Wildlife and Conservation 14: Rescued Lions from War torn Ukraine

Rori, Yuna, Vanda, Amani & Lira; the Big Cat Sanctuary & my experience of Volunteering & subsequently being Ghosted

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Introduction:

I desperately wanted to become a vet when I was a youngster but my examination grades almost but didn’t quite hit the points needed to study Veterinary Science at university.

Instead, I studied Natural Sciences; taught Physics for 28 years and used leadership restructuring and redundancy at 50 as an opportunity to pivot - becoming an apprentice and retraining as a Veterinary Nurse.

Since celebrating my 60th birthday in summer 2024, in addition to writing and painting, I have been volunteering at four wildlife charities in Britain - The Fox Project; Folly Wildlife Hospital; Wildwood Trust Kent and the Big Cat Sanctuary since March 2025.

Perhaps fancifully, I had hoped to further develop my animal husbandry skills with both native wild animal species in Britain and Ireland and wild cats from further afield across the globe, before studying for an Advanced Programme in Veterinary Nursing of Zoo and Exotic Species.

If you are familiar with my earlier articles, you may be aware that Cats - domestic and wild - are my ultimate passion in the animal Kingdom.

If you are interested, you can read more here:

And here:

The Big Cats in Crisis Appeal:

The Big Cats in Crisis appeal focused on raising public awareness and fundraising £500,000 to rescue five African Lions trapped in war-torn conflict zones in Ukraine. Working together with three European partners, The Big Cats Sanctuary saved the five lions from neglect, illegal breeding and private ownership. Collaborating together, the rescue team evacuated the five lions from adverse conditions in live conflict areas in Ukraine and transported them to safety.

Natalia Gozak, IFAW Correspondent, The International Fund for Animal Welfare:

Photo: LinkedIn

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is a global non profit organisation dedicated to improving the welfare of wild and domestic animals. Natalia and the team at IFAW focus on decreasing commercial exploitation, safeguarding wildlife habitats and helping animals in distress.

Natalia Popova, Founder of WAR, Wild Animals Rescue Centre:

Photo: The Guardian

Wild Animals Rescue Centre (WAR) based in Ukraine, provided temporary accommodation and husbandry for the five rescued lions. Under the leadership of Natalia Popova, her intrepid team journeyed into some of the country's most dangerous regions, putting their lives at risk to rescue and protect animals in need.

Geert Wijnands, Founder of CAS, Crossborder Animal Services:

Photo: LinkedIn

Crossborder Animal Services is an international company focusing on the safe transportation of wild animals. Led by Geert Wijnands, the team skilfully managed logistics and personally travelled into the warzone in Ukraine to extricate and transport the lions to safety.

Rescue Timeline:

Between 2023 - 2024, the lions were evacuated to Wild Animals Rescue (WAR) Centre’s repurposed stable block, used to temporarily house animals abandoned in war zones. The lions were given health assessments, time to recover and stabilise under the care of WAR.

August 2024

Rori and Yuna were the first to be transported from Ukraine. Yuna was transferred immediately to the Big Cat Sanctuary, whilst Rori lived temporarily at Natuurhulpcentrum Wildlife Shelter in Belgium.

September 2024

The remaining three lionesses were transported out of Ukraine and given temporary shelter in Belgium. Vanda was cared for at Planckendael Zoo, whilst sisters Amani and Lira were looked after at Pairi Daiza Zoo.

March 2025

Rori, Vanda, Amani and Lira travelled from Belgium, via a Dover-Calais P & O ferry, joining Yuna at the Big Cat Sanctuary in their brand-new residence, the Lion Rescue Centre. The total journey from Ukraine via Belgium to Britain included 6 countries and approximately 2250 kilometres.

Rori:

Photo: author, Rori

Rori stole my heart as soon as I read about his traumatic story on the BBC news. Rescued from war-torn Ukraine, he arrived at The Big Cat Sanctuary in March 2025.

Rori spent his early years restricted to a small concrete cage in a private menagerie in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine. He was probably used for illegal breeding. Rori’s life changed after the Russian invasion, when the menagerie was abandoned. The heavy bombing left him with concussion, shell shock and acute coordination issues.

Liberated on 18 January 2023 by Wild Animals Rescue Centre, it took Rori two weeks to regain the strength to simply stand up.

Video: YouTube, Rori taking his first ever unsteady steps on grass, outside in the fresh air, in his temporary home at Natuurhulpcentrum Wildlife Shelter, Belgium, with Cam Whitnall, Director of The Big Cat Sanctuary

While awaiting his new home, Rori lived at Natuurhulpcentrum Wildlife Shelter in Oudsbergen, Belgium, always accompanied by his favourite toy - a car tyre. The centre specialises in caring for sick, injured and rehomed native and exotic animals.

After a month in quarantine, Rori moved into an outdoor enclosure after a health check to confirm that he was fit for his new surroundings. Over the next 12 months, he steadily grew stronger, relishing supervised outdoor time during warmer weather.

Due to shell shock, Rori experienced severe coordination issues, but his new habitat at the Big Cat Sanctuary supports his recovery. Rori is a captivating, exuberant lion, with bags of personality, who will regularly chat to his keepers, especially before his afternoon meal.

Yuna:

Photo: The Big Cat Sanctuary, Yuna

Yuna was the first of the five rescued Ukrainian lions to arrive at the Big Cat Sanctuary in August 2024.

In February 2023, volunteers found Yuna in Northern Kyiv, living in poor conditions in a private collection, together with a male lion. Restricted to a 12 metres squared cold concrete floor, it is thought that they were being exploited for illegal breeding.

Yuna was initially malnourished and underweight due to her unbalanced, deficient diet. In January 2024, there was a missile explosion and resultant debris landed 300 metres from the Wild Animals Rescue Centre. This Russian missile halted her recovery, causing severe shell shock and acoustic trauma. Yuna experienced a loss of coordination, struggling to stand and walk.

Since August 2024, Yuna has gradually gained both physical strength and confidence.

On my last volunteering session, it was evident that Yuna was coming into season and Rori and Yuna were becoming better acquainted and affectionate on opposite sides of the fence, in between their two enclosures.

Photos: author, Rori & Yuna

I would love you to listen to Rori and Yuna calling to each other. It made my heart do a loop the loop when I recorded this recently:

Audio recording: author, Rori & Yuna, 20/05/25

Vanda:

Photo: Vanda when she was found by Wild Animal Rescue in Ukraine

In February 2024, Vanda was discovered on her own in a small flat, with no access to the outside, in south-eastern Ukraine, near the frontline in the Aporizhzhia region. Vanda was originally kept as a family pet but was subsequently surrendered when she became too difficult to manage.

She was supported and cared for by the military until Wild Animals Rescue Centre in Kiyv were able to help. Vanda experienced malnutrition, a lack of sunlight and inadequate husbandry, which consequently resulted in parasites, rickets and stunted growth. At eight months old, she was the size of a four month old cub.

When rescued, Vanda received critical veterinary care and an appropriate diet, helping her to regain strength. She then found temporary secour at Planckendael Zoo in Belgium, where she enchanted keepers with her playful personality and a curious temperament.

In March 2025 Vanda arrived at The Big Cat Sanctuary, her forever home in the Lion Rescue Centre. She will only engage with enrichment after initially checking that it poses no danger.

Photo: The Big Cat Sanctuary, Vanda, note the small wounds under both eyes

When she first arrived at the Big Cat Sanctuary, Vanda initially developed skin irritations under both eyes - where she had been repeatedly pawing her face. This behaviour was triggered by stress. A new habitat with unfamiliar smells and sounds is challenging for any cat - domestic or wild. She is now settling in well.

Amani and Lira:

Photo: The Big Cat Sanctuary, Amani and Lira at their temporary home in Belgium, 2025

In January 2024, sisters Amani and Lira were emancipated from a private collection in Ukraine. Probably born from an illegal breeding pair, the two sisters lived with their parents in a confined 300 metre squared enclosure, before being discovered by Wild Animals Rescue Centre.

It is suspected that Amani and Lira were bred for social media exploitation - photo/selfie opportunities and the cub petting industry.

Both cubs presented as fit and healthy, showing no immediate signs of a need for veterinary treatment.

On route to the Big Cat Sanctuary, Amani and Lira were temporarily housed at Pairi Daiza Zoo in Belgium, where their strong sororal bond was observed by keepers.

Amani is confident and curious, whilst Lira is shy and cautious, waiting for her sister's lead and gaining confidence from Amani's presence.

Photo: author, Lira

The playful pair love tearing trees apart and then carrying them back to bed as sleeping companions.

They arrived at the Big Cat Sanctuary in March 2025, when I started volunteering with the Wild Cats.

Reflections:

It has been a wonderful opportunity; the achievement of a lifetime dream and an absolute privilege to work with the Wild Cats at The Big Cat Sanctuary.

It is a very competitive process to even get accepted on a trial basis as a volunteer, working with the Big Cats and their keepers at The Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden, Kent. Every volunteer has to go through a probationary period.

The team of keepers and interns were very welcoming; supportive and fun to work with. I learnt much about each wild cat and about husbandry of wild cats in general. Simon, Helen, Maddy, Sophie, Dawn, Ali, Izzy, Chris, Emily, Hayley and Nathan were very generous and patient in sharing their wealth of knowledge and skills of wild cats. And I thank them.

Photo: The Big Cat Sanctuary

As with veterinary nursing of companion animals and my previous role as a volunteer with native British wild animal species at Wildwood Trust Kent, much of animal husbandry focusses on the Animal Welfare Act (2006) and the legal responsibility to meet the five basic welfare needs of animals. These are:

• a proper diet

• somewhere suitable to live

• a need to be housed with or apart from other animals

• being allowed to express normal behaviour

• protection from and treatment of illness and injury.

Much of the necessary husbandry involves physically demanding work - whether taking delivery, defrosting, chopping up and weighing out horse or deer carcasses; deyolking frozen chicks; scrubbing down and disinfecting work surfaces and floors; transporting hay and straw; mucking out bedding; poo-picking; cleaning and replenishing water bowls; removing bird poo from signs and fencing; checking the security of a wild cat’s habitat; strimming or cutting grass; weeding or pruning back bushes, shrubs and trees.

I am confident that during my probationary period, I worked at least as hard as any of the keepers or interns. Glamorous this work ain’t.

But ….oooh, deep sigh, if you love wild cats as much as I do, or as passionately as any of the keepers or interns at the Big Cat Sanctuary do, then what’s not to love?

What’s not to love if you are weeding nettles (multiple stings up your arms) or loading pruned, cut thorny hawthorn branches into a Ford pick up truck (your arms scratched and bloody) when you are watching a majestic lion, leopard or tiger watching you?

Photo: author, thorny but beautiful Hawthorn

You simply cannot put a price on the pleasure and the privilege of working with these wild cats. It literally takes my breath away. Every. Single. Time.

Photo: author, Luca, Amur Tiger

Photo: author, Luka, Amur Leopard

Special words of praise and admiration must go to the interns Helen, Ali, Hayley and Amber, working at The Big Cat Sanctuary, Smarden, Kent. Most of them have spent considerable time and finance, with a student loan to boot, studying for a qualification in wildlife, conservation or zoology.

And yet, it is standard practice for a newly qualified keeper to complete at least one 6 month or 1 year unpaid internship to get their foot in the door and the fleeting, merest chance of a fixed term temporary contract, never mind a full-time permanent position as a keeper. Interns do not get paid the minimum wage for their worthy work. Instead, they are compelled to go through a long-winded process, with no guarantee of qualifying for government funded universal credit. It’s a very tough gig.

Photos: The Big Cat Sanctuary

On Sunday 01/06/25, The Big Cat Sanctuary celebrated their 25 year anniversary with family, friends and champagne; unveiling a stunning statue of Peter Sampson and Rocky the tiger and launching Peter's book “Nothing’s Impossible”, the inspiring story behind it all.

The Big Cat Sanctuary is indeed a successful, commendable story of conservation, rescue, rehabilitation and raising the next generation of endangered wild cats. There will be more good news to share about The Big Cat Sanctuary and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN ) very soon, following a recent meeting in Zurich between the IUCN and Cameron Whitnall (Cam, grandson of founder Peter Sampson; Lead for The Big Cats in Crisis Appeal and now Director of The Big Cat Sanctuary).

I understand the important need for monies in to be greater than monies out, with the profits ring fenced to fund the very admirable rescue and conservation work being undertaken at The Big Cat Sanctuary charity.

But perhaps less champagne and a closer focus on paying interns a minimum wage for the very laudable, essential work that they do caring and providing husbandry for the wild cats might be beneficial.

So what about my own probationary period at The Big Cat Sanctuary? I had hoped to share with you at the end of this article that I had successfully completed my probationary period.

I became suspicious as I approached Deputy Head Keeper, Ricky Reino, at the end of my shift. I have a finely tuned sense of intuition and character. Ricky avoided eye contact with me when I asked about the completion of my probationary period. There was something not quite right about his body language. He told me “I’m sure everything is fine. I just need to speak to the keepers and I’ll get back to you. Plan to be here next week and can you remop that floor on the way out”….

I emailed the next day to say thank you for the opportunity and could I please have confirmation of whether or not I had successfully completed my probationary period. There was no reply. I telephoned the day after that and the next four consecutive days - only for a receptionist to tell me each time that my message had been passed on.

Reader - I was ghosted! This has never happened to me before - either personally or professionally.

Reflections - I know I worked effectively, efficiently and to a high standard. I am no slacker, never have been. I have a strong work ethic. I was curious, enthusiastic, chatty; I demonstrated initiative and I strived to be a team member.

But - I did have to reschedule two volunteering sessions because my elderly mother was critically ill in hospital; a Do Not Resuscitate order had been implemented by our mother’s heart specialist unbeknown to our family and I had to fly home to Dublin at very short notice. As of this morning, I have taken twenty flights since the middle of February.

In addition, on my last volunteering day, it was hot, a blue sky overhead and piercing sunshine with not a cloud in sight. Single - handedly loading up two pick up trucks piled high with pruned, thorny hawthorn left me in a hot, sticky post menopausal Celtic sweat, with blood dripping down one arm. I may have arrived to work at 8am looking presentable but by lunchtime I was not. More than likely, at this stage, I was probably modelling a Banshee of Inisherin look, certainly not a bronzed, blonde catwalk model.

Photo: The Banshees of Inisherin, Did you know the Banshee’s character Mrs McCormick and I share the same surname?

Perhaps the combination of my unavoidable rescheduling of two volunteering sessions and my unglamorous hot, sweaty head of thinning, greying hair cost me the opportunity to work with these magnificent wild cats for a longer period of time?

I will never know though - because I was ghosted and did not receive any feedback from Ricky Reino and the Keeper team.

What I do know though is that you should treat your staff - whether paid, unpaid, full-time, part-time, permanent, temporary, intern or volunteer with respect:

A minimum wage for Interns and feedback to all volunteers would be good starting points.

I do realise that by writing this here on Substack and then sharing it on LinkedIn and Facebook as I intend to do, that I have probably destroyed any future chance of progressing further in the Wildlife and Conservation sector.

But do you know what? That’s okay with me. Free-Styling @60, I am just “too long in the tooth” to shut up and say nothing.

Image:

I have worked continually from the age of 18, for 43 years, for many bosses - some great leaders but a select few who were downright rude, narcissistic and bullying. Now, I just say it as I find it.

Image: Tour de France

In my next article, I travel to Boulogne-sur-Mer, France to write about its maritime history, architecture, culture and food. This year’s Tour de France Stage Two will finish here on Sunday 6th July. I do hope that you will join me.

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