WATCH: Lion saved from captivity & nursed to health by Russian vets flown to Tanzania to start new life on Mount Kilimanjaro

A lion named Simba saved by animal-rights activists from captivity in Russia’s Dagestan region has been flown to Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro, after vets in the city of Chelyabinsk spent over a year nursing him back to health.

Simba was flown to Africa alongside a leopard called Eva, who was saved at just three days old and had therefore spent almost her entire life in Russia’s Ural region. Both of the big cats had been looked after by Save Me, a shelter in Chelyabinsk’s suburbs.

After Tuesday’s journey on a specially converted private Boeing 737-500 jet, both animals were taken to the Kilimanjaro Animal C.R.E.W. (aka the Center for Rescue, Education and Wildlife), located in the town of Moshi. The center looks after animals that have been orphaned, injured, or mistreated, especially if they are deemed unable to survive alone in the wild.

Simba was rescued in March 2020, having been used as a prop for photographers on a beach and been driven to exhaustion by his owner. When he was taken to Chelyabinsk, he weighed just 50kg (110lb) and couldn’t walk.

“I clearly remember all those scary pictures where his legs were broken, and he was covered in parasites,” said volunteer David Dallakyan. “The doctor removed about 5 or 6kg [12 or 13lb] of stones from his stomach or pancreas. He was living in hell.”

Both Simba and Eva were due to fly to Tanzania in 2020, but their journey had to be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. According to Karen Dallakyan, the head of Save Me, the animals were injected with a mild tranquilizer before the flight and traveled along with a cargo of Russian meat to aid their adaptation to their new lifestyle.

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In Tanzania, Simba will live in a 6,000sq m (65,000sq ft) enclosure equipped with a swimming pool and a platform for activities and climbing. Eva’s aviary is somewhat smaller, at 2,500sq m (27sq ft), but will also include a pond and platform.

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