To all individuals involved
Mufasa and Soraya have been at the centre of ongoing litigation for the last seven and a half years. We have finally managed to reach an agreement with the relevant authorities to have them moved to a sanctuary. We are extremely grateful that our lions have been moved to a wonderful sanctuary where they can have as much freedom as is possible for captive bred lions. Unfortunately the arrangement is only temporary and the appeal is ongoing.
A tender process has been advocated for wildlife facilities to apply to house these lions. A panel will then be put together to go through the applications and then make a decision. If we agree with that decision then we will consider withdrawing the appeal.
We, as well as other lion experts, have the following opinion on this:
Tranquilising lions contains a certain amount of risk. This should never be done without undue consideration and for good reason only.
Moving lions from one environment to another is really stressful for some lions. Mufasa took it fairly easily, but for Soraya this is a major problem. She was really stressed, had withdrawn herself in panic/grieve status and refused to eat for 6 days. Why on earth would we want to put them through that again?
Mufasa and Soraya are currently at one of the best sanctuaries with international support. Moving to another sanctuary should only be considered if for some reason it can be proven to be better for the lions. There are only a few NSPCA approved sanctuaries in the country. None of them can be proven to be majorly better than any other. Therefore any sanctuary worthy of the name should be unwilling to put them under the stress of another move and thus should not apply. As we will not agree to anything else but an NSPCA approved sanctuary, this will make the whole exercise moot.
As there are plans imminent for phasing out the lion breeding industry totally, there will soon be many more lions looking for a new home. It will be great if those other sanctuaries in the country would rather be available for those lions.
We would prefer this to have been their final move, that we should get certainty about their future and that we come to a written agreement on this sanctuary being their forever home.
We hereby request your support in making this a reality.
Kind regards
Mufasa and Soraya Worldwide Support Group.
