Lefaso covering food preparation, husbandry, feeding and safety protocols. The ADIWS team discussed the personalities of the lion and tiger residents at ADIWS and their different needs. We hope by helping another new sanctuary, we can contribute to the welfare of other rescued animals.
Continue readingFather of the pride
With Father’s Day on Sunday, we salute the Father of our ADI Wildlife Sanctuary Pride, 19-year old Leo.
We know that Leo and partner Muñeca are parents to at least five lions living at the sanctuary: Rolex, Coco, Chino, Africa and KiaraP. But it could be several more. Before they were rescued by ADI, Leo and Muñeca were owned by a circus in Peru, which was breeding and supplying almost every circus in the country. So, Leo could also be the daddy of Rey Cusco, KiaraC, Smith and Amazonas, and Grand Daddy to Mahla and Scarc – as some Peruvian officials believed.
Continue readingRey and Smith bask in the light
Two of the mightiest lions at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary bask in the light of another sunset in South Africa in their 6+ acre habitat. Smith is a huge, castrated male it’s a close call as to who is the biggest lion at the sanctuary between him and Kesari. It was campaigners with hidden cameras, leaflets and placards that transformed their lives.
Continue readingRescue documentary Lion Ark – now available to stream
ADI’s Lion Ark movie is streaming on EarthStream for the first time, and available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku. Every subscription helps raise funds for our rescued animals at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary.
Lion Ark is a feel-good, empowering story of the most ambitious and daring animal rescue of its kind. ADI secured a ban on animal circuses in Bolivia following a two-year undercover investigation across South America. Then the law had to be enforced. Across vast, hostile terrains the illegal circuses were tracked down, the animals saved, brought to safety, and reached a joyous finale as 25 lions are airlifted to freedom in the US.
With no facilities for many of the banned circus animals in Bolivia, ADI undertook an unprecedented operation, setting up a temporary rescue unit to receive animals, raiding every circus, and emptying every cage. ADI rescued and relocated 29 lions and rehomed monkeys and other animals in Bolivia. The success of Operation Lion Ark and its popularity triggered animal circus bans throughout Latin America and beyond. Since then, ADI has carried out similar missions in Colombia, Peru (rescuing over 100 animals and flying 33 lions to South Africa), and Guatemala (relocating over 20 lions and tigers to the US and South Africa). The ADI Wildlife Sanctuary is built for our circus survivors and others.
Continue readingTwo years on: the Guatemala lions and tigers in Africa
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!
Continue readingHomecoming
Five lions and 12 tigers, rescued from Guatemala circuses, make a great escape to freedom at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa. The animals were rescued during ADI’s 18-month operation to help enforce Guatemala’s ban on animals in circuses. Then, officials warned ADI to leave the country with the animals by 21 January or risk losing them. Organizing a flight like this normally takes weeks, but ADI was racing against time as flight after flight was blocked due to landing and security restrictions on flights from Guatemala. With just days to spare, ADI secured an escape route through Mexico, Belgium, and Qatar.
Continue readingReuniting the Guatemala animals
It seems hard to believe that only last week our rescued Guatemala animals arrived at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa! The last ten days have been a whirl of activity, settling in the animals, letting them become familiar with their new surroundings, and most importantly, reuniting them with their family.
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