Tigers Max, Simba and Kimba go home for Thanksgiving!
Animal Stories from All-Creatures.org

FROM ADI Animal Defenders International
November 2019

Removed from a circus in June 2018, after months of bureaucratic paperwork, for the first time they have walked on grass, and enjoyed environmental enrichment including their very own pools!

Max, Simba, and Kimba were rescued by Animal Defenders International during Operation Liberty, a mission to help the authorities enforce a ban on the use of animals in circuses in Guatemala.

The three adult male tigers were among a group of 2 lions and 6 other tigers removed from a circus in June 2018. The circus had agreed to voluntarily surrender the animals but in a tense, daylong operation the ADI rescue team endured verbal abuse, and had to halt the operation temporarily when one of the circus workers hit Kimba, leaving him with minor injuries and distressed.

The circus refused to hand over another 6 tigers with Max, Simba, Kimba and the other animals. ADI refused to give up on them and rescued them in November 2018 from a junkyard where they had been living.

Since their rescue, Max, Simba, and Kimba and 18 other ex-circus big cats have been cared for the ADI Temporary Rescue Center in Guatemala, Big Cat Rescue kindly providing financial support for their animals. For the first time they have walked on grass, and enjoyed environmental enrichment including their very own pools!

Their travel permits now granted, Max, Simba, and Kimba are ready to go to their forever home at Big Cat Rescue.

Please donate today to help us take the remaining lions and tigers to their forever home.

Our thanks to the Guatemalan government for its commitment to enforcing the law and eliminating the use of animals in circuses; to departments CONAP and the animal welfare division (UBA), animal protection group ARCAS, and the Guatemalan army for their support and assistance; and Priority Worldwide Services for helping to make the tigers’ relocation possible.

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