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Abused circus lionesses arrive at their new SA home

Cape Town - Two rescued circus lionesses, sisters Maggie and Sonja, are finally ‘home’ in South Africa, the Born Free Foundation announced on Thursday. 

After an epic journey to Africa this week on the inaugural Kenya Airways Dreamliner flight from London Heathrow via Nairobi to Johannesburg, Maggie and Sonja, two big cats rescued from abuse at a German Ciricus are now free to roam at the Born Free Big Cat Rescue and Education Centre at Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape.


Sonja getting to know her new home. (Born Free Foundation)

Singer, TV Star and Born Free Patron, Peter Andre, made the special trip airside to see the lionesses as they were loaded on to the new B787 Dreamliner to start the 9 000km journey.

Peter said “I was so excited to be asked to come along and witness part of Maggie and Sonja’s epic journey to Africa. It really is a dream ticket for them! After being told how cruelly these beautiful animals had been treated whilst living with the circus, I am really delighted. I was shocked to learn that circuses which use wild animals as part of their acts are still legal in many parts of Europe, including here in the UK, and I hope to be able to raise awareness of this issue and what organisations such as Born Free are doing to try and change things.”


Maggie chilling out in Shamwari. (Born Free Foundation)

Born in 2006, Maggie and Sonja spent the first eight years of their lives at a circus in Germany. Along with regular performances, they spent the rest of their time confined to a circus trailer in appalling conditions. When the animals were confiscated by the German authorities in 2013, the Natuurhulpcentrum (a Belgian Centre for the rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals) stepped in and offered them temporary accommodation.

They had been kept at the Centre for the last year undergoing rehabilitation and being treated for wounds sustained whilst living in the circus, before being declared fit to travel to their permanent new home in Africa.

Sil Janssen, Founder of Natuurhulpcentrum said, “When the lionesses arrived they were in very poor condition, suffering from open wounds. Our team have worked hard to improve their physical and psychological wellbeing and now they are in good shape and are ready to make their rightful passage to Africa where they belong”.


The journey on board Kenya Airways. (Born Free Foundation)

Born Free’s President, Will Travers OBE, who joined Maggie and Sonja for the flight to Nairobi said,

“To see the dedication of so many to give these lionesses a new future under the African sky is a dream come true. Born Free’s vision is that one day no more animals will have to suffer like Sonja and Maggie have and that wildlife will live in the wild where it belongs.”

On arrival in Johannesburg, the lionesses were  transported with support from Born Free’s partners at Land Rover in two Land Rover Discoveries to their new home at Shamwari Game Reserve.  They have now been released into the large African bush enclosure at the Born Free Education and Rescue centre, where they will start their new lives.

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