Lion Country

Lion Country is home to the Pride of Yorkshire: three specially-designed African Lion reserves spanning the large seven-acre habitat.

Take a stroll around Lion Country for unrivalled views of the home of our rescued African Lions. Enjoy 360 degree views in all directions from the spectacular waterfall bridge!

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.

Lion Rescue 2

In February of 2022, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began.
As people fled the war-torn areas, heavily pregnant Mum, Aysa was found abandoned in a private Zoo in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, right in the centre of the conflict. After moving to Kyiv, Aysa gave birth to 3 adorable cubs before moving to a temporary home at Poznan Zoo in Poland.

7 months of paperwork and red tape later, Mum, Aysa and her three cubs Teddi, Emi and Santa finally continued on their 2,000-mile journey to Yorkshire.

In May of 2024, the quarantine and rehabilitation was complete and the lions could finally explore their new home in ion Country!

What is there to explore?

Animals

Experiences

Expert talks

Lioness In The Wild 1 Dr Ywp

Lion Tales Ranger Talk

  • 1:45 PM
  • Lion Country
  • Lions

Learn all about the Prides of Yorkshire at this interesting and fun Lion Ranger talk.

Subscribe

Get the latest news & offers from Yorkshire Wildlife Park!

See our privacy policy here