The mother and daughter were saved from illegal and cruel captivity on a farm in Poland, and after years of legal wrangling, they are celebrating International Leopard Day (today, Friday 3 May) at Born Free’s big cat sanctuary at the Shamwari Private Game Reserve in Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Until 2017, the two leopards were kept with many other animals at an unlawful breeding facility near Poznan where they were confined to a tiny cell with little outside space.
The police raided the facility and it was shut down by the Polish authorities with all the animals being confiscated.
When experts from Belgian wildlife rescue centre Natuurhelpcentrum (NHC) collected Alda and Ginny, the leopards had filthy coats and signs of malnourishment.
Since 2017, NHC experts have provided them with specialist care and helped them recover from their ordeal.
NHC was only meant to be a temporary home with the Polish authorities giving their permission to move Alda and Ginny to Belgium soon after they were rescued but it has taken years and hundreds of hours of work to secure the documents and certificates so they could start their new life in South Africa.
Born Free offered Alda and Ginny a permanent home and work with NHC to make it a reality.
The leopards travelled by road from Belgium to Luxembourg where they boarded a Cargolux flight to Johannesburg, who provided the transport free of charge, then flew onwards to Port Elizabeth with BidAir Cargo on a pro bono flight.
After their epic journey covering over 8,000 miles, Alda and Ginny took their first tentative steps and felt the South African soil underneath their feet at Shamwari, and were soon looking happy and relaxed in their forever home.
The Olsen Animal Trust has donated funds to cover Alda and Ginny’s lifetime care.
Announcing the news on International Leopard Day, British actress Dame Virginia McKenna, who co-founded the charity Born Free 40 years ago, says, “To know that this beautiful mother and daughter are, at this moment, experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of their ancestral homeland for the first time is enough to make the heart sing. No animal, certainly not the majestic leopard, is on this earth to be abused and exploited for human gain.”
Catherine Gillson, Born Free Manager at the Shamwari Private Game Reserve, adds, “The horrendous conditions that they experienced whilst living in their birthplace of Poland in an illegal breeding centre is going to be a stark contrast to the natural thick vegetation in their enclosures surrounded by their indigenous ancestors on Shamwari Private Game Reserve. While sadly they can never fully be released to the wild, we hope they will quickly adapt to new environment where they will have natural enrichment, be fed the correct diet and live out their lives in the respectful care of our dedicated Born Free Animal Care Team.”