Ukraine lions find a home
RESCUED lions from the Ukraine arrived in Alicante province this week.
It was on March 1 that animal welfare organisation, @Wild Animal Rescue – based near Kyiv – decided to make a final attempt to evacuate its most vulnerable animals and take them to Poland.
The animals included six young lions, several tigers, two caracals and a blind African hunting dog.
All of them came from being ‘pets’ or being used to entertain people at a petting zoo.
Villena wildlife rescue AAP had been working on this rescue for some time and the idea was to be able to receive some of the animals during the spring, but due to the Russian invasion, it was a race to get them out. They were loaded on to lorries but Russian soldiers outside Kyiv held up the drivers at gunpoint.
However, these brave Ukrainians refused to abandon the animals and they were eventually allowed to leave.
After many delays and anxious moments, they were finally able to cross the Polish
border on Thursday, March 3, and set off towards Poznan zoo, where they arrived safely to rest before going to permanent homes. AAP generally work within the confines of the EU, but did not hesitate to put their facilities and expertise at the service of the association and their animals to provide them with a safe haven.
AAP’s Villena sanctuary offered to take in four of the lions and the African hunting dog, and they found homes for the remaining animals with other European wildlife rescue centres. On Monday, the five animals started their journey to Spain where they arrived at AAP’s Villena sanctuary on Wednesday evening.