Monday saw the successful release of the two magnificent former circus lions that the Born Free Foundation rescued from Bulgaria. Jora and Black’s epic journey took them more than 10,500 miles, via the UK, and concluded on Sunday with their arrival at their overnight camp before final release this morning onto the award-winning Shamwari Game Reserve.
The two eight-year-old lions started their journey ‘home’ from a halfway house in central Bulgaria to Bourgas Airport on the Black Sea coast, late on Friday, 25th September. From there they were flown by Thomson Airways to London’s Gatwick Airport where legendary actress and Born Free co-founder, Virginia McKenna OBE, was waiting to give them a warm welcome. Shamwari Group Head of Wildlife and Veterinarian, Dr Johan Joubert, and Born Free’s Big Cat Specialist, Tony Wiles, traveled with Jora and Black throughout their journey, making regular health checks. Dr Joubert said: “I am delighted we have been able to take these animals and offer them a permanent home in the African bush. It is a stark contrast from the trucks in which they were first found. These animals have traveled well and show every sign of settling in and reestablishing some of their natural behavior.”
Jora and Black’s new lives in their spacious, safe and enriching accommodation will be a world away from the circumstances in which they were rescued by Born Free, assisted by FOUR PAWS, earlier this year. Taken in as small cubs, the brothers were originally part of a circus act touring Eastern Europe and Turkey. Following the Bulgarian government’s much-welcomed ban on the use of wild mammals in circuses, the lions were left to languish in a stifling beast wagon since the summer of 2014, until the owners agreed to re-home them with Born Free.
They will now be given lifetime care by Born Free at Shamwari. For more information on Jora and Black and others rescued visit www.bornfree.org.uk
