Ukrainian lions and tigers arrived in Hoenderdaell: “Hope they recover”

The lions are father (3.5 years) and son (1.5 years). The tigress is 5 years old and a young tiger is 6 months. The animals come from near Kharkov. “There were all emergency services driving, a lot of ambulances,” says Piet Piepers, who was with them to pick up the animals. “Also these kinds of cars full of cats and dogs, and people. Unbelievable all of them. You feel the tension at the border.”

Getting the animals out of the land wasn’t easyKruijff previously told NH Radio: “There is always bombing, so the keepers no longer dared to feed the animals. But of course that has to happen. Two people have already been shot during transport to the border.”

Tigress

Kruijff says that the condition in which the animals arrived is worrying. “Rest, cleanliness and regularity are now the most important for the animals,” he says. “The tigress is very afraid of men. She is severely traumatized.”

Text continues under the photo

The tigress also eats very badly. “She will soon be fed very small pieces of chicken to get her stomach going again,” explains Kruijff. “It’s a lot of love, attention and hope that they will recover.” He wonders if the tigress will make it. “From what I’ve heard and seen so far, I don’t know if she’ll make it to the end of the week, but we’ll do our best.”

Quarantine

Before the animals can go to the larger enclosures of Landgoed Hoenderdaell, they must first be quarantined. “We all know how dangerous animal diseases can be,” says Kruijff. “We have been very strict about it for years. All animals that come here are quarantined for a month. Monkeys even three months to exclude diseases from entering the park.”

The director says that this is very important, especially with these types of animals, whose origin is a bit unclear. “I actually wish them a place in Africa, nice on the savannah, but now they are receiving intensive care and in a month they will go to the main building.”