Two leopards rescued from an illegal breeding facility in Poland have travelled almost 13,000 kilometres and safely homed in the Eastern Cape, South Africa .
The mother and daughter, Alda and Ginny, believed to be around 14 and eight-years-old, have been re-homed at the Big Cat Sanctuary at the Shamwari Private Game Reserve.
According to Born Free, an international wildlife charity rescuing and protecting wild animals from exploitation, and conserving threatened species and their natural habitats, the leopards faced a deeply uncertain future as victims of the illegal trade in and trafficking of wild animals.
Until 2017, they were being kept, along with many other animals, in terrible conditions at an unlawful breeding facility in Srem near Poznan, Poland. When police and authorities raided the private farm that year, they found creatures crammed in dirty, inadequate conditions, some living in their own excrement and others without access to the outdoors.
The organisation said Alda and Ginny were confined to a tiny, dark, barren cell with very little outside space. The pairs potential fate will never be fully known. Its possible they could have been sold into a life of exploitation in a circus, into captivity in an unaccredited zoo, or even as body parts, fuelling the vile international trade in big cat skins and bones, used by some for traditional medicine. All extremely distressing outcomes for wild animals that are caught up in the cruel and illegal wildlife trade.
The facility in Srem was shut down by the Polish authorities and the leopards, along with other animals, were confiscated.
It took years of legal issues and complex paperwork to re-home the mother and daughter.
Born Frees head of Policy, Dr Mark Jones said the motive for holding the leopards remains unknown.
The leopards were released last week into their new home. Picture: Born FreeWhile the purpose for which these poor leopards and so many other wild animals were illegally bred and kept in the Polish facility isnt entirely clear, its highly likely that, if they hadnt been rescued, their future would have been very bleak indeed.
The trade in wild animals, both legal and illegal, is a major cause of biodiversity loss, and one of the principal risk factors for the emergence of future pandemics, as well as being devastating for the individual welfare of countless wild animals.
Born Free works tirelessly to end the illegal trade in wildlife, and to ensure any legal trade is robustly regulated to protect the welfare of affected animals and eliminate any associated risks to wildlife conservation and animal or human health.
We were instrumental in the development and recent revision of the European Commissions Action Plan Against Wildlife Trafficking and are promoting the need for an international agreement to combat the illicit trade in wildlife, always intending to keep wildlife in the wild, where it belongs, Jones said.
The leopards were released last week into their new home. Picture: Born FreeA team of experts from the Natuurhulpcentrum (NHC), a wildlife rescue centre in Belgium travelled to collect the animals and found them with filthy coats and signs of malnourishment.
Since 2017, the dedicated staff at NHC have cared for the mother and daughter, giving them the specialist care they needed to begin recovering from their ordeal.
The NHC was only ever meant to be a temporary home for the pair. At the time of confiscation, the Polish authorities permitted the leopards to be taken to Belgium, but it took a number of years, and hundreds of hours of hard work, to secure all the correct documentation and certificates so that plans could finally be put in place for a permanent home for the leopards.
Founder of NHC, Sil Janssen said they rescued the leopards and were happy to be working with Born Free.
The animals were confiscated because they were poorly cared for and kept in appalling conditions. The animals were kept in concrete cages that were far too small, without any distractions. We are very happy we can work with Born Free again to give these animals a very good permanent home. We are sure that our leopards will do very well now in the care of Born Free at Shamwari, Janssen said.
Last week, Alda and Ginny travelled almost 13,000 km by road and air on international and domestic flights to reach their destination.
Knowing the dire conditions Alda and Ginny were confiscated from, these two victims of the illegal wildlife trade truly deserve a tranquil, enriched life at Born Frees Big Cat Sanctuary at Shamwari. Having waited so long to be legally allowed to leave Belgium, and what was only ever intended to be the temporary care of the wonderful NHC team, we are all overjoyed to see them finally being able to explore the new environment of their lifetime home in South Africa.
Born Free has spent four decades tirelessly wor
