Image by: VIER PFOTEN International via YouTube
A family of six tigers has been relocated from an animal shelter in the Netherlands to the Lionsrock big cat sanctuary near Bethlehem in the Free State where they can finally live a “true tiger life.”
Four Paws said the tigers – parents and four of their offspring – now had the opportunity to live a life fit for a tiger in huge enclosures “under the South African sun‚ feeling for the first time in their lives grass under their paws‚ having the opportunity to run‚ to play and to swim in the specially built pools.”“They originally come from very bad keeping conditions. The long trip from the Netherlands to South Africa was more than worth it. Here in Lionsrock these tigers can start a second life appropriate to their needs‚” said Heli Dungler‚ founder and president of Four Paws.
The story of the parents‚ Cromwell and Juno‚ began in 2000 in the Dartmoor Wildlife Park near the village of Sparkwell in the UK. The two animals‚ along with four other tigers and two jaguars‚ were bred to be sold. As this was no longer possible‚ and as the enclosures the animals were kept in were no longer considered safe‚ they were moved to the Felida Big Cat Sanctuary in Friesland.
For the two jaguars a new home was quickly found‚ and the six tigers were supposed to move to a safari park in China. Then the bird flu broke out and the animals could not be transported. Finally in 2004 four tigers were allowed to leave for China. Cromwell and Juno stayed in the sanctuary in the Fresian town of Nijeberkoop and together they had two litters‚ from which three sons and a daughter also lived in the shelter.
Last week the entire family was flown to Johannesburg and then transported by truck to Lionsrock.
The sanctuary currently houses 106 big cats like tigers‚ lions‚ and leopards as well as other wild animals like cheetahs‚ caracals and servals. “In Europe many tigers and lions are still kept in very bad conditions‚ especially in substandard zoos or circuses”‚ explained Dungler.
“However‚ zoos or circuses are not a place for big cats. They need huge areas and in fact they should live in the wild‚ where they are able to live according to their species.
“Big cats that are born in captivity can never be released into the wild. Therefore we can take over some of them‚ but only on the condition that at the same time laws and the awareness of the humans regarding the needs of big cats are changing‚” Dungler added.
--RDM News Wire
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