Tsar and Jamil, two lions from Ukraine, have made the long trip to South Africa to find safety and sanctuary.

The brothers arrived at Born Free’s Big Cat Sanctuary at Shamwari Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday, 12 March. Conservationists and journalists watched on as the felines leapt to freedom from their custom-made travel crates after the 1 000 km trip from Johannesburg.

The two big cats could be considered well-travelled, as the efforts to get them into the Southern African country were nothing short of heroic.

“Born in a Ukrainian zoo, Tsar and Jamil were taken from their mother as tiny cubs and sold to a farm where they were exploited as a ‘tourist attraction’,” a media statement shared via their official website reads.

“Kept in utterly unsuitable conditions, fed a poor-quality diet and without specialist care, the young lions became malnourished and sickly,” it continued.

Under pressure from the public, the farm handed the lions over to a wildlife rescue centre in Ukraine for better treatment. However, when Russia invaded the eastern European country, a new plan was hatched.

The pair were first evacuated to Belgium, after which they were taken to Luxembourg airport before they were flown to South Africa, where they would be welcomed into the natural bush of their 2.5-acre enclosure.

Image Credit: Source