Circus lions start new life at South African sanctuary after being freed
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Version 0 of 1. Lions rescued from circuses in Colombia and Peru have been released into a sanctuary in South Africa. The 33 lions were given their first chance to explore their new home at the Emoya Big Cat Sanctuary just north of Johannesburg on Sunday after a two-day journey from South America. One of the lions, a male known as Zeus, let out a roar before stepping out of his cage into the enclosure where the animals will spend the next few months being monitored by a vet. But the animals will never be able to be released in the wild as they have been bred in captivity and do not know how to hunt. Several of them were also mutilated by circus owners who broke their teeth and removed their claws. The lions were freed after the use of wild animals in circuses was outlawed in the countries. Tim Phillips, the co-founder of Animal Defenders International (ADI) which led the rescue of the lions, said they were "remarkably calm after such a long journey. "It was a dream come true watching them step of those cages into their new homes in the African bush." ADI spokeswoman Han Creamer told the BBC: "This is a hugely important rescue mission because it does make a statement around the world about the way people treat animals. "These lions have suffered tremendously." Peru banned the use of animals in circuses in 2011 and Colombia followed in 2013. They are among a handful of countries which have totally banned the use of any animal in circuses which is not normally domesticated. There has been an ongoing battle to get the practice outlawed in England - it is under the jurisdiction of the regional parliaments in the rest of the UK - as 12 private member's bills previously failed to get through their first reading in the House of Commons after being blocked by backbenchers. A fresh attempt was launched by a cross-party group of MPs in February but Conservative backbencher Christopher Chope - who was one of those who previously blocked the ban - said in the House of Commons that “good Conservatives should argue for less regulation and prohibition. He said: “I think we have reached a compromise here where we’ve got a proper, tight welfare licensing regime without the need for a total ban or prohibition.” Despite this 94 per cent of people in England and Wales support the ban, according to animal rights charity Peta. Additional reporting by AP |