According to Barbara van Genne, responsible for Wild Animal Rescue and Advocacy at FOUR PAWS, none of these lions had experienced a species-appropriate life in Romania, where they can live as a group according to their instincts and individual personalities in spacious, natural surroundings.
“At LIONSROCK, they can explore, roam around, and play, but will also have a place to hide, if they want. It is bittersweet that these five lions get this opportunity, but that their little brother is still stuck being kept as a pet and abused for video clips,” explained van Genne.
LIONSROCK is home to over 100 big cats, most of which were rescued by FOUR PAWS from war-ravaged zoos, circuses, private ownership, and the canned hunting industry. The sanctuary provides a species-appropriate, lifelong home for the mistreated big cats who cannot be released back into the wild.
The sanctuary offers the highest of standards including large areas for family groups, facilitation of natural behavior through enrichment, the best medical care, and high security of lion enclosures. Hunting, trading, and breeding, as well as interactions between wild animals and visitors, are prohibited at LIONSROCK.
Romania banned the keeping of big cats and other wild animal species in circuses in 2017, and private keeping is only allowed with a special permit. Every year, In the EU and beyond, thousands of lions and other wild animals are exploited and abused for the commercial wildlife trade for so-called human “entertainment.”
