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Tsar and Jamil, two lion brothers have finally found a new home in South Africa after being caught up in the human war in Ukraine.

The cats from Kyiv were freed into Shamwari Private Game Reserve after enduring a long and harrowing road to freedom. The two three-year-old lions, who used to be held captive on an ostrich farm in Kyiv, will now get to experience birdsong instead of bombs in the 4,000 square metre veld.

Conservation charity Born Free has been fighting for the two since the war broke out, with Catherine Gillson, Born Free manager at Shamwari, especially proud to see them back in Africa.

“They have been shifted to safety so many times in their young lives that we hope the final stage of their journey ‘back to Africa’ will bring them peace and a chance to enjoy a more natural life – a million miles away from the existence they endured in their formative years.”

“We look forward to providing them with the care and respect they deserve, in an environment that is as close as possible to the wild as you can get.”

The lions travelled in custom-built crates padded with grass bedding – which kept him safe over the three-day journey from Belgium to Shamwari. Rangers, charity workers and volunteers were nervous at first as Jamil’s gate was lifted after the gruelling 18-hour drive from Johannesburg in sweltering 36C, but the lion ‘shot out like a bullet with his windswept mane on full display’ the moment he saw his ancestral home.

The pair have so far been sleeping in a night house at the back of their enclosure because sadly, they have always known concrete shelters instead of the wild.

Glen Vena, animal care manager at Born Free, met the pair in Johannesburg and joined them for their final journey home to Port Elizabeth. He said: “They ran into the enclosure and came across the night houses and went straight in. I think this is where they’re currently most comfortable after the trip.

Returning to the savanna and sleeping under the stars will soon feel normal, but a life lived in captivity will however mean the two will have to remain in the sanctuary for the foreseeable future.

“This is where they feel safe for now. It will take them a couple of days or weeks before they start to venture and explore.”

The heart-wrenching story of these brothers began in a Ukrainian zoo, where they were cruelly taken from their mother and sent to an ostrich farm to satisfy the curiosity of tourists. The young lions became malnourished and sickly while being kept in “utterly unsuitable conditions” without specialist care, and being fed a poor-quality diet.

A wildlife rescue centre in Kyiv saved them eventually, revealing calcium deficiencies and bone fractures from all the exploitation they suffered. The duo had just begun to recover from their harrowing ordeal when Ukraine found itself under siege in 2022.

Thanks to the incredible teams at the Ukrainian rescue centre, Natuurhulpcentrum (NHC) in Belgium, and a short stay at a Polish zoo, the young lions finally have a chance at a better life here in South Africa.

[source:bornfree.org.uk&express]