Dear Friend

Feeling a little exhausted but positive!

Yesterday, Tim and I returned from a whistle-stop 36 hours in Israel, preparing for the relocation of lions Ori and Ben Tzur to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. The lions were tiny cubs when they were rescued by Israel’s Nature & Parks Authority (NPA) in a crackdown on illegally trafficked ‘trophy pets’ that also saw a staggering sixty grivet monkeys seized.

This rescue is another blow against wildlife trafficking and a chance to create awareness about wildlife pets.

We took over the rescue at very short notice after Panthera Africa Big Cat Sanctuary was burned in a wildfire, leaving nowhere for the boys – we also evacuated two of their lions Elsa and Lei-ah, while Panthera Africa is being rebuilt.

We still do not know how long the evacuated lions will be fed and cared for by ADI but anticipate it will be months or even a year away. So, with Ben Tzur and Ori coming to ADIWS as their first proper home for an indefinite period, we agreed it would therefore be in their best welfare interests to remain at ADIWS for life, rather than settle in, build trust with their carers, only to be uprooted for a 15+ hour journey to another location at some point. The South African CITES authority, who we must commend for the speed they have worked on this, also required that the import be to their permanent home.

A big project to take on, and one that will impact our other work. However, your support shows it has been the right choice. Hence, we were off to Israel for 36 hours this week.

We have been working intensely since mid-January: hours securing permits, an inspection by the CITES authority and habitat modifications and preparing travel crates in case needed.

We had a very productive meeting with the NPA team, planning the relocation, learning about the characters of the lions, feeding routines and so on. It may not seem as exciting as the actual rescues and relocations, but meetings, planning and coordination are what ensure animals are moved safely. We also got to see a little of their work at a local nature reserve returning vultures and other animals to the wild.

Seeing Ori and Ben Tzur made all of the hard work worthwhile. These two youngsters will be growing up in Africa! Ori is quite shy and Ben Tzur is extremely friendly, confident and looks after Ori. The NPA team said he had brought Ori out of himself.

Sadly, Ben Tzur has been made utterly dependent on humans and craves attention, wanting the social contact he would get from other lions. The traffickers drag the babies from their mothers when they should be suckling and receiving important nutrients and learning from their mothers. When you see people on social media pretending the animals adore them as they crave attention it is a lie. It is learned dependency born of being deprived of the relationships they really need.

But there was a very important first impression seeing Ben Tzur and Ori – these are not tiny babies anymore! They are at least 10 months old, and huge.

At the zoo they are being taught crate familiarisation. Each day they are fed in the travel crates, the doors are closed and they are given treats while inside - you will have seen us doing this as we prepare for a big lion or tiger move. This is the best way, as it enables loading without sedation and means the animals are calm and less stressed during journeys.

We reviewed the process but unfortunately it confirmed the cubs are now too big for these crates. We are looking to resolve this by sending our crates or with construction of new crates in Israel.

We hope this will be a minor setback and not add too much cost to the rescue. I still hope that the move will be before the end of February.

We really need your support for this additional rescue and have a very narrow timeframe to raise the funds needed, including what will be the biggest cost to ADI – feeding and caring for these boys for the next 20 years.

Please donate for Ori and Ben Tzur.

Yours for the animals

Jan Creamer, President