BORN FREE FOUNDATION
KEEP WILDLIFE IN THE WILD
Showing posts with label African Lion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label African Lion. Show all posts
2011-03-21
Born Free: BELLA RESCUE - BELLA'S CASE HISTORY
BORN FREE
KEEP WILDLIFE IN THE WILD
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| Bella’s diseased eye needed removing before she could be transported |
Bella is a one-eyed lioness rescued from Buhusi Zoo, a run-down zoo in Romania, and now living at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre in Malawi. Her rescue in 2009 was a joint operation between the Born Free Foundation and a small NGO called Lions Roar.
Lion’s Roar were told that Bella had been born in Buhusi zoo in 2002 and sold as a cub to gypsies who used her to attract tourists into having their photograph taken with the little lion. When she became too dangerous for handling, she was returned to the zoo to be used for breeding. As is often the case with cubs taken away from their mother for hand-rearing, it seems Bella was not given a proper diet while her skeleton was forming, and she has an arched, ‘roached’ spine, and unnaturally curved back legs.
We are not sure what happened in Bella’s early years, but she was about four years old when Lion’s Roar discovered her, living in appallingly filthy, barren conditions in the zoo, with inexperienced, insensitive, uncaring keepers giving Bella and the other animals the minimum amount of care. At that time Bella had a mate, a four year old lion named Fugi. Lion’s Roar were told that Bella had given birth to a single cub the previous year which had died after two days. Bella then gave birth to another cub. Lion’s Roar warned the zoo staff not to handle the cub, as Bella and Fugi were being diligent, gentle parents, but the keepers did take the cub out of the cage for short periods – perhaps hoping to sell it for use by gypsy photographers. Sadly, the cub died in August 2006 and Fugi died shortly afterwards, seemingly from an un-treated kidney infection. Bella was left alone.
Not only was she alone, but she was almost blind: an un-treated glaucoma in her left eye had permanently damaged her vision, and it appeared she might have a cataract in her right eye.
Filthy and run down, the zoo was closed to the public in 2007.
REHOMING BELLA?
In 2007, after the zoo’s closure, Born Free rehomed three lions from the zoo, Jools and her sons James and Jerry, to our sanctuary at Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa.
We wanted to rehome Bella to Africa too, but our veterinary consultant had strongly advised against transporting Bella with her glaucoma: the bulbous eye could be knocked and rupture on the long journey and the haemorrhage could be fatal if this happened in flight, while we were unable to get to her. Unfortunately we could find no veterinary practice in Romania that had the facilities for such surgery, and nowhere Bella could receive the necessary follow-up care.
Over 12 months went by then, and Lion’s Roar tried to improve Bella’s enclosure with sleeping platforms and environmental enrichment, paying for it to be kept clean and for a better diet. Then we heard of a veterinary practice in Brasov, two hours from Buhusi, that had an anaesthetic machine. In addition, nearby Brasov Zoo offered to care for Bella while she recovered. Quite by co-incidence, an ophthalmic surgeon from the Animal Health Trust in Suffolk had offered his services just weeks before, not knowing of Bella’s case. Suddenly it seemed Bella’s story had the chance of a happy ending after all.
2011-03-01
Born Free: KING OF THE JUNGLE IN TROUBLE
.::BORN FREE::.
Born Free Foundation
Here, you can see a video of a Rescued Lion released by Born Free at their sanctuary in Shamwari. His name is Sinbad.
KEEP WILDLIFE IN THE WILD
Lions in crisis: Born Free calls for UK Government to follow United States' initiative
African lions are under serious threat. Unless current trends are reversed, it’s possible that within the next few years the continental population of wild lions, already down to less than 40,000 animals from nearly 76,000 in 1980, will collapse. Ten years ago, lions inhabited 30 African countries. That number is now down to 27 and it is likely that they will disappear from more countries in the years ahead unless action is taken now.
Today, the Born Free Foundation and Born Free USA, together with representatives of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), The Humane Society of The United States/Humane Society International and Defenders of Wildlife, have submitted a Petition to the United States Secretary to the Interior calling on him to designate the African lion as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The US is the single biggest importer of wild lion body parts and trophies and may be responsible for 50% or more of the lions that are killed for trophies each year. Listing under the ESA would prohibit the general import of lion trophies into the US unless it could be shown that the importation enhanced the species’ survival or was for scientific purposes. This single measure could dramatically cut the number of lions shot for ‘sport’ by US citizens.
Will Travers, CEO of the Born Free Foundations explains: “The pressure on lions comes from all sides. Loss of habitat due to the impact of a sub-Saharan human population that is predicted to grow from 518 million in 1990 to 1.75 billion in 2050; loss of the wild animals that lions naturally prey on, due to the ravages of the commercial bushmeat trade; the impact of deadly diseases often transmitted from livestock or companion animals; retaliatory killings – the spearing or poisoning of lions after they have attacked livestock; and high levels of unsustainable trophy-hunting and body part trade.”
Although the US is the largest importer of trophies, Europe is not far behind. Between 1998 and 2008 lion trophies were imported into Spain (958), France (565) and Germany (525) amongst others. During the same period, the UK imported 87 lion trophies. The impact of an ESA listing and strong lion-protection measures in the USA could be undermined if trophies continue to be imported into the European Union.
Will Travers concluded: “Today, the Born Free Foundation has written to the UK Government’s Minister for Biodiversity, Richard Benyon, asking him, on behalf of the British Government, to intercede with our European Community colleagues to immediately review the comprehensive body of evidence that has been submitted to the US Department of the Interior as part of the ESA Petition and take urgent action to end the import of lion trophies sourced from wild animals into Europe.”
Links:
Born Free USA (The Endangered Species Act Protection for Lions page)
Born Free Foundation
Here, you can see a video of a Rescued Lion released by Born Free at their sanctuary in Shamwari. His name is Sinbad.
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