Lion Rescue

In 2009 in Romania, three prides of African Lions were living in filthy tiny concrete pens, fed on a meagre diet of scraps and faced an uncertain future. The new director, Diaina Ghender, realised that the zoo could not care for them and contacted YWP to see if we could help to re-home the lions.

At the time, YWP was a new park and did not have the funds to rehouse and care for the Lions. However, a public campaign was launched that raised £150,000 towards helping bring the Lions to their new home in Yorkshire. A team of big cat experts from zoos around the UK travelled to Romania to help move the 13 lions. They arrived in February 2010 when Jet2.com donated the use of an aeroplane to transport the prides to Doncaster Airport.