Dodo, an 8 year old lion, who has spent most of his life in a concrete underground pit in Romania, is now safe at the Drakenstein Lion Park, in the Cape Winelands. He was released into the park on Wednesday evening.

The illegal pet trade in Eastern Europe, where wild animals are sold as pets - often when they are small and 'cute' - usually results in abusive situations such as the one in which Dodo found himself,: languishing in a pit once he grew too big to have in the home.

Dodo's First Steps of Freedom... (Image: Paul Hart. Used with permission. More here.)

His view for the past eight years has been gray walls, with rusted steel bars overhead allowing snow to fill the hole each winter. In Romania temperatures can get down to minus 20 in mid-winter.

A number of animal rescue services have tried to rescue Dodo over the years and it was only after three years of hard work that the Drakenstein Lion Park finally achieved success.

In an interview with the press, sanctuary owner Paul Hart said of the newly released lion:

 

“He’s completely shell shocked by his new environment. He is completely in awe of seeing other lions. We fed him just after we released him and I don’t think he even realises that the food is in his mouth.”

While Dodo can live out the rest of his days among other lions under the open African skies, hundreds of other lions are still in captivity in Eastern Block countries.

Adopt a Lion

Drakenstein Lion Park was established in 1998 to provide lions in distress with sanctuary, where they could live in safety, free from abuse and persecution, and be treated with the compassion and respect they deserved.

The Park is situated in the scenic Cape Winelands and comprises of 50 acres of sprawling lion habitat.

The Park is actively involved in improving the quality of life of lions in captivity, locally as well as internationally, either by offering these animals a lifetime home or working in conjunction with other animal welfare organizations to secure a safe future for individual animals in dire need.

You can help contribute to the excellent work done by the Drakenstein Lion Park by adopting Dodo or one of the other rescued lions. Your regular contribution will go towards the costs of keeping the lions well fed and looked after.

To adopt a lion, email info@lionrescue.org.za