News Archive
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Lion Rescue News
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The Lions Arrive
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1st Anniversary
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Lion Adoption
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News Archive
News Archive
The rescued Romanian Lions 6 months onYorkshire Wildlife Park, just outside Doncaster hit the headlines earlier this year when they undertook the most challenging big cat rescue ever saving 13 lions from dreadful conditions in run down Oradea Zoo in Romania. The cats were relocated to Yorkshire Wildlife Park just outside Doncaster where they were rehabilitated and released into a 9 acre reserve at the end of May. Now ,thousands of visitors have been to see the lions to make acquaintance with the animals that they came to know by name through the TV and press coverage and the News of the World who championed the fundraising appeal to save the lions. Lion Country, the new home for the 13 lions, is always manned by one of our rangers, not for security but to talk to the visitors and point out the individual lions. The focus of attention is very often the oldest and the youngest. The oldest lion Johnny Senior is said to be 27 years old. Staff at YWP feared that the journey from Romania might prove stressful for the old boy and tranquilising animals always has a risk, which is heightened when they are very old or very young. But he proved everybody wrong and survived the long journey. Johnny Senior has improved greatly over the past months his mane is now full and luxuriant, his coat is rich and glossy. He still has one more treatment to undergo he will be visited by a specialist dentist in September to treat broken teeth. Dani, the youngest lion at 18 months old, was another cause for concern. He seemed to have mobility problems that seemed to be caused by his hips or legs. Wobbly at best in the house, he was often knocked flying by his lively brother Simba but always came back for more. After arriving he was examined by spine specialists who carried out an MRI scan on the young lion. The mobile scanner unit, usually used for examining dogs, came to the park. Dani was tranquilised and carried by staff to the unit. A lion going into the tunnel of an MRI scan was a very unusual sight! The results were not quite as expected. Danis problem was not in his hips but actually in the vertebrae up in his neck. A malformation in the vertebrae was causing the wobbliness in Dani. He did not appear to be in any pain, and the experts did not know whether he would improve or deteriorate when he went out into the big reserve and had more exercise. The day the lions went out was a moving day to see them all experiencing space and the freedom to roam for the first time the most moving moment of all was when Dani and Simba came out. Where the other lions had come out cautiously, Simba raced out, running for the first time in his life and ran the length of the reserve. Amazingly, close behind him, wobbly but running for joy was Dani. Over the following weeks the exercise has helped build up his muscles. To begin with he struggled to climb up the steep hill in the reserve Cezar Mountain, but soon could jump up to the rocks at the top. Many people have been to see the lions and have asked after Dani. Most moving was a letter that we received from a special school for disabled children whose students had been to visit the park and subsequently adopted Dani, because he was special too, like the children but had been given a chance. All the lions have improved in condition since they came. A good diet of red meat has replaced their inadequate Romanian diet of chicken leftovers. Blood tests had revealed that there were significant (unsurprisingly) vitamin deficiencies especially Vitamin A. Now their meat has a dusting of special carnivore supplement when they are fed. Psychologically, the lions seem to have improved too. The young lions soon adapted to the great outdoors and used the reserves to their full. The older males seemed to be the most reluctant to venture that far from the house, but gradually built up their confidence. Johnny Junior was the most fearful of going outside and did not venture up to Simba Falls to join his lionesses for several weeks but is now relaxed and happy in the sunshine with his harem.Staff at the park are delighted with the progress of the lions and are getting to know the individual characters. August 11th is the 6 month anniversary of the arrival of the lions, and time has flown by since the cold day in February when they landed at Robin Hood Airport in Doncaster. Since then many thousands of visitors have been to see the lions, inspired by the story of their rescue and keen to see the pride of Yorkshire. New for 2010 Special experience Big Cats and Breakfast. An additional experience at Yorkshire Wildlife Park to add to the range of experiences: Shadow a Ranger, Junior Ranger and VIP Tour with a Ranger. This is an hour long experience which will take up to 4 people down to the lion house to see the lions close up and help let them out into the reserve. After the lion experience participants will have breakfast in the Wild Café and then be free to spend the rest of the day at the Park. This costs £100 per person (minimum of 2 people, maximum of 4). A unique experience and one that you will remember for the rest of your life. www.yorkshirewildlifepark.com Lion Country opens on the 25th MayThe neglected pride of lions rescued by Yorkshire Wildlife Park from a run-down Romanian zoo take up residence in their new state-of-the-art reserve, LION COUNTRY for a press preview on Monday 24th of May and will be on view for visitors to see from Tuesday 25th May. Lion Country is unique in the UK as visitors enjoy an on foot safari in safety along its 800m of pathway into the reserves. This is a historic day for Yorkshire Wildlife Park, said Cheryl Williams, Director of the Park. So many people worked to make this happen and many thousands of people made donations to help save the lions this has really been the peoples rescue. We cant wait to see the lions out and enjoying their new home, it is the culmination of everything we have been working towards. Animal Director John Minion added, We dont know really how the different lions will react to the space and the new environment, whether they will be curious or worried to come out. Just like people, they are all different characters. They have lived in cages all of their lives, for the youngsters it might not be such a challenge, but Johnny Senior is said to be 27 years old which is very old for a lion and it will be a massive change for him. This is really the moment that we have all been working for, and we are delighted that Daiana Ghender, the director of Oradea Zoo is also coming to join us. She has not seen the lions since they left the zoo and will see a huge improvement in their condition. Daiana first started the search for a new home for the lions in conjunction with SOS ZOO when she took over the zoo and was appalled at the conditions. There wont be a dry eye in the house when she sees these lions againLion Country is believed to be the largest non-drive through lion reserve in the country and possibly the world. We apologise for all those who are enquiring about the opening of Lion Country that we do not yet have a confirmed date for the completion of the reserve. It will be towards the end of May and soon as we have a confirmed date it will be posted here Lion News - 27th March 2010.Yesterday Danni had an MRI scan the first time any of us had seen it done with a lion. We were offered the use of a veterinary MRI scanner free of charge by Burgess Diagnostics to have a better look at Dannis back and legs. In Romania his mobility had been very poor, not helped by the cold, wet and lack of proper bedding. He seemed to have improved somewhat since he had been in Yorkshire, which seemed encouraging but we still didnt know what was behind the problem. Nic Masters from the International Zoo Vet Group came to the Park for the operation and the diagnostics were carried out by Mike Targett, who is the Associate Professor from the Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science and a specialist in neurology. Danny was not really impressed to see Nic again he knew what was coming when he saw the dart gun again and indignantly pulled out the first dart but was soon fast asleep. Four members of YWP staff carried him on a stretcher to the articulated lorry that contained the scanner where Mike and Nic got to work. The pictures were fascinating as was the sight of a lion in a scanner. Mike and Nic will be analysing the detailed images of his spine and we will await their report next week. By 9 pm Danni was sitting up and by this morning he was quite back to his normal self. He wont be the last of the lions to see a specialist some of the other lions will be having a visit from the specialist animal dentist soon. The lion enclosure will not be ready for Easter - despite the contractors best efforts it was impossible to make up the 5 weeks lost because of the snow. We are trying to publicise this as widely as possible so that people arent disappointed on arrival. but there will be a special offer of 50% off a return visit, so our Easter guests will be able to come back and see the lions when they are on view. Lion News - 25th March 2010.YWP staff are really pleased that all the lions are doing very well and settling into their new surroundings. The recent journey the lions took was a major event in their lives - a change that they had never experienced before, and each individual animal has handled the change very well. Keepers have practiced gating the animals into the race which will eventually lead the lions to their beautiful outdoor habitat. Each lion has been great to work with, gating in and out of strange new areas with confidence and ease. Keepers were particlularly pleased to see two young lions - Maria and Simba take their first frolick as they raced each other up and down the race. Keepers are also pleased with the obvious improvement of ulcerated paws as well as tail sores. So all in all - the lions are fantastic and all of us are excited about the future opening of Lion Country. Lion News.The lions are all settling in well and their condition is improving daily. They are fed every other day and know immediately when the beef is heading their way. They have all been eating up well and the ones that we were more worried about have started to put on weight too. When they arrived, many of the lions had ulcerated feet from standing on the cold, wet or frozen concrete. These sores appear to be healing well, now the lions are in a warm, dry environment. All are seeming brighter now that they are getting a proper lion diet! Ares and Adel are very playful and often run about the house, bouncing off each other and generally causing mayhem. All the lions are now more confident in their surroundings and their rasping roars echo around the park regularly, to the delight of visitors, who cant yet see the lions, but can certainly hear them. Alison or Alan from Portland Veterinary Surgery come weekly to check up on the lions. The bad weather earlier this winter and a week ago left the new lion reserve very wet and the contractors were unable to get onto the land to work on it which has had an impact on the schedule. We still dont know exactly when it will be open to visitors, this week spring has come and the work has been going full steam ahead. The opening date will be put up on the website when we know for sure.Important update regarding the lions at YWP.YWP does not yet have a timing for the opening of viewing for the lions. This will very much depend on the weather conditions over the next few weeks so that we can complete the reserves and the visitor viewing areas. A key factor is also how the lions continue to rehabilitate to life at the park and how they cope with the introduction to their outside areas, which will be before the visitor viewing areas are complete. The welfare of the lions is the most important factor. We strongly advise visitors who are keen to see the lions to keep an eye on the website for updates on timing but not to book or make any travel arrangements specifically to see the lions until we have announced a confirmed official opening date for Lion Country. BBC InsideOut - 21st February 2010The Yorkshire Wildlife Park - Lion Rescue will feature on tomorrows BBc Inside Out which will be broadcast at 7:30pm on BBC 1 - Please click on the image opposite to see a preview.Lion Arrival - Update - 12th February 2010The lions arrived at YWP on Thursday afternoon and by the early hours of the morning they were finally in the Lion House. Today the lions are very tired after the long journey but are bright and seem settled in their new surroundings. The house is now a quarantine area so only authorised staff may go in to look after the lions and of course, the vets who will be making regular visits to check on their health and welfare. The lions are in three groups in the house: in the first section are the lionesses Frida, Crystal, Julie and Carla with the 10 year old male, Johnny Junior. Carla was one of the liveliest during the journey to the park and during the road journey from Oradea to Budapest had to be given an extra sedative to keep her settled. She also featured in TV coverage yesterday as the lioness that didnt want to come out of the crate! After two hours of Carla deciding that she wasnt brave enough to be the first into the new house, her crate was closed and moved out of the way and the rest of the group were unloaded before her. There was no hanging around for Johnny Junior or Cezar they went straight in! These five lions were soon cuddled up together in their warm straw bed and went to sleep as if nothing had happened. In the second section are juvenile 18 month old Ares and Adel along with their mother Alis and Cezar. Ares and Adel were fascinated by the thick blanket of wood shavings on the floor of their new home and both rolled happily in them a bit like puppies do when they first see snow! It was a change from the bare concrete floor back in Romania. Last but not least, Maria was pleased to be reunited with her cubs Simba and Dan and the last lion to be unloaded was 27 year old Johnny Senior, who was very tired but had survived the additional stress that the sedation and journey had on this very elderly lion. All 13 lions that had left Oradea Zoo 24 hours previously had arrived safely in the UK for the long programme of veterinary care and rehabilitation that lies ahead before they are introduced to their 9 acre reserve which is being prepared.Lion Rescue the Romanian lions arrive at Yorkshire Wildlife Park A pride of lions has been rescued from a run down zoo, in Romania where they faced an uncertain future living in inadequate facilities and flown to the UK to start a new life at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Doncaster. Believed to be the largest big cat rescue ever, Park Directors initiated a campaign through the charity Wildlife Heritage Foundation to raise £150,000 to save the lions in August after learning of their plight at Oradea Zoo. John Minion, Animal Director, visited the Park in July at the invitation of the zoo director Dhiana Ghender and was both shocked and moved by the experience and pledged to help the lions. They are such magnificent animals and despite the heat and the poor facilities, their spirit was still very evident. One lioness even came over to greet us. Some of them have health problems that veterinary care, good diet, exercise and appropriate housing will help greatly. There is a wide range of ages from 18 month old cubs to Johnny Senior, who is 27 years old a whole generation of lions. The staff at Oradea really love their animals and desperately want the best for them we really wanted to help them.The appeal still has £25,000 to raise towards the rescue costs but the Park accelerated their plans to bring the lions to the UK on welfare grounds as the animals health was deteriorating due to the cold winter conditions in their inadequate housing at Oradea. The appeal was also helped by the generous offer of Philip Meeson, the owner of friendly low fare airline Jet2.com to fly them to the UK. There has also been outstanding support from Robin Hood Airport and Servis Air who are receiving the flight. On Tuesday 9th Febuary, a team of vets and experts from Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Twycross Zoo, Shepreth Wild Animal Park, all members of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) flew out to Romania to initiate the rescue. This was a challenging and dangerous operation in difficult conditions, as up to five lions were kept in enclosures as small as 12 x 15. The team worked quickly in sub zero temperatures to tranquilise the individual lions and move them into travelling crates. This was an incredibly hard task for the vets to manage with the animals ranging in age from 15 months to 27 years. One of the youngest, Simba, walked into his crate without any need for tranquilising. Yorkshire Wildlife Parks Animal Director John Minion described the experience,` I was heartbroken to see these proud cats back in these conditions back August and from then on we were committed to helping them. Their condition and health is poor, but their spirit is still unbroken. They have never known anything different than these conditions. Today was a surreal experience for me, the moment had come when they were finally leaving the zoo. Now I will be happy when they are safely back in Yorkshire. The lions are going to need a lot of veterinary care and rehabilitation before they can fully enjoy the 9 acre reserve that is currently being landscaped for them at Yorkshire Wildlife Park and I am now looking forward to the day that they feel grass underneath their feet for the first time. The lions faced a four hour journey by road to Budapest Airport and left Oradea Zoo under a police escort, complete with blue lights and sirens. The Wildlife Heritage Foundation, the charity that is working with the Park on the project has received over 12,000 donations so far in cheques, online donations and direct donations totalling over £126,000 close to the target of £150,000. Many donations came from the readers of the News of the World. Cheryl Williams, Director of Yorkshire Wildlife Park thanked this newspaper and everyone who has made a donation or contacted them. This has been an amazing response. We are touched by the letters from those that have made donations, and each one no matter how small or how large has counted. We want to thank those who have helped so far and ask everyone to keep spreading the word. People can donate at www.lionrescue.co.uk Cheryl Williams added This is a huge project for the Park. We desperately wanted to help the lions and it is amazing that we have had the support from so many people to make this happen. This rescue is very high profile for us, for Yorkshire and especially Doncaster and everyone who has supported the project should be proud that they have really made a difference.Lion Rescue was supported by: Philip Meeson, Boss of Jet2.com said, Since we offered to transport the lions and veterinary crew free of charge from Oradea zoo to Doncaster wehave dedicated a team of highly trained individuals to work around the clock to ensure this rescue mission runs to schedule.As Yorkshires leading leisure airline, its a real honour to be involved in the biggest ever big cat rescue to date and we look forward to delivering the pride to their new home at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster.Robin Hood Airport :Mike Morton, Airport Director from Doncaster Sheffield Airport said: This really is a tremendous event for us to be a part of. I thought wed seen it all here but having a pride of lions flying in to Doncaster Sheffield Airport will be a momentous occasion. We are delighted to be able to help the Wildlife Park by enabling the lions to be land in Doncaster and are thrilled to be playing our part in this adventure which will see the lions reach their new home.Doncaster: The lions are truly the pride of Doncaster. Councillor Jonathan Wood, Doncaster Council's Cabinet Member for Business, said: "To take a full pride of lions is really something."When the lions are on view to visitors it will really add to the appeal of the park and make it a significant attraction for the region. "From a business and tourism point of view, we are fully supportive of the Yorkshire Wildlife Park." Visitdoncaster.co.uk Woburn Safari ParkThe Woburn Safari Park Elephant Transporter trailer that the lions were moved in was loaned by kind permission of the Duke of Bedford and the Trustees of the Bedford Estate.Celebrating its 40th birthday in 2010, Woburn Safari Park in Bedfordshire is a fantastic day out for all the family, for one inclusive price. With over 800 animals in a natural environment, the park offers you the opportunity to get an unparalleled close encounter with some of the worlds most magnificent and endangered animals.The driver, Lee Patterson and Tractor Unit that moved the lions from Robin Hood Airport was kindly loaned by the Wolseley Group:•.Wolseley UK provides construction products and materials through a nationwide branch network, including the Plumb Center, Build Center, Pipe Center, Drain Center, Climate Center, Parts Center, Electric Center, Encon, Brandon Hire and William Wilson chains. •Wolseley UK is a subsidiary of Wolseley plc. Wolseley plc is the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing and heating products to professional contractors and a leading supplier of building materials to the professional markets. •Further information on Wolseley is available on www.wolseley.co.ukA Plan Insurance : Provided free insurance for the elephant transporter.
