The spookiest time of year is nearly upon us once again, and that means pumpkin fun for our lion and tiger residents at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary (ADIWS), South Africa. Most of the big cats at ADIWS were rescued from horrific conditions in circuses where they were forced to perform. I am pleased to say there are NO MORE TRICKS – ONLY TREATS – and you can be part of the fun!
Our rescued lions and tigers roam huge natural habitats of several acres – we give them a life as close to nature as possible. But they are clever, very playful and love extra fun and games including catnip sacks and punchbags, watermelons, boxes, and at this time of year they love their pumpkins. This enrichment is vital for keeping our inquisitive and playful residents mentally and physically stimulated.
We will never forget how Ruben loved playing with pumpkins and you can see him and the other residents happily playing with their pumpkin treats in last year’s video here.
It costs an average of £1,500 / $1,800 each month per animal for food, care, veterinary, maintenance and security. That’s £50 / $60 per day. So, this year we are asking for something with each pumpkin donation, to go towards each resident’s care.
Pumpkin Sponsor – £10 / $12 – covers the cost of a pumpkin and a contribution towards a lion or tiger’s care.
‘Golden’ Pumpkin Sponsor – £50 / $64 – provides one pumpkin and one full day of care for a resident.
‘One-For-All’ Pumpkin Sponsor– £186 / $232.50 – a pumpkin and care contribution for every lion and tiger at ADIWS.
If we can raise enough, we can keep the cats entertained with pumpkins and enrichment through to the end of the year.
Help with a donation today and I’ll be reporting back on the fun and games you’ve made possible in the coming weeks.
This weekend, I hope you will help me raise enough to purchase the first two electric off-road vehicles for the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. Thanks to our first appeal we are closer to the target, and great news is that one of our Sanctuary Founders has offered a $3,500 / £2,600 match fund. This means that donations this weekend will be doubled, and we can purchase our first two Blitz Cruisers!
The electric Blitz Cruisers will be a vital addition to our work for the animals every day – for feeding, medications, firefighting, repairs, and maintenance – improving our efficiency and security, and helping us to save more animals.
Each vehicle will be fitted with a solar panel roof for self-charging and now the Sanctuary is fully solar powered, we can also charge them when needed – zero emissions, quiet around the animals and powered for free!
An incident at 4.30am on Thursday reminded us just how important it is to have the vehicles we need to mobilize quickly.
Our night security team spotted a blaze following a road accident close to the Sanctuary. Right now, we are towards the end of dry season, when the land is very dry and fires start – any fire can easily become an inferno as it races across the land towards the Sanctuary. The alarm was raised and team ADIWS scrambled into action. The residents were brought into their safe zones – Sasha lioness was a little naughty, taking her time to be coaxed in – while our firefighters raced to the scene. Thankfully the fire was quickly extinguished.
Our new electric vehicles will each carry a custom-made fire fighter, adding significantly to our fire-fighting capability, as well as less dramatic tasks such as watering the newly planted trees around the Sanctuary!
Ultimately, we need to purchase four vehicles at a total cost of £19,400. This weekend, I hope you can help hit our target for the first Blitz Cruisers, and remember, your donations will be doubled! Can you help?
If you make a major contribution of £4,850, it funds an entire vehicle – and you can name your vehicle, and have a tribute printed on it,
The changing climate is having a devasting impact on humans, our planet, and the animals who share it with us. Science tells us it is set to get much, much worse unless people take responsibility and change how we power the things we need. We can all play our part and help save the planet and the animals we love.
When we began building the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa, the land was barren from farming. We pledged to make it self-sustaining for all life, including the bees, insects, small wildlife, as well as our rescued residents. We would be part of the solution. The Sanctuary must always be there.
It was five years ago this week that we first began building the Sanctuary on a piece of blank land, made of two farms. Our first tasks were perimeter security fencing, animal habitat fencing, pumps to distribute the natural spring water to the habitats, and security cameras – all solar powered. We began to plant hundreds of trees, protected the flora and fauna, rewilding the land. The land has come to life, our native wild residents include fifty species of birds, rabbits, hares, mongooses, tortoises, turtles, antelope, jackals, caracal, snakes, fish, and amphibians on the lake.
Thanks to your amazing support we kept on pushing forward, building our place of loving kindness for rescued animals. Since then, we have provided a home for 52 lions and tigers, dozens of rescued tortoises, birds, antelope, donkeys, horses, pigs, a cow, goats, sheep, dogs, ducks, and geese! Everyone is welcome.
This year the ADIWS became fully solar powered when we increased power storage capacity to three huge batteries, meeting all our current operational needs – equipment, tools, freezers, lighting, heating, hot water, computers etc. No more daily power outages from South Africa’s national grid provider, Eskom, and clean sustainable energy. When we open to the public, we will purchase one more battery to provide the extra power needs for the visitors, volunteers, education centre and veterinary centre.
Now, with our own power supply and the new internal roads (built with recycled road materials) we can take another leap forward.
We hope to purchase four fully electric farm utility vehicles for daily resident care, maintenance, trees and environment work, so we can stop using expensive, fuel-hungry road vehicles for the on-site work. These UTVs are popular on farms in South Africa; with a range of 40km, top speed 30km/h, they can carry 400kg, and drive off-road.
Each will be fitted with a solar panel roof, so they are self-charging, but can be plugged into our solar power if a boost is needed.
Our sanctuary covers 455 acres, and our lion and tiger habitats range from 2.5 to 8 acres each, so we cover a lot of ground. These vehicles will increase operational efficiency – each team will have their own vehicle, they are quiet around the animals, can navigate habitats to make fencing and other repairs, distribute millings to repair roads – all while not polluting the environment and power is free!
In each of the past 3 years, we have had a significant wildfire approach our perimeter – thankfully these have all been stopped by our team. These vehicles will increase our coverage, capacity and reach – each vehicle can carry a 300L firefighter and team. We can be in four places at once.
We must raise the cost of all four vehicles $25,200 / £19,400 (cost per vehicle $6,300/£4,850). Can you help?
This is a really, important project to keep our sanctuary moving forward and if we are more efficient and cut long term overheads, we can save more animals!
Thank you so much for supporting our work to help animals in need, you will see from this round-up of recent events that we continue to make a difference.
This month also marked the 10-year anniversary of ADI’s Operation Spirit of Freedom to empty the circus cages in Peru and Colombia. The impact of the mission continues to reverberate in the circus bans that followed in Latin America and elsewhere and in the lives of the animals saved still enjoying their freedom in the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary (like Africa and Kiara above) and sanctuaries in Peru. Read more here.
This work continues and the past month has seen another US state ban exotic animals in circuses, Colombia’s historic bullfighting ban was signed into law and the country’s cosmetics testing ban came into force, and there was more progress on fur.
Read on to see the impact we are having, together, to change lives…
Massachusetts became the sixth US state to ban the use of exotic animals in circuses. After years of campaigning for the legislation, giving testimony and more, H4915 bans the use of elephants, big cats, primates, giraffes, and bears in traveling exhibits and shows. Our thanks to the bill sponsors and everyone who helped support the bill’s passing. We did it!
For a nationwide ban, please urge your Congress members to support the reintroduction of the Traveling Exotic Animal and Public Safety Protection Act (#TEAPSPA).
Our family of rescued donkeys that roam the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary recently took in a young springbok who was rescued after being injured and chased to exhaustion by hunters with dogs. We had expected her to join the other antelope, instead she joined our family of donkeys, and on cold nights the adult donkeys gather around her and the infant donkeys to keep them warm.
Over 1,000 people, including members of Congress, watched Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro sign Colombia’s bullfighting ban into law at a celebration with music and speeches in Bogota’s bullring. ADI and Colombia Sin Toreo presented President Petro with an award recognizing his commitment to end the suffering. The ban will come into force in three years and will face challenges from the bullfighting lobby. Please help ADI keep working to protect the ban.
Five people were injured, with one man gored by a bull on the first day of the San Fermin Festival, Pamplona, Spain, as terrified bulls are chased by mobs through the streets and later killed by bullfighters. Tourists continue to support this suffering which is sold as ‘tradition’. Help ADI continue the progress we have made in Latin America. Write to Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister of Spain and urge him to ban bull-runs and bullfighting.
Law 2047 banning animal testing of cosmetics which ADI worked with House Representative Juan Carlos Losada to secure in 2020 has come into force after a four-year implementation period. As well as prohibiting the experimentation, importation, manufacture and marketing of cosmetic products tested on animals, the law supports development and implementation of non-animal methods, and government action to publicize the ban. ADI Colombia is pressing the Government for a clear plan to monitor and enforce the ban.
Nine years ago US dentist Walter Palmer lured Cecil the lion from a protected reserve in Zimbabwe, wounded him with a bow and arrow and, hours later, shot him dead. The incident highlighted the wanton cruelty of trophy hunting and the disregard for basic conservation measures and protections – Cecil was even wearing a radio collar. Despite global outrage, the killing for kicks continues. The US imports more hunting trophies than any other country, and the previous UK Government failed on its promise to stop trophy hunting imports. It’s time for a real commitment for change.
Urge your US Congress members to support the Prohibiting Threatened and Endangered Creature Trophies (ProTECT) Act (HR7795), to prohibit taking and importing endangered or threatened species into the US as a trophy. In the UK, ask new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to bring in legislation to stop hunting trophy imports.
Alaska has prohibited using bait to attract brown bears for hunters to kill. Hunting has caused a decline of brown bears and disrupted ecosystems. The ban on baiting eliminates a particularly cruel and cowardly way of killing bears but other cruel methods of hunting and trapping remain unaddressed on Alaska’s national preserve lands.
Work has begun at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary to integrate Dhubiya, Saif (above) Aziza, and Muheeb, as either a single pride or two pairs. The four rescued from the Kuwait illegal wildlife pet trade have settled in well. Dhubiya and Aziza have been spayed so they don’t breed and to prevent the risk of pyometra and some cancers later in life. We have modified the habitats so the whole group can be rotated through the 2.5-acre area to get used to one another. It will be a slow process as we carefully monitor how they like each other. This will take some time, and we cannot guarantee success but we always work to try and avoid lions living alone.
The Opposing the Cultivation and Trade of Octopus Produced through Unethical Strategies (OCTOPUS) Act seeks to ban commercial octopus farming in the US and prohibit imports of farmed octopus. The sentience and intelligence of these animals, which are so essential to marine ecosystems, is increasingly recognised, octopus farming is environmentally damaging and leads to suffering and sickness. Washington state has already banned the cruel practice. Please urge your Senators to support the OCTOPUS Act.
Simba and Rey were rescued ten years ago by ADI from a circus in the Andes mountains, Peru. The Dodo has just made this video celebrating the remarkable lives and loyalty of these senior lions who crossed the mountains through sleet and snow and then the world to come home to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, South Africa.
Natural England issued permits to cull badgers as part of the former UK Government’s ill-considered policy to control bovine TB. This was despite their director of science Dr Peter Brotherton affirming: “based on the evidence, I can find no justification for authorising further supplementary badger culls in 2024 for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease and recommend against doing so”. Urge the UK Government to invest in an effective bovine TB plan which prioritises animal welfare.
Max Mara Fashion Group, one of the last fashion houses to sell fur, has gone fur-free. The fashion group’s 2,500 stores across 105 countries join luxury fashion houses including Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gucci, and Versace, who have all said no to fur.
In the US, ADI and 50 other organizations and experts have sent a letter to the US Agriculture Committee leadership opposing a provision in the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 (HR 8467) which would earmark taxpayer dollars for the mink industry. A far better move would be to get HR3783 phasing out mink farming nationwide passed! Please urge your Congress members to support HR3783 .
The Josephine County Fair in Oregon, hosted Sea Lion Splash this month, with sea lions performing twice a day over five days. These animals travel the country in trailers with tiny portable pools and tanks. The show claims it’s “educational” but seals balancing balls and doing handstands and other tricks is anything but. Please urge the Josephine County Fair to stop hosting wild animal acts and exhibits. Call 541-476-3215. Email fairgrounds@josephinecounty.gov.
Did you know that you can support our work for the animals, at no additional cost to you? These are just some of the ways you can help:
Link your Ralphs (US) rewards card to Animal Defenders International and easily earn Community Rewards while you shop!
Walmart (US) allows you to round up your purchase total to the nearest dollar at checkout and donate the “change” to ADI.
Good Shop (US) links you to thousands of stores while donating a percentage of what you spend to ADI.
Easy Fundraising (UK) donates a percentage of your online purchases to ADI
This month marks the tenth anniversary of ADI’s Operation Spirit of Freedom to enforce the wild animal circus bans in Peru and Colombia, tracking down every circus and rescuing over 100 animals.
The impact went beyond those animals saved. The rescue drove forward the Stop Circus Suffering campaign, especially in Latin America. There are over 50 national circus bans now and ten of those are in Latin America. The success and popularity encouraged more law enforcement – we have since helped seize many animals form traffickers in Peru.
A decade ago this week we rescued Smith, Pepe and reunited Kiara with her cubs Mahla and Scarc – all still in our care, along with many others.
Into our lives came Spectacled bear Cholita, lions Leo, Ricardo, Simba, Rey, Joseph, Spider monkeys Pepe and Valerie, and many, many more. The rescue led to ADI building rescue facilities for monkeys and bears in Peru and to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary (ADIWS) in South Africa, enabling more animals to be saved and cared for.
We have saved animals in Chile, Portugal, Mozambique, Sweden, Armenia, Kuwait, the UK, and South Africa, but the importance of the large-scale nationwide rescues in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Guatemala, which emptied every circus cage cannot be overstated. These helped us win more circus bans in other countries and provided legislators with solutions for enforcement.
Securing a law is a huge step but ensuring it is actually enforced is critical. Large-scale rescues end whole areas of animal suffering, whereas piecemeal law enforcement is often ineffective.
ADI work to support a new law is most needed in countries where there is no infrastructure to deal with relocating large numbers of animals of different species. In Peru, we rescued around 40 monkeys of six different species, plus bears, a tiger and eventually flew 33 lions to South Africa.
We have to rescue whatever animals we encounter. In one circus where we arrived to remove a reported condor (it was a forest vulture), within minutes, Tim and I found an unreported mountain lion, Mufasa chained in the back of a truck.
We don’t leave anyone behind.
We are often asked how we go about such a task. The first step is to build secure, temporary holding, where we look after different species, provide food and veterinary care, deal with export procedures and organize their relocation to new homes. In Bolivia, we emptied the circuses and saved 29 lions and developed the design of our ADI temporary rescue units. In Peru we refined the design. Of necessity, these units are very different from a permanent sanctuary.
The first step was the design of the “freedom cages”, which fit on trucks and can be driven up to circus cages to transfer the animals. Then, on arrival at the TRU, they are joined together to provide living space for rescued animals. Larger groups will have several freedom cages.
The cages are sturdy, practical, and not attractive. We collect animals and transport them through cities, so it is important they can’t reach out and the public cannot reach in. We provide bedding, food, enrichment and then, the animals enjoy more space than they have ever known. We add shared, grass exercise enclosures where they can run for the first time in their lives.
Once we have the animals all gathered in one place, the export process can begin, finding the animals new forever homes. Our TRUs need to be in locations near resources like metal workers for cages and travel crates and with good access to airports. As the rescued animals will be in IATA-regulated travel crates, the journey is slow and careful, to avoid injuries due to braking.
Operation Spirit of Freedom gets underway
The morning of August 5th, 2014 began with about a dozen trucks streaming out of the ADI TRU laden with ‘freedom cages’. Some targets were 36 hours away, so the truck left ahead of time so the driver could rest before the return journey, loaded with lions.
I headed with Tim and our team to the first target. The circus was holed up in a compound and we were blocked from entering for hours.
Once inside, there was a trailer with two cages the size of queen-sized beds. In one was a battered old lion, who looked on his last legs. It was Leo, who would find a special place in my heart. Next to him were three sub adults, his sons Chino, Coco and Rolex.
I lured Leo into one of our freedom cages and he began rolling in the hay – the first we saw of his famous inner kitten. His health would be touch and go for a couple of weeks but he eventually lived to a grand old age of 21+ years, only passing away at ADIWS this year.
Next, we got the boys loaded but the circus lawyer obtained a legal block on the removal of three lionesses – Muñeca, Africa and Kiara. We would have to return with a court order. The next day the lionesses disappeared. We eventually tracked them down and rescued them seven months later.
It was midnight by the time we unloaded the lions at the TRU. Four of us headed to the airport, flew to Ayacucho and less than 12 hours after unloading the first lions, we rescued Simba and Rey. It was a 19-hour drive with them over the Andes through rain and snow, and back to the TRU. We then headed to Cusco, hundreds of miles away in another part of the Andes (keeping the pace was vital).
We met fierce opposition and a 12-hour stand-off before rescuing lions Rey, Amazonas and Kiara. But we were blocked from saving Smith, Kiara’s cubs Scarc and Mahla, and a spider monkey called Pepe. Kiara was forlorn and we were dejected as we made the 36-hour drive back to Lima.
The circus was defiant and continued business as usual. The performance of Smith, a huge, castrated lion (hence no mane) involved an audience member being invited into the ring for Smith to jump over them – a stupid and irresponsible act. On August 15, 2014, a schoolteacher stepped into the ring. Smith looked down from a pedestal above her, then pounced, dragging her around the ring as the worker repeatedly beat him with a metal bar. The thick collar of her winter coat saved her.
A local TV station filmed the incident and it exploded worldwide. A petition was launched for Smith to be killed; we met with the Minister; did multiple media interviews arguing Smith be saved. By the weekend we were back in Cusco. On August 22, accompanied by armed police, we rescued Smith, Mahla, Scarc and Pepe. Kiara was reunited with her cubs. They are still together at ADIWS.
It was a turning point for the operation. There were no further blocks from removing animals, and over the coming months we would empty every cage.
Of the 100 plus animals, it was possible to return a handful to the wild. We built a large monkey complex at Pilpintuwasi near Iquitos and airlifted 50 monkeys, coatis, and kinkajous there. We took four bears, Mufasa mountain lion and various monkeys and birds over the Andes to ADI facilities at Taricaya near Puerto Maldonado. We continue to support both groups financially. We flew Hoover tiger to BCR in Florida, and airlifted 33 lions to South Africa.
A couple of years later, a circus appeared in Lima with a spider monkey called Maruja. We rescued her within 24 hours and she was eventually returned to the wild with a family of monkeys.
Most of the animals rescued in Peru are still in our care. Some have passed away and several are elderly now. It was a huge mission, expensive, but ended circus suffering in two countries.
As we saw more recently in Guatemala, ADI is the only organization undertaking this type of large-scale countrywide rescue as we fight for circus bans. The reason we set up the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary is because enforcement of laws which end abuse is vital for permanent change.
We cannot do this work without your support. Will you help ensure it continues? One of the most important things you can do to ensure the long-term future of ADI’s work to get laws to protect animals and end animal suffering and the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary is to include us in your Will. You can find out more here.
Please also consider a donation today to help care for the many incredible circus survivors still in our care at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, ten years on from Operation Spirit of Freedom – including Kiara, Mahla and Scarc from Cusco, or elderly gents Simba and Rey from Ayacucho, or bears Sabina and Dominga, or Pepe and his family of spider monkeys
PS: The story of these circus raids is told in Animal Planet’s Dodo Heroes Series One “Jan and Tim’s Greatest Show on Earth” available on Amazon Prime. A really uplifting watch.
It has been another great week for ADI as Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro signed Law No. 2385 to ban bullfighting! It has been a long, hard ADI campaign and the law will not come into force until 2027. Nevertheless, it was cause to celebrate with a concert, speeches and ADI’s Eduardo Pena presented the President with an award, in Bogota’s bullring!
Despite ADI’s remarkable advances against the abuse of animals for entertainment – over 50 countries with animal circus bans – there is still much to do.
Now, is that time of year when many are considering a summer break, to relax and spend time with our loved ones, at home or abroad. Sadly, for animals that can mean holiday hell.
Worst of all many of these animal attractions specifically target people’s love of animals or a false promise of soaking up local culture.
NO SELFIES WITH WILD ANIMALS….. Percy (above) was in a circus in Bolivia. To separate him and the other cubs from their mother, workers used sticks and metal bars to beat the lioness to the back of the cage. The cubs were then hauled through the feeding hatch, then taken to parks and town centres for people to pose for photos with them. Luckily ADI exposed his plight and rescued the family. You can see that story in Lion Ark the movie here.
To keep the animals used in photo ops compliant, they are isolated and made dependent on their captors. Some are drugged. Traffickers kill families to capture baby monkeys and other animals in the wild. Don’t believe it when you hear claims that baby animals have been “rejected by their mothers”. ADI has rescued many monkeys where the teeth have been broken to stop them biting. In one case the teeth were so infected that pus was erupting all over the little monkey’s face – luckily the ADI veterinarians were just in time.
There’s nothing pretty about selfies with wild animals, it’s an ugly business.
NEVER RIDE ELEPHANTS…. It can be a seductive holiday image, a line of elephants carrying tourists in the Asian sunset. Don’t be fooled, it’s a brutal business. These gentle giants are beaten with bull hooks and sticks to break their spirit as babies. For a few minutes of “entertainment,” elephants pay a heavy price. ADI investigators have filmed the beatings and electric shocks used to train elephants – and seen how seemingly harmless gestures in public like pats, are in reality threats of pain if the elephant doesn’t obey. There are also serious risks with the public not adequately protected from these large, stressed animals.
BOYCOTT THE BULL RUN…. ADI investigators on the ground have witnessed the drunken mobs terrorise, spit on, kick and beat frightened bulls to drive them through city streets. No matter how much it is claimed to be tradition it is animal torture plain and simple. ADI secured a ban on Ayacucho’s notorious bull run in Peru but there are still attempts to stage illegal events and in Spain there are more than 1,820 municipalities holding such events each year. These often end in the bullfighting ring. One of the most grotesque examples of people getting pleasure from the public torture of an animal. Nothing brave, nothing noble, just torture and death. The victory in Colombia is showing that these barbaric pastimes are on the decline and sustained by a cruel few. Let’s consign them to history. Make sure you let travel operators promoting such events know how you feel.
STOP CIRCUS SUFFERING…. Circuses cannot meet the needs of animals. Animals are confined in small cages, chained or tethered, deprived of their physical and social needs. ADI evidence behind the scenes has shown how these animals are forced to perform tricks through physical violence and intimidation. A quarter of the world’s nations have banned wild animals in circuses. Jade (pictured) was rescued after Guatemala banned all animal acts and now enjoys acres of space at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, South Africa. So, it seems extraordinary that countries like the USA, Germany, and Brazil still allow this archaic misery. Only support human acts. That’s the future and that’s where you’ll see real talent.
DON’T WALK WITH LIONS…. It may be a bucket list activity for some, but these interactions compromise welfare and can cost the animals their lives. A continuous supply of young lions is needed for customers to either pet, cuddle, or walk with. There’s not much future as they get older, and they end up in canned hunts and their bones sold. The South African government has promised action to end the captive lion farms and these interactions and ADI is has submitted evidence to the Ministerial Task Force. But it is vital tourists boycott these attractions NOW.
Remember: If you see suffering on holiday, be sure to report it and send pics to ADI and ensure travel operators know. Never support animals being used for entertainment.
Please support our work to help animals suffering in the name of entertainment, we are making real progress but there is still much to do, please Donate UK £ I Donate US $
With ADI’s US supporters enjoying Independence Day yesterday, my thoughts turned to all the animals taking their first steps to freedom thanks to your support – their own Independence Day.
There is something magical about those first steps from their travel crates at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, South Africa, or indeed back to the rainforest in our ADI funded facilities in Peru.
Here are a few memories and videos of these special moments…
It’s been less than 2 months since we brought Dhubiya, Shujaa, Saham, Muheeb, Aziza, and Saif home, but what a transformation we have seen in this short time!
The ‘Kuwait 6’ were rescued from the illegal wildlife pet trade, after owners abandoned the young lions in the streets of the city, and some dumped in the desert to die.
Most of the animals we save cannot return to the wild. They are in-bred and often mutilated with toes cut off to stop claws growing and teeth broken, leaving them defenceless and without the tools necessary for survival. So, it is special when we can rehabilitate and return animals to the wild.
When we emptied Guatemala’s circus cages, the gruelling 18-month operation concluded with an epic flight home to Africa for 17 tigers and lions, from Guatemala to Mexico to Belgium then Qatar for a flight change, then finally home to South Africa.
You were perhaps one of the people watching and cheering us on, as we brought the cats to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. Jade and the other cats must have felt a bit bewildered as they stepped out into the sunshine, open sky above their heads, grass beneath their feet, space all around them, but they certainly took no time at all, in embracing their new world.
Dear Ruben’s time with us was all too short, but from that first big paw hitting African ground, he seized every moment. He played, he drove himself on to walk, and he roared again, home in Africa. In seven months in the land of his forefathers he transformed and inspired us all. We miss him so much, but he will always be with us. He has left his legacy.
Next month marks ten years since Operation Spirit of Freedom saw us rescue over 100 animals from circuses in Peru and Colombia, when we flew David and 32 other lions home to South Africa. We had emptied the cages again.
The life changing first steps for these animals symbolise everything we work for.
It takes us many stages to achieve permanent change: our undercover investigations, exposing the evidence we film, publicity and creating awareness, securing legislation, and then those huge missions to empty every circus cage in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Guatemala.
Each time we leave behind another empty cage and another animal steps free, I think of that as an “ADI Independence Day”. Your help has given us many happy endings, I hope you will help give that gift to more animals. Donate US $ | Donate UK £
The last few weeks have been extraordinary, we brought six young lions, saved from the illegal wildlife trade in Kuwait, home to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, and secured historic legislation to ban bullfighting in Colombia. And that’s not all! We’ve rescued four horses, released more tortoises, and there have been victories for circus animals, fur animals, octopuses, and farm animals. Together we are making a difference. Read on and enjoy some of the month’s victories.
Dumped in the streets of Kuwait City or left in the desert to die by callous owners, Saif, Dhubiya, Aziza, Muheeb, Saham, and Shujaa, had a real change in fortune when they were recaptured and offered a home at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. After being temporarily housed at Kuwait Zoo, the lions were sedated and loaded into travel crates for a flight on a cargo aircraft donated by the Qatar Airways WeQare program to take them to South Africa. The young lions have been enjoying their time in Africa and, after a period of quarantine and observation, this weekend will have access to their large, natural, main habitats. Watch out for an update and check us out on social media.
A huge thank you to everyone who supported this important rescue.
SAVE THE DATE: To help raise funds for the lions’ lifetime care, which may be as long as 20 years, we will be holding a very special Animal Art Auction June 14th – 21st. Keep a lookout on our social media for more details and how you can place a bid on your favourite!
Good news: After a seven-year battle to secure legislation to end this savage cruelty, May 28th saw the historic law passed banning bullfighting in Colombia. In addition to ending the suffering of bulls and horses in Colombia this will have ramifications through the Latin world. Huge congratulations to ADI Colombia’s Yani Mateus and Eduardo Pena for their tireless work, the Colombia Sin Toreo coalition we were part of, and everyone who backed this campaign, WE DID IT!
Good news: Maryland became the fifth US state to ban the use of exotic animals (elephants, big cats, bears, and primates) in circuses and other travelling shows. In other good news from the US, Hadi Shrine Circus are retiring elephants from their shows. If you live in the, take action for a nationwide ban – urge your Congress members to support the reintroduction of TEAPSPA (Traveling Exotic Animal and Public Safety Protection Act). https://bit.ly/SupportTEAPSPA
Good news: Arlington became the seventh municipality in Massachusetts to ban the sale of new fur. To take action against fur farming nationwide in the US, urge your Congress members to support the Mink VIRUS Act https://bit.ly/stop-the-fur-trade-US.
Expanding its no fur stance, Copenhagen Fashion Week will no longer allow items in collections containing wild animal skins or feathers. The welcome move, starting next year, is part of a broader move to be more sustainable.
Good news: Four horses, parents Apollo and Amani, little Crockett, and Sammy were found hobbled and in poor condition in a township street, now they are roaming acres of space at ADIWS. Our sanctuary has become a beacon of hope for many animals saved from abuse or traffickers, that would otherwise have nowhere to go. The horses have joined our rescued donkeys, geese, ducks, goats, sheep, pigs, and a cow, as well as, as a release site for, countless tortoises and turtles.
Save the date: In a few weeks’ time, we’ll be calling on those who represent us to act to protect nature and hope you can join us! The Restore Nature Now march and rally is a peaceful protect supported by members of the public from across the UK, and wildlife and environmental groups.
What: Restore Nature Now When: Saturday 22 June, 12.00-4.30pm Where: From Park Lane to Parliament Square, London See www.restorenaturenow for more details. Email info@ad-international.org to let us know you will be attending.
Take action: The Faroe Islands resumed their annual hunt, Grindadrap, slaughtering over 170 pilot whales. Pods of pilot whales, and other dolphin species, are chased into a bay and dragged to shore, knives and hooks used to injure and kill the animals, turning the waters red. ADI is part of the Stop the Grind coalition to end the hunt and need your help. Please email Visit Faroe Islands at info@visitfaroeislands.com and tell them you will not visit the Islands, as long as these barbaric hunts continue.
ADI South Africa has been in discussion with the Government of South Africa’s ministerial task force to develop plans to end lion farming. A response to the damage to the country’s reputation from the captive lion industry and canned hunting, a draft policy, which ADI submitted to, has been approved. South Africa has just had a general election and we will need to see how this is going to be progressed.
Good news: The UK’s Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill passed, making Britain the first European country to end the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening. In Australia, legislation has been introduced to ban the live export of sheep on ships to the Middle East.
Good news: Washington State has banned Octopus farming, the unethical and environmentally harmful practice which leads to suffering and sickness for this most intelligent animal in the oceans. California is also considering a similar bill, AB-3162, which has passed the Assembly and is now in committee in the Senate. If you live in California, please urge your Senator to support AB-3162.
Good news: Three more rescued tortoises (including the big fellow pictured) have been released at ADIWS, after being confiscated by the SPCA from wildlife traffickers. Roaming freely over the Sanctuary, one large tortoise, released earlier this year and known as large Stefan, has taken up residence near Chris Lee Lodge and is regularly spotted.
Last month really showed how together we can make a difference for animals. Please keep supporting our campaigns and rescues and let’s change the world for animals. Donate here.
We did it! The Kuwait 6 lions are home at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary.
Eleven days ago, Tim and I arrived in Kuwait to oversee the rescue of the Kuwait 6 lions – Muheeb, Saham, Shujaa, Saif, Dhubiya and Aziza. We worked on the final paperwork, assessed the lions, planned the loading, confirmed truck rentals, and oversaw re-construction of the travel crates we had sent flat-packed from South Africa. Our veterinarian Dr Peter Caldwell arrived, confirmed the lions were fit to travel and we were ready to go.
The young lions (only one adult) were all captured after being dumped by owners in the streets of Kuwait City or the surrounding desert. Purchased as status symbols, then cast off when no longer wanted, Dhubiya and Saif were tiny cubs when they were found starving and dehydrated in the desert.
What sort of people would discard these tiny baby cubs to die? This cruel trade must end.
At 2am on Sunday we were at Kuwait Zoo, where the lions had been temporarily housed, making final preparations to load the animals. Dr Caldwell and the zoo veterinary team oversaw sedation, loading, and reviving of the lions in their crates. It is very important to bring the animals around before they travel, as it can be dangerous if lions are unconscious and roll into the wrong position, which can cause suffocation.
Shortly after 4am all of the lions were crated, fully conscious, on board our truck and we reached Kuwait airport at sunrise. The crates were checked again and Tim tightened bolts to ensure everything was secure. We unloaded them onto the cargo dock.
Not long before midday the lions were rolling onto our cargo flight donated by Qatar Airways Cargo as part of their WeQare scheme. We had laid out all the pallet positions to keep stress to a minimum: Shujaa with Saham, Aziza with Muheeb and Saif and Dhubiya on the final pallet. They were positioned just behind where we were sitting so that we had full access to the lions throughout the flight to give water and food as needed.
We took off at 12.55 and reached Doha about an hour later, where we gave the lions some food and topped up their water. After a smooth flight, we arrived in Johannesburg early, at about 11.30pm. Then our hearts sank as there was a query on the Kuwait paperwork and all the offices were shut. We had to wait.
We ensured the lions were in the quietest spot and Johannes, Jan, and Karen checked them regularly, giving treats. Not long after 2pm on Monday the lions were on their way out of the airport and being loaded onto the truck, donated by Gas Boys, Virginia, Free State and Theo Smit, who said they would wait as long as it took to get the lions. We were grateful when they drove, slowly and carefully, to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, even though it meant arriving after 9pm.
One by one we lifted the crates down and released the lions into their night houses where they had nice hay beds to rest in and keep warm. By midnight, as the calendar rolled over to Tuesday, the exhausted ADI team headed to bed. Just a few hours later, we were opening the houses and watching the lions step out into the morning sunshine in their quarantine enclosures.
For two weeks the lions will be in quarantine enclosures which measure 6,700sqft to 13,500sqft, enough space to jump on their platforms and play with giant balls, catnip punchbags and other treats, but it will be really exciting when they are released into our large natural habitats of several acres.
These young lions symbolise an illicit, global trade which is now being boosted through irresponsible social media posts featuring people petting and ‘playing’ with big cats.
Babies are taken from their mothers when young and cute, leaving them lonely and dependent on their captor for food and attention for life. The animals are often kept in isolation and in inappropriate conditions including being chained or caged in basements. Often as these animals get bigger, stronger, and expensive to feed they are simple thrown away – just as the Kuwait 6 were.
As we celebrate the joy of these six lions playing in the African sunshine, let’s also step up our efforts to end this cruel trade. Donate UK, Euros, Rand | Donate US $, CA $
Remember, these young lions could be in ADI care for another 20 years.
Liftoff for the Kuwait 6 is almost upon us and we have been preparing all week in Kuwait.
Our veterinarian Dr. Peter Caldwell has arrived and checked the lions; we are ready to begin loading them into their travel crates at 2am on Sunday (May 19). They will be sedated, loaded, brought around again, checked, and driven to the airport. Our Qatar Airways Cargo aircraft (donated as part of their WeQare program) takes off at 1pm.
Tim, Peter, and I will be with the lions throughout the flight, providing snacks, water, and ensuring there are no problems. We will arrive in South Africa at midnight. The lions should be stepping onto African soil for the first time in their lives at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary, after daybreak on May 20 (in quarantine). We will be posting live on social media throughout the operation.
Illegally purchased as ‘trophy pets’, the six young lions, Muheeb, Saham, Shujaa, Saif, Dhubiya, and Aziza, had been dumped when they were no longer wanted – discarded like a fashion accessory of which the owner had become bored.
Saif and Dhubiya were small cubs when they were abandoned to die in the desert. Found starving and dehydrated, they were nursed back to health at Kuwait Zoo. Volunteers and staff at the zoo have looked after the lions until a home could be found. Some of the rescued lions had been released to run free in the city streets, or left tied to lampposts, while others were seized by Kuwait officials fighting the illegal wildlife trade.
This is an important rescue. It will transform the lives of six lions and will put a spotlight on a cruel, global trade, being fueled by social media. Tiny babies are stolen from their mothers when they look cute, forcing them into a life of loneliness and dependency on their captor for food and affection. The traffickers smuggle animals in suitcases where many die, and once sold, they are destined for an unnatural life caged or chained.
Tragically, social media all over the world is awash with irresponsible posts featuring people petting and ‘playing’ with big cats. Big cats should never be pets. Lions can live for over 20 years and quickly become powerful, expensive to feed, and when just expressing themselves naturally, they are dangerous to humans. Each of the Kuwait 6 were dumped before even reaching adulthood.
A huge thank you to everyone who has been supporting this rescue. In addition to preparing the sanctuary with adaptations to habitats, the big cost we face is the care of these animals for life. Can you help us care for these six youngsters about to start their new lives at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary? Please donate here.
You can also support their care with an adoption for Aziza, Dhubiya, Muheeb, Saham, Saif, or Shjuaa from ADI’s UK or US stores.
Jan Creamer 