Born Free Foundation - Keep Wildlife in the Wild

Shada

A lioness rescued from a French circus

Shada hasn’t been doing a lot except spending much time at the top of her camp during the day away from the heat.  Early in the morning and at sunset she hangs around the bottom right corner of the enclosure.   She roars as she comes down to drink water and after that she goes to sit in the corner watching all that is going on at the Centre.  These days she is not interested in stalking Brutus and Marina.

She is eating her food very well, although she doesn’t eat just after receiving the meat, she prefers to eat later when it’s cool.

Kuma

Rescued from a zoo in Ivory Coast

During the day Kuma spends more time at the top of his enclosure where they are more trees to give him the cover that he needs. Recently, I was walking with student from Worldwide Experience, Veronica, showing her around and telling her that Kuma must be hiding at the top of his camp; little did I know that he was looking at us, sitting in a bush close to where we were standing.  When he saw that we had spotted him he went to sleep, he was so relaxed in our presence.

Leda, Roxanne and Rhea

The leopards rescued from Limassol Zoo

Roxanne and Rhea are always hide themselves from the hot sun either in their kennel or in the bushes in the enclosure. Both are always relaxed and calm which is good as Rhea used to be quite aggressive at feed times.  She no longer leaps at the fence during feeding. She prefers to wait in hospital camp number 2 for us to poke her meat in hospital camp number 1.

Mum Leda is doing well in the main camp as she enjoys having the bigger enclosure to herself. The leopards had a very special visitor come and see them this month, Lauren St. John. Lauren is an author of children’s books and she writes stories that teach children about conservation. One of her well-known books is the Last Leopard. She helped to raise funds for the rescue of the leopards and also went on their rescue last year. She came with her friend to see how they are doing.  They saw Leda sitting on the platform. To my surprise Leda came straight down to us and sat close to where we were standing. It was really an amazing moment seeing her doing that and it meant a lot to Lauren to see them so happy and doing well.

Jools’ skin condition is looking good and she is healthy too. These two spend most of their time sleeping in the shade or under the acacia bushes grooming each other when it’s warm. Jerry is doing well, always glued to his mum. It’s really good to see them relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. These two have a large appetite they really like their food, especially Jools.  You will see her with saliva running out of her mouth. Jerry always stands at a distance waiting for Jools to take her food first and then he would come and take his.