- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Abused French circus lion released to South African sanctuary
- Date: 27th June 2010
- Summary: PAARL, SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 25, 2010) (REUTERS) DRAKENSTEIN LION PARK STAFF CARRYING LION CRATE LIONS WATCHING PAUL HART OPENING ENA'S CRATE PARK STAFF TAKING PHOTOS AFTER 20 MINUTES, ENA LEAVES CRATE HART WATCHING ENA ENA TRYING TO CLIMB ELECTRIC FENCE OF ENCLOSURE HART TALKING ON HANDSET PARK STAFF TALKING ON HANDSET ENA RUNNING ALONG FENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAUL HART, FOUNDER OF LION PARK, SAYING: "She's a really feisty little girl. She's still young. She's got a long way to go to adapt to her new environment. She's reacting very aggressively at the moment. But it will take her about 24 hours to settle down and get into the groove of her new life." ENA LAYING IN CORNER (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAUL HART, FOUNDER OF LION PARK, SAYING: "She was kept hidden in small wooden crate beneath a horse trailer the circus had. When she was discovered, she was obviously confiscated cause of the conditions she was in kept in, but they also didn't have papers for her." ENA GROWLING IN CORNER AS HART LOOKS ON PARK STAFF WATCHING VARIOUS OF TRANQUILIZER GUN -- A PRECAUTION PAN OF DRAKENSTEIN LION PARK WITH MOUNTAIN IN BACKGROUND MOUNTAIN VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF LION PARK LION WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAUL HART, FOUNDER OF LION PARK, SAYING: "All of the lions we have here we have rescued from very, very abusive situations and cannot be rehabilitated to the wild. And as a sanctuary we don't breed with our lions at all. We just provide a home for them for the rest of their natural lives." ENA WALKING PAIR OF LIONS WATCHING (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAUL HART, FOUNDER OF LION PARK, SAYING: "Ena is, I think, the seventh or eighth circus rescue we have here. We also have a lot of animals that have been rescued from the pet trade in Eastern Europe, and then a lot of lions that have been rescued from canned hunting farms in South Africa." VARIOUS OF LION RESCUED FROM CHILE, NAMED 'GUACHO', IN ENCLOSURE NEXT TO ENA'S VARIOUS OF CUBS, 'NALA' AND 'BRUTUS', WHO WILL JOIN ENA IN A FEW MONTHS LION NAMED 'SAMSON' RUNNING TOWARDS FENCE
- Embargoed: 12th July 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: South Africa
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Environment / Natural World
- Reuters ID: LVA7KT7FXGQFRUN172L611NO0L96
- Story Text: The lion cub named Ena discovered her new home on Friday (June 24) when she was released into the Drakenstein Lion Park, thirty minutes outside of Cape Town.
The 50-acre sanctuary is now home to 34 lions of all ages from all over the globe, including several rare white lions, that have been rescued from captivity in the illegal pet trade, circuses or the still-legal canned lion hunting in South Africa. The abused cats cannot be rehabilitated and returned to the wild, so the Lion Park provides a home for them.
"All of the lions we have here we have rescued from very, very abusive situations and cannot be rehabilitated to the wild. And as a sanctuary we don't breed with our lions at all. We just provide a home for them for the rest of their natural lives," explained Paul Hart, owner and founder of the lion sanctuary.
The eight or nine month-old lioness - her exact age is unknown - was repatriated to South Africa after French authorities found her hidden in a small crate at a French circus. The big cat was abused and undocumented - sadly a common occurrence of the illegal animal trade.
"She was kept hidden in small wooden crate beneath a horse trailer the circus had. When she was discovered, she was obviously confiscated cause of the conditions she was in kept in, but they also didn't have papers for her," described Hart.
"Ena is, I think, the seventh or eighth circus rescue we have here. We also have a lot of animals that have been rescued from the pet trade in Eastern Europe, and then a lot of lions that have been rescued from canned hunting farms in South Africa," Hart told Reuters.
After spending 20 minutes deciding whether to part from her travel crate and enter her new 10,000 meter-square enclosure, Ena explored her home, though appeared restless with the unfamiliar open space since she had only known the confinement of a small box for her entire existence.
"She's a really feisty little girl. She's still young. She's got a long way to go to adapt to her new environment. She's reacting very aggressively at the moment. But it will take her about 24 hours to settle down and get into the groove of her new life," Hart said.
The Drakenstein Lion Park operates through sponsorship and fundraising to provide for their charges which eat their way through 30 kg of meat per week. It costs over 1,000 rand a month, and roughly 250,000 rand over the life of lion, to maintain the big cat facility.
The cost of transporting the lions to the park from overseas can reach up to 100,000 rand. For Ena, the bill was covered buy the Bridget Bardot Foundation, which has sent two other cats found in France to Drakenstien already.
Hart explained that his sanctuary, one of only three in all of Africa, fields phone calls everyday with requests to house abused lions, but Drakenstein was already full before Hart accepted responsibility for Ena, though the lion-hearted wildlife expert often finds it hard to say 'no'.
For now, Ena will be the last lion for some time at the sanctuary, before there is more space available. Though, once she gets accustomed to her new home, she well be introduced to two roommates, Brutus and Nala, a pair of four-month old cubs already living at the park, but still too young to join the enclosure with her. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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