Seized Bulgarian Baby Lions Sent to South Africa Sanctuary

Romanian Lucian Craita embraces his pet lion Richie before it is dispatched to Lionsrock, a big cat sanctuary in South Africa. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The two baby lions that were seized in the spring by the Bulgarian State from private properties will be send to the "Lionsrock" park in South Africa.

The news was announced Tuesday by the Environment Ministry, saying the animals will have the opportunity to leave in their natural habitat.

One of them, a young female lion was taken from an yard adjacent to a restaurant in the southern town of Melnik; the other male baby lion was kept on a tennis court in the border town of Svilengrad.

Keeping large predatory animals as pets or in farms without a special permit is illegal in Bulgaria.

The transport of the animals to South Africa is financed by the Bulgarian branch of the Four Paws Foundation.

Yavor Gechev from the Foundation says the female lion had its nails extracted because the initial idea of the people who kept it was to turn it into a pet, something that is impossible, but the lioness would be crippled for life.

The South African park was opened by the Foundation in 2008 to shelter such animals and already has over 60 lions, rescued from poor zoo conditions or from circuses.

The "Bulgarian" lions are expected to arrive there Friday.

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