Three lions rescued from daily bombs in Ukraine finally arrive in Yorkshire forever home

Three lions left terrified and cowering as shells exploded around them in Ukraine have been saved after arriving at Yorkshire Wildlife Parkthis weekend.

Rangers were “ecstatic” as the rescued lions finally descended on their forever home in Doncaster after a three day road trip from Kyiv. The public helped fund the specialist transport costs for the 1,700 mile trip from the war torn country. And after being held up at the Polish border for 15 hours, the ‘tired’ lions, one year old Oleg, Rafael and Shanti, finally arrived in Doncaster on Saturday morning. They will now be checked over by the park vet and will settle indoors before being released to the safety of the five acre‘Lion Country’in the award-winning park.

Cheryl Williams, co-founder of the park and trustee of The WildLife Foundation, said: “It’s been incredible this morning, absolutely amazing.

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“This is the third rescue I’ve been involved in and to see them come out so quickly, to see Raphael and Shanti back together again, obviously they’ve never been separated before. That was just beautiful. I am just so happy and relieved and at least they are away from the bombing now.

“The previous lions that came out of Ukraine last March are extremely interested in the youngsters who have just arrived, they are definitely the nosey neighbours. They are really curious.”

She said the lions that came last year “are one big happy family” and have settled into Lion Country at the park “brilliantly”. She hopes the new arrivals will settle in just as well, adding: “The first pride of lions from Ukraine settled in so well and it has made such a massive difference to their quality of life, so we are confident we can do the same for Oleg, Rafael and Shanti.

“We are hoping we can introduce Oleg to the other two and they will be a ride but it will be a steady process and they have to settle in first before we can start to introduce them to each other. The two that are back together are now happy and I think they will make the fastest progress. Oleg is a bit nervous because he has not got a friend with him but hopefully he can bond with others in the future.”

Head of carnivores, Bex Brown, said: “I’m ecstatic and so glad they are finally here, their forever home. I don’t think we can imagine how traumatic their experiences have been. It’s coming up to bonfire night and we have been planning to prepare them with low volume firework noise alongside enrichment toys. I am relieved they are settling in so well.”

Oleg was rescued as a cub from private owners who fled the Sumy region during the escalation of war. He was raised by humans but longs for connections with other lions. 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.

It has been a race against time after workers at the Kyiv rescue and rehabilitation centre warned The Mirror that it was "important" they were evacuated "as soon as possible”.

As the trio arrived at YWP they roared from their crates on the back of a lorry before one by one being transported into the mesh tunnels leading to the lion house. They had been transported from Ukraine by Cross Border Animal services. Owner Geert Wijnands, was relieved the lions were finally safe.

“They are tired because it’s been a long trip. We were held up for 15 hours at the Polish border,” he said. “But they are fine now. They have a big space so they will be happy here. Animal welfare is our first priority and to see them doing fine is so important.

“The big male was very nervous but I think he’s had missiles near him, but he will be fine now. It’s now a matter of having a good sleep and rest, tomorrow is another day. It’s stressful travelling for the animals on a bumpy road.”

As the new arrivals were moved into the lion house, the existing pride saved by YWP last March left their spots sunbathing on a hill in their enclosure to come and investigate their “new neighbours”.

All seven, including three new cubs, watched intently from the other side of a wire fence as the new trio moved in. Behind the resident pride were the public wondering what the existing lions were staring at. The new pride won't be released outside into the huge enclosures until they have fully settled in and recovered from their "traumatic" experience in Ukraine.

It is the third rescue undertaken by Yorkshire Wildlife Park which has seen 17 lions brought to Lion Country over the years. The seven-acre habitat has three specially designed reserves. The WildLife Foundation has played a key role in raising funds to support the rescues, transportations and rehabilitations of the lions.

The first lion rescue took place back in 2010, which brought 13 African 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, witnessed by The Mirror.

Aysa and her cubs Emi, Santa and Teddi, now nearly three years old, travelled more than 2,000 miles across six countries from Poland after being abandoned in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.

During the Russian invasion many animals were left alone with no food, water, or shelter and were terrified by the bombing - but have since been thriving in Lion Country.