Tears and cheers
2008-12-18
Lise Beyers
IT has been tears as well as cheers at the Drakenstein Lion Park during the past week. One of the pintsized white lion cubs that recently arrived at the lion sanctuary, suddenly died due to liver failure, which was most probably caused by a congenital defect with which the cub was born. Zintle and his brother Ziyanda arrived at the Lion Park at only a week old, after being rescued by Paul Hart. Both cubs had been doing extremely well and were being hand-reared, before they would be housed in their own enclosure, when tragedy struck. “Nobody could have foreseen this, and we are extremely saddened by Zintle’s death. Ziyanda obviously misses his brother, but is doing well.” And just in time to lift the spirits at the lion sanctuary, Samson, a six year old male lion, arrived there safely last week. Samson was rescued from appalling conditions in a French circus, where he spent most of his life alone in a cramped steel circus wagon. When Samson was released into his camp, it was the first time that he walked on grass and had the freedom to roam in his natural surrounds. Samson was a bit overawed by his new 2,5 acre home and the other lions resident at the sanctuary, as he has never encountered his own kind before! According to Hart it will take quite some time for him to get used to his new home and to learn “how to be a lion”. Drakenstein Lion Park is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning sanctuary for captive born lions. The Park is involved in the rescuing of lions in distress, from South Africa as well as overseas. The Park provides lifetime care to all the animals it rescues.
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