A sad background touching on the cruelty of the circus environment and the unfortunate reality facing many big cats that are exploited for human amusement and profit.

• Human amusement and exploitation
• Life-changing decision
• Life at LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary

This is the story of Nala. She was confiscated in France by French authorities who made several attempts to seize the animals from a man who trained and sold all kinds of wild animals to circuses. There were suspicions that he acquired them from various circuses, but no paper trail could be found. They were initially unsuccessful but had a breakthrough in 2017 when they finally secured legal permission to take away all the animals he had in his possession. 

Nala was rescued by Stitching AAP and was brought to their rescue centre Primadomus in Spain. The decision was made to send Nala to LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary, to have more space to save other animals in need. Here at LIONSROCK, she is living in our special care unit until she can be socialized with other playmates. 

Today, Nala is an energetic lioness who loves enrichment in the form of boxes and teddy bears. She is such a wonderful lioness, a demonstrable example that animals do not deserve the inhumane treatment they are subjected to.