Born Free Foundation - Keep Wildlife in the Wild

November 2006

Djunka, Nalla and Shada the three lions who were moved to Born Free’s new Big Cat Rescue and Education Centre at Shamwari Wildlife Reserve, South Africa.  Here in their vast 5-acre natural habitat ‘bush’ enclosure, the Three Lions at last had the space and freedom they deserve.

What a contrast to their former lives.  For years, the lion and two lionesses were kept in rusty cages at a circus in the Dordogne, France, gazing pitifully through the bars.  They were never let out, and barely had room to turn around.  Djunka (born 1991), Nalla (born 1991) and Shada (born 1998) lived in a squalid 18ft ‘beast-wagon’, each caged alone in a 6ft x 6ft compartment.  That tiny area was the sum total of their world, 24 hours a day.  They were kept by the circus for breeding and over the years had produced many litters of cubs, each taken from them and moved on to other circuses.

These magnificent creatures ought to embody the spirit of freedom, the pride of the African savannah.  But they had not been out of their cage for years, in fact the doors were welded shut.  The circus kept them illegally without proper paperwork, and they were used as a sideshow, living a life of deprivation, so people could be ‘entertained’.  Born Free was horrified by their plight.  Working in partnership with a French animal welfare group One Voice, we were determined to give the Three Lions a better life.

But it is complicated and extremely expensive to rescue a big cat, let alone three.  We needed to organise innoculations and permits, and raise at least £30,000 to get the lions out and transport them by special quarantine vehicles, ferry and plane to South Africa.  In July 2006, actors Jenny Seagrove and Martin Shaw, our Trustee and our Patron, fronted a passionate appeal to GMTV viewers, Sunday Mirror readers and Born Free supporters.  The lions’ story touched everyone’s hearts, and the response was unprecedented.  Over the following weeks, with the help of our business friends and sponsors, we were able to raise enough funds, and arrange the paperwork, so the rescue could go ahead.

In early November, our expert big cat rescue team travelled to France to rescue the lions.  It took a sledge hammer to break open the welded trailer doors.  Under the watchful eye of Born Free’s vet John Knight, the team brought the lions by ferry from France to the UK, in specially designed travel crates.  Then the lions were loaded onto a plane at Heathrow and flown to South Africa, at every stage their welfare our priority.  Then at last, on 3^rd November 2006, Djunka, Nalla and Shada arrived for a new life in Shamwari.  They stepped out onto grass, probably for the first time in their lives, certainly for several years, and were finally surrounded by their natural environment. 

Thank you

Warm thanks to all our supporters, business friends and sponsors whose kind support and generosity helped ensure the creation of our new Born Free Jean Byrd Animal Rescue and Education Centre at Shamwari and made the Three Lion Rescue possible:

New Big Cat Centre

Jean Byrd, Animal Ark, Barclays Bank, Rex Dobie, elephant.co.uk, Val Hackett & Mike Carey, Kuoni Travel, Craig Llewellyn-Williams, People & Pets Animal Welfare, Pollyanna Pickering, Symbio Paper/ Map Merchants, Thomsonfly.com,Worldwide Experience, Plus Born Free’s many supporters, members and staff; Shamwari’s visitors and staff; and the Mantis Group.

Three lion rescue

One Voice staff and supporters, GMTV & their viewers, Sunday Mirror & their readers, Thomsonfly.com, elephant.co.uk, Hello magazine, Amanda Holden, JCS Livestock Ltd, Bill Kenwright, Kenya Airways, Kuoni Travel, Land Rover, Lorenz, Josie Russell, Jenny Seagrove, Martin Shaw.