Forget the stagecoach and fairy godmother. When 33 lions rescued from circuses in Peru and Colombia touch down in South Africa on Saturday in a chartered cargo plane, their change in fortune will have come about thanks to Jan Creamer and Tim Phillips, real-life animal saviors with the U.K.-based nonprofit Animal Defenders International (ADI).
None of the lions can be released into the wild. As circus performers, they’ve had their claws removed and teeth smashed by their handlers, making it impossible to fend for themselves or catch prey.
But on Saturday they’ll have the next best thing as they set foot in pristine South African bush at the Emoya Big Cat Sanctuary, complete with drinking pools, platforms, and toys.
