They are named the #GoldenPride – ten lions who found a new home at LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary in South Africa.

The group consists of three males called Kali, Rudo and Sandile and seven females called Kimi, Dandi, Sarafina, Sihle, Zuri, Zendaya and Khaya.

After a lengthy process FOUR PAWS took over the #GoldenPride from provincial authorities in the Gauteng province in South Africa. This happened after a compliance notice was issued to the local breeding facility where the ten lions were kept.

The notice enabled FOUR PAWS to move the lions to LIONSROCK. Should this solution not have been found, the authorities would have had to euthanize the animals.

FOUR PAWS was previously requested by the authorities to assess the lions, as they found that the breeding facility did not comply with fencing and various other permit requirements and continued to breed with the lions despite warnings to the contrary. 

The facility was given various chances to comply with permit regulations by authorities, but to no avail. Objections by the owners of the lions to the notice were made but these were overturned and the final decision to remove the animals and issue no more permits for the keeping of Big Cats was made.

Immediate contraceptive measures were taken on all the female lions. Hormone implants were administered during anesthesia before the animals were loaded for transfer to ensure no further chance of breeding, which is against the values of a True Sanctuary.

On 9 November 2022 FOUR PAWS moved the ten lions to their new home in the Free State province, where they can live together as the biggest pride in the True Sanctuary.