The four-year-old lions, twin sisters Charlie and Kai, and their younger sister Luca, three, were born into captivity and kept in cramped conditions. The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization intervened and saved them from a bleak future, with the aim of finding them a new home. A one-year-old male lion cub, named Nathan, was also saved from being sold as a performing animal.
Animal transport specialist Intradco Global co-ordinated the project to move the four lions with the help of Turkish Cargo. Travelling in the lower deck hold of a Turkish Airways A330 passenger aircraft, the animals were flown from Kiev to Istanbul, where they were transferred to a second aircraft for their onward journey to Johannesburg: the site of their final destination, Kragga Kamma Game Park in South Africa.
The lions were transported in custom designed pallets containing food and water (left), and well looked after by an accompanying vet, a specialist handler and a representative from Lawrence Anthony.
Intradco worked closely with the Lawrence Anthony team to secure necessary permits and certifications for the shipment, including valid CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) documentation.
Intradco Project Manager Dane Riecker said the team was delighted to have been of assistance and thanked Turkish Cargo, who offered the shortest possible connection from Kiev to Johannesburg. “Istanbul has an animal station that allowed the lions to be fed and watered during the transit period, which really made this route viable,” he added.
Lionel de Lange, CEO of the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organisation Ukraine, said: “Intradco Global and Turkish Cargo’s efforts made it possible to get these lions home, otherwise we would still be sitting in Ukraine waiting to take them to South Africa.
“Their team looked at the various options and found the best route with the shortest travel from Ukraine, from Kiev to Johannesburg. As and when we do this again, Intradco will be the first people I call.”