animal rescue

RUBEN READY FOR HALLOWEEN.

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We have launched our ADI Wildlife Sanctuary Annual Halloween Pumpkin Appeal and Ruben has a head start, getting daily pumpkins and other toys as part of the routine to aid his physiotherapy. Ruben seems to enjoy every form of enrichment we have given him so far!

The lions and tigers love playing with these treats, so will you help give everyone some Halloween fun? With your help, we will be publishing pictures in the build-up to Halloween as Ruben and his friends react to their treats and watch out for the new ADIWS Annual Halloween video.

This year, to secure their future, half of the pumpkin donation ($7.50/£6) will go to our care costs. Or, you can be a ‘golden pumpkin sponsor’ supporting a pumpkin and a full day’s care for a lion of tiger ($64/£50). Or you might want to be super generous and go for our ‘One-For-All’ option – a pumpkin for every cat ($232.50/£186). Let’s see if we can raise enough to keep the cats in treats all the way to Christmas!

Donate US / UK (ADIF)

Simba and Rey’s incredible journey

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They were rescued by ADI from a miserable circus cage in the city of Ayacucho high in the Andes mountains, Peru. After a difficult seizure operation our team drove through sleet, rain and snow over the mountains for 20 hours to our Temporary Rescue Unit near Lima. ADI President Jan celebrated a birthday with the lions on the mountain roads. ADI then flew 33 rescued lions from Peru and Colombia to a new life in South Africa.

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Re-live Ruben’s journey home

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Re-live those magical moments when Ruben flew from Armenia and stepped out onto grass and his African homeland at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary for the first time. The video from Qatar Airways Cargo – who made his journey to a new life possible – contains previously unseen footage from behind the scenes of the journey and of Ruben’s first day at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. Enjoy Ruben’s blissful face as catnip swirls around him, note the donkeys making an appearance behind Tim, and for ADI supporters, smile as Tanya tells the person filming to stop looking at her Tarzan! With huge thanks to Qatar Airways Cargo who specially scheduled a large aircraft to take Ruben from Armenia.

To support Ruben: Donate US $ | Donate UK £

Ruben rescue turns spotlight on lonely captive animals

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The story of our rescue of Ruben the lion from Armenia – dubbed “the loneliest lion in the world” – exploded worldwide, with coverage in the US, UK, South Africa, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Montenegro, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam.

Ruben’s suffering and the rescue has touched the hearts of millions, and importantly, we got into the headlines the suffering of isolation and impacts on the health of captive animals.

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Ruben is home at last

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We did it!

Thanks to you, our fantastic supporters, Ruben is now safe in the land of his ancestors: Africa. As we watched Ruben take his first, magical steps onto South African soil on Friday morning, it made the trials and tribulations of the past 14 months worth it.

We were in Armenia for the countdown, finalizing his travel crate, and right up to take off we were facing obstruction, additional costs, and red tape.

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Ruben watch

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Ruben has been watching from the crate. He is still sleepy. He was sedated for travel two days ago and today for a veterinary check, so is sleeping it off. He was covered with a shade cloth, and there was a nice breeze, but he has since been insulated with hay bales and will be monitored through the night. Earlier, Rey Ayacucho came over to watch him (third slide below).

He will do this in his own time. Follow us on Facebook for possible live streams tomorrow.

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Counting down to lonely lion Ruben’s flight

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Greetings from a very hot Armenia where we are just four days away from the start of the move of lonely lion Ruben to a new life at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, South Africa.

The wonderful offer from Qatar Airways to move a larger than usual aircraft to one of their scheduled passenger routes from Armenia in order to donate space for Ruben has given us limited time between knowing the departure date and leaving, but we could not say no! Until the Qatar Airways’ WeQare charity scheme stepped in, Ruben’s options for leaving Armenia were looking very tough.

We have inspected Ruben’s crate – his first-class cabin – and after a few minor modifications, it is ready. A solid crate to one of our tried and tested designs.

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