13.5.2024 – Source: Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Photos by Sheila and Philip Baker
An immense 2,000 mile journey from Donetsk to Doncaster has led to this incredible moment. Mum, Aysa, and her 3 cubs, Emi, Santa, and Teddi finally left the raceway and began exploring their new home in Lion Country in the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
While cautious of their new surroundings, it didn’t take long for them to relax and the cubs to begin playfully bounding around the hills of of their new home, a truly heart-warming sight!
Mum Aysa and her three 18-month-old cubs finally got to feel the grass under their paws and were able explore their reserve.
Rescued from the war-torn Donetsk region in Ukraine, they finally arrived at YWP in March after 9 months of being held in sanctuary in Poland, where due to the facilities, the youngsters grew up separated from their mum without seeing the sky or having the stimulation of the outside world. Now, that has changed.
After travelling 2000 miles across Europe the lions settled into their new Yorkshire home quickly and mum Aysa was then reunited with her cubs.
Now all four are enjoying the outside world in the expansive reserves of Lion Country, originally built for another group of rescued lions that came from Romania and the last two of which still live at the Park.
Colin Northcott, Deputy Section Head of Carnivores, said: ‘This is the moment we have all been waiting for.
‘I am completely overjoyed that this is finally happening- we have been working so hard to get to this point. Mum Aysa and her cubs have all done so well with adjusting to their new home, I feel like a proud dad!
‘The lions will certainly love seeing their new surroundings. I cannot wait to see them running around, playing, and enjoying new experiences such as walking on grass or seeing their reflections in the lake, as well as watching the birds flying in the sky. It will be incredible, and I am sure that they will become firm favourites with our visitors.’
The new residents of Lion Country will be out in their reserve every morning from 10:30am until early afternoon. They will have access to both the reserve and the indoor house. Should they choose to be inside, you may be able to see them on the lion house camera feed located in the Safari Courtyard.
It is truly heartwarming to see how well this beautiful lion family have settled into their new home,and how well they get on with each other.
The story of this family is sad. I’m glad they were rescued.
What saddens me the most are the circumstances under which the four had to live in Poland. The pictures of the 4 lions in the green grass are enchanting.
It warms my heart that this family is finally in a beautiful and good place where they can be together.
Thank you, dear Mervi, for this for this tragic story, which now fortunately has a happy ending.
Hugs,
Anita
Dear Sheila, Philip and Mervi!
Thank you for the heart warming story with the wonderful pictures. The lions enjoy the big enclosure.
Hugs
Ludmila
Dear Sheila, Philip and Mervi!
The lion family has obviously survived the rescue from the war zone and the isolation under difficult conditions in Poland well and can now look forward to life in the YWP with grass under their paws and, depending on the weather, blue skies above them. They all look great and the keepers will certainly do their best to make their lives very pleasant from now on.
I am very happy for them and grateful to everyone who has made this possible.
Thank you for the good news and the great photos!
Hugs
Anke
The reencounter with the four lion-Ukranians in the Yorkshire Wildlife Park (YWP) thanks to the photos of Sheila and Philip Baker, the lovable kind of Collin Northcott’s way to tell the four’s history, destiny and development and Mervi’s sharing of all this is a real joy to witness.
Thanks to everybody involved in the happy ending of the rescue.
Wishing a further happy and healthy life to the ‘four-leaved clover’ so to say – hopefully a right “Glückskleeblatt’
from now on :-)))
😍💓👍
Ein Happy End für die Schönheiten! 😀
Der männliche Löwe ist ein stattliches Exemplar in der Gescchwisterrunde.
Endlich mal wieder eine Geschichte, die ein gutes Ende genommen hat!
Nach der Schreckenszeit in der Ukraine haben die Löwen- Geschwister nun ein kleines Paradies gefunden !!❣👍👌👏😊
I wish the lion family a good life in YWP. They are looking great and are really lucky after all the bad time to have found YWP as new home