Terrified lion cubs born in Ukraine war after mum abandoned at zoo heading to UK

25 October 2023 , 15:37

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The cubs are suffering a great trauma (Image: Yorkshire Wildlife Park / SWNS)

This trio of lion cubs prove it is not only humans who can bear the scars of war.

In the womb as the Russian missiles fell on Ukraine, their mother was left to fend for herself in an abandoned zoo. Lioness Aysa was eventually found at the private facility in Eastern Donetsk and taken to a temporary sanctuary near Kyiv. She gave birth to Emi, Santa and Teddi there 10 months ago and now Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Auckley, South Yorks, is hoping to give the family a fresh start.

Colin Northcott, deputy head of carnivores, said: “The lions were so distressed when I first encountered them. The cubs cowered on top of each other in the corner and often hissed and spat loudly at me. They were extremely nervous and tried to get as far away as possible from me.

The cubs are in a bad way (Yorkshire Wildlife Park / SWNS)

"This was completely understandable considering what they have been through. By the end of the week that I was there, they were starting to trust me more so I felt terrible leaving them behind." He added: “They have experienced so much trauma and deserve a wonderful new life in Yorkshire. We need to get them here as fast as possible.”

The park previously rescued 13 lions from a Romanian zoo in 2010 and brought them to Yorkshire with the help of the charity the Wildlife Foundation. Staff are now working with Polish authorities to arrange the paperwork to bring Aysa and her cubs to the site in Auckley, near Doncaster, South Yorks., which covers some 260 acres and has more than 400 animals. And Colin said he has been preparing the family for life in their new home by playing them sounds from the park.

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Paul Byrne