Lioness Aysa is already settling into her new life in the UK after she was rescued from war-ravaged Ukraine.
Just days after arriving at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, nervous and disorientated, the four-year-old has amazed keepers. Her three cubs have been been brought to the Park separately, and keepers aim to reunite them when the animals have become used to their new home.
Colin Northcott, 59, deputy head of carnivores at the park in Doncaster, told the Mirror: “The difference in Aysa is incredible, she’s so confident and calm. She’s talking all the time. She’s so inquisitive. She’s going to love it out in the enclosure. As I talk to you, she’s just seen birds flying across for the first time in nine months and it’s amazing. So wonderful to see her watching the birds. All the smells, she’s sniffing the air now. She’s listening to me talk as well. “
Aysa and her cubs were rescued from Donetsk after Russia invaded Ukraine. They spent nine months in adjoining 15ft by 15ft enclosures at Poznan Zoo in Poland. The zoo, home to some 200 animals from Ukraine, was pushed for space and arrangements were made for Aysa and 17-month-old Emi, Santa and Teddi to find a permanent home in England.
She and her cubs, not yet fully weaned, were separated after stressed Aysa turned on them when they leapt on her after they arrived from Poland. The aim is now to reunite them as a family. Colin said: “Their whole world has changed entirely. So for the first few days we want them to get used to the new sights and sounds. We will then think about getting them back with mum.”
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The pride were confined to a tiny enclosure in Poland after being rescued from Ukraine (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)The first step will be a “mesh-meet” where the cubs will be able to see their mum for the first time in months but with a security mesh to separate them. “It’s a safe way of discovering if it’s going to go wrong or not. We will monitor to see how they react together, who has a confident but calm reaction.”
“If signs are positive, with head rubbing, they will be allowed in to meet mum one by one. That’s the leap of faith, you open the door and see how they get on. It may take days, weeks or months but the result we hope to be a functioning family unit. I get the vibe they could be a really nice family unit, they are going to be mischievous.”
But he said: “Don’t expect miracles. It’s a long, slow and careful process that will be dictated by the lions themselves.” He said they have two other lions to think about, Carla and Crystal, rescued from Romania 14 years ago.
Colin Northcott in Poland before the trip (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)The sisters’ roars erupted as the new pride arrived on Thursday. Carla was pawing at the pen walls to try and get to the new arrivals with Aysa answering. Colin said the sisters would be in a separate part of the outside enclosure and would not mix with the new pride.
“It will be good for them and enrich their lives but it will be a shock at first,” Colin said. He went to Poland in August to get the lions used to him and again this week to help the move. Colin played them recordings of sounds they would hear once at the park in Auckley, Doncaster.
The cubs safe in their new home in Doncaster (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)On Tuesday, the lions were put in separate pens and were sedated by a Polish vet using a dart. They were then carried by stretcher and placed in a crate. The lions were revived by a second injection and checked to see if they were OK before the 48-hour journey to the UK.
As Aysa came round ready to be loaded on a lorry, she looked up to the Polish sky she had not seen before and cried. Zofia Wieczorek, head of lions at state-owned Poznan Zoo, who had cared for the pride since they arrived nine months ago was amazed.
Zofia, 38, said: “She dropped a tear from the eyes. I do this many times but I have never seen this. They haven’t seen the sky for nine months. I will miss them but I am happy for them. I would love to see them enjoying the grass. “
As we watch Aysa come round before they leave, Zofia tries to soothe her, telling her in Polish: “You are going to a better place where there is a heated floor.”
Mirror reporter Lucy with Teddi (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)The lions were around the 200th animals they had taken in from Ukraine’s private zoos including bears, tigers and a blind wolf. As the lions were loaded on to the Crossborder Animal Services lorry, Zofia told us how Aysa had a special place in her heart.
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“She a star. She is lovely and friendly. She makes many sounds when I talk on the phone. I couldn’t talk to anyone because she stayed all the time wanting to talk to me.“
Colin Northcott (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)Zofia said when they arrived in the dark from Ukraine “it was scary for them. I was with them all night. They stayed in one corner and did not move but a couple of days later they were ok. They soon started what lions should be doing, playing. They had a wooden ball and rolled it at each other. They were play-fighting too.”
“Santa is the boss of the cubs, she’s the biggest female and the most cowardly is Teddi. I will miss them. But it’s sad to see any creatures enclosed. They are going to a better place.”
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