Two lions, Nikola and Vasylyna, were discovered malnourished and wandering the streets as cubs in Montenegro and Ukraine, respectively.
Nikola was found in Budva, Montenegro, in February 2022, while Vasylyna was spotted in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine in August 2022. Both lions were privately owned, but no information about their owners was available. Born in 2021, they were in dire need of veterinary care due to their poor condition.
Fortunately, on April 26, the global animal welfare organization Four Paws relocated them from the Netherlands, where they had been since 2022, to the Lionsrock Sanctuary in South Africa.
The transfer was facilitated with the assistance of local organizations and authorities, and both lions received care and rehabilitation at the Felida Big Cat Sanctuary in the Netherlands before their journey to South Africa. This relocation provided them with a chance to thrive in a safe and suitable environment.