'Dream Come True': Rescued Lions Explore New Home in South African Sanctuary - NBC 7 San Diego
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The lions were flown to South Africa after wild animals were outlawed in Peruvian and Columbian circuses






    The lions were freed after the use of wild animals in circuses was outlawed in Peru and Colombia.

    It will be impossible for the lions to survive in the wild as they were bred in captivity and their circus owners mutilated many by breaking their teeth and removing their claws. Because they cannot hunt they will be fed game meat and will have water in their enclosures.

    "They are remarkably calm after such a long journey," Tim Phillips, the co-founder of Animal Defenders International which led the rescue of the lions told The Associated Press. "It was a dream come true watching them step of those cages into their new homes in the African bush."