Circus lions embark on a new journey to freedom in South Africa

Lions Goliath and Coralie lived more than a decade in a cramped, bare circus cage on the back of a truck, touring France. 

Now, thanks to new regulations aimed at ending the use of wild animals in circuses, the doting pair of lions are on their way to the Animal Defenders International’s Wildlife Sanctuary (ADIWS) in South Africa, where they will have the freedom to roam, run, play, and snooze under the stars.

Animal Defenders International (ADI) has been urgently raising the funds to relocate the animals and cover the costs of their lifetime care when Qatar Airways Cargo recently offered to fly the lions to their new life for free.

The lions will fly on a freighter from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on Tuesday to Doha, then transfer to another aircraft for the final leg of the journey to Johannesburg, arriving on Wednesday.

ADI Founders Jan Creamer and Tim Phillips and ADI veterinarian Dr Peter Caldwell will accompany Goliath and Coralie on the two-day journey.

In 2021, France - once home to one of the most prestigious circus industries in the world - joined 50 other countries banning wild animals like lions, tigers, and elephants in circuses. The law is phasing out the cruel shows using new regulations, followed by the full ban coming into force in 2028.

Using the new rules, a complaint was filed against Cirque Idéal by France’s Free Life Association. Despite the circus going into hiding, they were tracked down, and 13-year-old Coralie and 11-year-old Goliath were seized. 

The playful lions were relocated to Tonga Terre d’Accueil, near St Etienne, a temporary holding facility for confiscated wildlife, then a call went out to ADI. ADI specialises in large-scale rescue missions following government circus bans, removing all circus animals in countries like Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Guatemala – flying 33 ex-circus lions from Peru and Colombia on one aircraft to South Africa.

ADI’s Jan Creamer and Tim Phillips visited Goliath and Coralie at Tonga Terre d’Accueil and agreed to give them a new life at the 455-acre ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in the Free State, home to dozens of rescued lions, tigers, and other animals. 

It is not possible to return animals like Goliath and Coralie to the wild due to the inbreeding and damage caused by circus life, so ADIWS provides huge natural habitats ranging from 2.5 acres to 8 acres – more space and freedom than they have ever known, and a life as close as possible to what nature intended.

ADI President Jan Creamer said: “These two intelligent, beautiful, lions have suffered a lifetime of deprivation and abuse, living in a tiny cage, bare floorboards, behind bars, with no regard given to their wellbeing or physical needs. No freedom of movement, no space to roam. If we all pull together, they will enjoy life under the African sunshine, in their native homeland where they can run, play, chase the local wildlife, or snooze in the grass.”

A scientific study from Bristol University in the UK concluded that “life for wild animals in travelling circuses…does not appear to constitute either a ‘good life’ or a ‘life worth living’”. ADI has spearheaded the global Stop Circus Suffering campaign using evidence from their undercover investigations in circuses that has seen more than 50 countries and seven US states ban wild animals in circuses.

Cape Times