The Big Cat Sanctuary’s Big Cats in Crisis campaign was launched to provide a forever home for five African lions who were living in the midst of war in Ukraine.
We are thrilled to share that the rescue mission is now complete: all five lions — Yuna, Rori, Vanda, Amani, and Lira — have arrived safely and are thriving in their forever home at The Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent.
In May 2024, in partnership with IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare), we announced plans to evacuate five big cats — lion Rori and lionesses Yuna, Vanda, Amani, and Lira — from the Wild Animals Rescue Center (WAR) in Kyiv, Ukraine. This launched a major fundraising campaign to build a dedicated Lion Rescue Centre at the Sanctuary and to cover the costs of transporting the lions out of the warzone.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of the public and our members, The Big Cat Sanctuary successfully raised over £500,000 to make this vision a reality. Without their support, these lions would not be living in peace and safety today.
Become a MemberDonations to Big Cats in Crisis will pay for:
- the transportation costs of moving the cats out of Ukraine and to their temporary holding facilities in Belgium
- ensuring the cats will receive the veterinary and day-to-day care they need
- building the brand-new Lion Rescue Centre beside the white lionesses’ enclosure
And YOU can help us bring the lions out of war-torn Ukraine and to their new forever home in the UK!
Donate Become a MemberFollowing weeks of planning and fundraising, lion Rori and lioness Yuna were evacuated from the Wild Animals Rescue Center in Kyiv. The team from Cross Border Animal Services (CBAS) collected the two lions on 14 August before embarking on a 1400-mile, 4-day journey across Europe.
Rori, a three-year-old male lion, had been found in a private menagerie in Ukraine, suffering from serious coordination issues. Shelling nearby had left him with PTSD, and it was two weeks before he could even stand on his paws.
The CBAS team dropped Rori off at the Natuurhulpcentrum in Belgium on 16 August. He’ll stay there until the lion rescue centre, his forever home, is ready at the Sanctuary. Rori was very calm on his arrival at his temporary home – and he is huge!
Three-year-old lioness Yuna was found living with a young male lion in a 3x4m concrete enclosure – probably kept for the illegal breeding trade. Heavy shelling had made the male aggressive towards Yuna and she was moved to the Wild Animals Rescue Centre. But debris from a huge missile attack, falling close to her new enclosure, caused Yuna a severe concussion and PTSD, leading to a total loss of coordination. A video shared by IFAW went viral, showing Yuna cowering in her enclosure, growling and in clear distress.
It was imperative that Yuna be evacuated straight to her new home at the Sanctuary where she could begin to heal from her trauma.
After dropping off Rori, CBAS continued on the final leg of the journey from Belgium to the UK, where a temporary habitat had been completed for Yuna. They arrived at the Big Cat Sanctuary in the early hours of 17 August, and despite her long and arduous journey, Yuna went straight into her den.
Read Yuna's story Watch Yuna go outside for the first time!Amani and Lira are sisters and are assumed to have been illegally bred for photo exploitation purposes. Both lionesses appear fit and healthy and have not required any veterinary treatment thus far.
Vanda is thought to have been kept in an apartment for 5-6 months without any outdoor access or sunlight, and raised on an inappropriate diet. She was infested with parasites and displayed signs of rickets. She’s under the care of the veterinary team and showing signs of improvement.
Donate now Become a MemberWild Animals Rescue Center (WAR) is an organisation run by Natalia Popova and a small team to rescue animals. Since the war, Popova’s services have been in increased demand. She will travel, sometimes alone, to some of the most dangerous areas in Ukraine with one mission in mind: to bring the animals to shelter.
In October 2022, IFAW started supporting Wild Animals Rescue. IFAW’s support includes funding emergency needs during the crisis (such as animal feed, veterinary care, and transportation costs for rescue and evacuation missions), improving animal welfare practices, and facilitating obtaining CITES export permits for the evacuation of animals out of Ukraine. To date, IFAW has supported the rescue, care for and evacuation of seventeen big cats and two wolves from Wild Animals Rescue to safe new homes in Europe and elsewhere, with more big cats awaiting onward placements.
Watch their story
Watch here- Transport the lions out of war-torn Ukraine and safely to holding facilities in Belgium.
- Build a brand new rescue centre at The Big Cat Sanctuary where the lions will live.
- Transport the lions from Belgium to the UK.
- Welcome the lions to the Sanctuary and into their new forever home.
The new lion rescue centre, currently under construction at the Big Cat Sanctuary, will comprise four new outdoor areas and six new indoor dens. It will also include specific features such as a weighing tunnel which will help us to keep track of the lions’ weight in a very unstressful way.
Donate today Become a memberThe Sanctuary has worked with specialist design company Dearadh Zü, which has created the Lion Rescue Centre visuals, showing how it will look once completed.
Jonathan, the director at Dearadh Zü, explains, “The designs of these outdoor habitats will enhance animal welfare through wellness and activity-based design principles. Each habitat has been crafted to allow the lions to exhibit natural behaviours by providing opportunities and choices within the landscape, with features such as external climbing platforms, dens, water bodies, boulders, logs, and planting.”
Celebrity baker and ambassador for The Big Cat Sanctuary, Paul Hollywood, has joined the crucial Big Cats in Crisis campaign to help rescue five lions from war-torn Ukraine. Paul has issued an urgent appeal to the public to support the project by donating the funds needed to give these lions a forever home in Kent.
“Time is of the essence; we need to get them out of Kyiv and to Kent now. Anything you can donate, big or small, will make a huge difference to the five traumatised lions in Ukraine.” – Paul Hollywood
The Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent, UK, is a renowned family-run centre dedicated to conserving and protecting endangered big cats. With its team of experienced professionals and state-of-the-art facilities, the sanctuary provides a safe and nurturing environment for a variety of big and small cat species, including lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars and cheetahs. The Big Cat Sanctuary strives to secure a brighter future for these magnificent creatures through rescue, education, research, and conservation initiatives.