In less than a month, the Oudsbergen Nature Aid Centre has raised enough money to fund the evacuation of Lion Rori from Ukraine. Thanks to cash from people who support the centre Lion Rori will soon be coming to Belgium. Rori currently resides in a temporary animal shelter in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. A previous attempt to bring him to Belgium failed. The Nature Aid Centre will undertake another attempt in 2 weeks' time.
Limburgers raise cash to rescue Rori, the Ukrainian lion, who was at death’s door
Colin Clapson
Published:
‘We asked our members for support via our magazine,’ says Sil Janssen, the president of the Nature Aid Centre in Oudsbergen. ‘People have been very generous. Less than a month later, we have enough money to fund the evacuation.’
Mr Janssen would not say exactly how much the rescue operation will cost.
An initial attempt to bring Rori to Belgium failed. ‘First the transport was delayed because of bombing. Then it could not go ahead because customs documents were not in order. We were hoping for free passage documents. With documents like that, you don't have to queue at customs. The waiting time there can be as long as 12 hours. With a lion it’s hard to stand in line. It is just not good to keep the animal in a van for so long,’ Mr Janssen explained.
According to the Nature Aid Centre, evacuating animals from Ukraine has also become much more complex. ‘At the beginning of the war, we were allowed to remove animals without papers. Now services in Ukraine are operating properly again, even if not always as well as you would like. Due to power cuts, people or services are regularly unreachable.’
Rori has been traumatised by the war
The lion now resides in Kyiv, but originally came from a small zoo in the war zone. ‘Its owner is without trace. People believe he is dead. Rori too was at death’s door. He could no longer stand on his legs. Meanwhile, he is on the mend, but he has suffered trauma. People on the ground in Ukraine have assured us that he is ready for transport,’ Mr Janssen concludes.
The Nature Aid Centre is planning another evacuation in mid-August. If it gets the green light, it will take 2-3 days for the lion to arrive in Belgium. Then Rori will have to be quarantined for another month. When the time comes, a new outdoor enclosure must be ready for Rori. A lot of hard work is currently going into that. When he has fully recovered, a new home will be sought for the lion.