Rescued big cats at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary enjoy Halloween with pumpkins and catnip sacks and boxes. ENJOY. Have a Happy Halloween and thanks to all of the Animal Defenders International supporters who help us care for these cats and everyone who sponsored this year’s treats.
Continue readingtigers
ADI Art Auction to support ADI Wildlife Sanctuary
Our annual ADI Art Auction helps support the care of our rescued animals at ADI Wildlife Sanctuary (ADIWS) in South Africa AND provides the opportunity for you to bid on one or more of the incredible pieces of animal themed artwork donated by the artists. We hope you will join the auction and place YOUR bid!
Continue readingEaster games
Rescued lions and tigers on an Easter hunt for boxes filled with catnip and hay. Rescued from circuses, the illegal pet trade, and zoos around the world by Animal Defenders International (ADI), these big cats swapped their cramped bare cages for huge natural habitats of several acres in the heart of South Africa.
Continue readingA different but vital way to help animals
At the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary (ADIWS), our pride and joy are the huge natural habitats where our rescued lions and tigers can run free and express themselves – there’s no sight in the world quite like seeing a lion or tiger run full speed across acres of space. Sheer joy for life!
Continue readingADIWS residents enjoy a watermelon snack
The ADI Wildlife Sanctuary is most commonly known as a refuge for ex-circus lions and tigers. But it is also home to many other species of animals, including goats and sheep who have been rescued from different abuses.
Continue readingHappy rescue anniversary Max and Stripes!
Six years on from that junkyard rescue in Guatemala: how do you think Max and Stripes are doing?
The circus had been in hiding for months, but on November 10th 2018, an ADI team entered a junkyard with police and wildlife officials to rescue six month old Max and Stripes and four other tigers – all destined for the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa. Given a nutritious diet since the rescue the boys have grown bigger than all of the adult tigers saved that day. Today, they are confident, playful, roam acres of natural habitat with pools in Kakato Habitat and still live next to their mom Lupe.
Lupe’s Halloween treat after health scare
We were over the moon to see Lupe back to her old self, enjoying a Halloween treat after suffering a seizure last week.
As ADI supporters know, the tigers we rescued from a circus in Guatemala have suffered from multiple health problems due to in-breeding and malnutrition early in life.
It is tragic how an early life poor care follows these tigers even after they are rescued. Heartbreakingly, four of the tigers we saved in 2018, Sombra, Bimbi, Itza, and Kumal passed away due to these issues.
The ADI Wildlife Sanctuary team keeps Lupe under close observation and Dr Caldwell monitors and adjusts her medication – her last seizure had been in June.
Lupe’s sons Max and Stripes, who live next door to her, appear to have avoided this problem. They were rescued by ADI at six months old, and so have enjoyed good nutrition from an early age, so have developed and grown larger and hopefully healthier than their parents.
Lupe’s natural scratching post
Lupe is one of the lucky big cats to escape a circus with her claws intact and you can see how much she enjoys using them on this fallen branch at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary.
Anyone who has seen a cat (wild or domestic) flex their claws and scratch a post or a tree will see how important it is to these animals. Declawing is a horrific mutilation performed in circuses to remove the important defensive weapons from the animals and, tragically, by some domestic cat owners to protect their furniture. Declawing doesn’t mean simply cutting off a claw, it’s an amputation to the first joint – ADI supporters will remember dear Cholita the bear with fingers left as stumps. The mutilation damages the entire structure of the foot and can leave cats in severe pain later life. NEVER DECLAW.
Continue readingMax relaxing in the pool
Max enjoys a soak in the pool of Kakato by April Fong Habitat, our largest tiger territory at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. Max is a little more assertive than brother Stripes, but both have grown into confident and friendly animals.
ADI rescued them as young cubs from a circus holed up in a junkyard in Guatemala, six years ago.
Max and Stripes are both very intrigued by all their new lion neighbors, especially Muheeb.
Click here to help Max and his brother Stripes continue to thrive by supporting their care.
Luna alert
Something catches Luna’s eye at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary – perhaps one of her sisters Jade, Sun and Moon (‘Spice Girls’) or the local wildlife they love to chase.
Before ADI rescued them from a circus in Guatemala, Luna and Jade shared a cage the size of a queen-size bed – no space and nothing to interest them. Now in their tiger territory, which features two pools and a lake, they have the space and freedom to do whatever they please.
ADI Wildlife Sanctuary 