Three rescue lions at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park are having a ‘fantastic’ time together after escaping the bombs of Ukraine, much to the joy of those looking after them
A trio of young lions from Ukraine are so happy in their new home in Yorkshire they’ve learned how to play hide and seek together.
The traumatised lions were saved from the shells exploding around them in the war-torn country a few months ago.
But now, they have been moved in together and have been having a ‘fantastic’ time, according to Bex Brown, Head of Carnivores at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, who is thrilled with their “heartwarming” progress at their ‘Lion Country’.
Oleg was rescued as a cub from private owners who fled the Sumy region during the escalation of war. Siblings, Rafael and Shanti, were found in the Kharkiv region next to their dying mother, a lioness who had been abandoned in a private menagerie and starved.
“We mixed them back together a couple of days ago and it was fantastic. It was like they’d never lived apart,” she said.
Siblings Rafael and Shanti and Oleg, arrived at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster in September after the public helped pay for their rescue. When they first arrived about three months ago, the lion boss said Oled was “shut down,” hiding away in the corner of their lion house alone.
And if the three lions would go back to the house and “cower down,” when they saw an aeroplane or helicopter.
But now the three have been transformed, even playing hide and seek together and snuggling up together at night. And, she said, the boys have also developed a real ‘bromance’.
“It was great to see them run and chase each other and pretend to hunt each other. At first they could do the seek but not the hide part. They didn’t know how to sneak up,” Bex laughs.
“Initially when they were ambushing each other they didn’t hide, just pounced so they didn’t get the shock value. They needed the space to learn this behaviour.
“They have enrichment here, they have balls and tubes and we hide their food.
“It’s incredible to think what we can offer them and what we can do to improve their lives.”
Since arriving in Yorkshire the workers have been training them by taking a piece of meat from tongs so they can be examined and even injected by hand willingly.
Now all three line up happily to be inspected by their vets.
Recently the lions were given a full MOT at the same time as the two young males Oleg and Rafael were given a vasectomy.
Specialist vets from the International Zoo Veterinary Group came to the Park to assess the pride.
“We did the boys’ vasectomies and separated Shanti. We were not sure if the two boys would get along, with her separated but they developed a bromance and they were great together,” Bex said.
“The public adore them, because the males are changing and starting to grow their manes.”
The three new arrivals were given the all clear after intensive health checks including blood tests and X-rays.
The boys do have slightly bowed legs from a lack of exposure to sunlight but Bex says they are hoping their healthy diet and access to outdoors and space will put that right.
Bex explained: ‘Sometimes these young lions can look as if their legs are slightly bowed as they have a growth spurt and it can be something they grow out of, or it can be because of a vitamin or sunlight deficiency when they were younger. We have seen this previously with our rescue lions.
“As these lions are young at around a year old, we would hope that their good diet here, exercise out in the big reserves and sunshine would make a big difference and lack of straightness will correct itself naturally.’
The Wildlife Foundation, the charity based at the park, raised the funds to cover the specialist transport costs for the 1,700 mile trip.
It is the third rescue undertaken by Yorkshire Wildlife Park which has seen a total of 17 lions brought to Lion Country over the years.
The first lion rescue took place back in 2010, which brought 13 lions to the park.
Their rescue won international accolades for saving the lions from horrific conditions in Romania and giving them a new home in Yorkshire.
The success of this encouraged the park to take on a second mission in 2024 with the rescue of Aysa and her cubs, Emi, Santa and Teddi, now three years old.
