They are named the #GoldenPride - ten lions who found a new home at LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary in South Africa.

The group consists of males called Kali, Rudo and Sandile and females called Kimi, Dandi, Sarafina, Sihle, Zuri, Zendaya and Khaya.

Rescued from unsafe keeping conditions and facing a cruel fate, the hallmarks of the exploitative captive breeding industry, the ten lions can finally feel safe in their new home at LIONSROCK.

The seven females and three males were rescued from a captive breeding facility in Krugersdorp, Gauteng Province of South Africa. FOUR PAWS took over the pride after Gauteng provincial authorities issued a notice to the owners of the facility for having failed to comply with permit requirements. 

The notice enabled FOUR PAWS to move the lions to LIONSROCK. Should this solution not have been found, the authorities would have had to euthanise the animals.

FOUR PAWS was previously requested by the authorities to assess the lions, as they found that the breeding facility did not comply with fencing and various other permit requirements and continued to breed with the lions despite warnings to the contrary. 

The facility was given various chances to comply with permit regulations by authorities, but to no avail. Objections by the owners of the lions to the notice were made but these were overturned and the final decision to remove the animals and issue no more permits for the keeping of Big Cats was made.

Immediate contraceptive measures were taken on all the female lions. Hormone implants were administered during anesthesia before the animals were loaded for transfer to ensure no further chance of breeding, which is against the values of a True Sanctuary.

On 9 November 2022 FOUR PAWS moved the ten lions to their new home in the Free State province, where they can live together as the biggest pride in the True Sanctuary.

In their species-appropriate home at LIONSROCK, the Golden Pride can now be seen spending their time lying side by side on top of a wooden structure, rolling on the grass, moving around, or stalking the horses grazing on the other side of the high security fence. 

Sadly, the story of the Golden Pride is just a tiny portion of the dark spot arising from the exploitative captive breeding practices operating in a legal grey area and feeding into the criminal underworld of illegal trade in wild animals and their parts. FOUR PAWS says NO to captive breeding of big cats.