A young lion is beginning a new life at a wildlife sanctuary in Italy after being found abandoned as a cub in Russia.
According to Born Free Foundation, the cub, named Simba, was saved from the illegal wildlife trade.
‘ Simba was emaciated and mewling in distress when he was discovered in a cardboard box in a deserted garage near Moscow in 2020.’
Just weeks old and lacking most of his fur due to a skin condition, he was so weak he could barely stand.
Simba was emaciated and in distress when he was discovered in a cardboard box.
“While little is known about how Simba ended up in such desperate circumstances, it is likely he is an innocent victim of the cruel wildlife trade and was discarded due to his poor condition,” says the Born Free Foundation, which helped organize the lion’s journey to western Europe, just months before the outbreak of war.
The young cub was rescued by volunteers in the summer of 2020 in the Moscow suburbs.
He was taken to the Wildlife Hospital Foundation, where he was cared for and nursed back to health.
Earlier this year it re-homed four circus lions known as the “Lions of Lockdown”, taking them from France to the Born Free sanctuary at Shamwari in South Africa.
Simba was transported to Natuurhulpcentrum Wildlife Rescue Centre in Belgium in December 2021.
While the specialist team there looked after him, Born Free lined up a permanent home for him, at Animanatura Wild Sanctuary in Tuscany, Italy.
Simba was transported to Natuurhulpcentrum Wildlife Rescue Centre
in Belgium in December 2021
Last Monday (13 June), Simba’s 800-kilometre overland journey from Belgium to Italy began.
He has now arrived and is being housed in a temporary enclosure, while a new, purpose-built area is constructed — for which Born Free has launched an appeal.