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A PRIDE of 13 neglected lions rescued by kind-hearted News of the World readers, who raised an amazing 12,000 in donations, will be transported by Jet2.com who have pledged to fly them from a Romania zoo to Yorkshire free of charge this February as part of, what is planned to be, the biggest ever big cat rescue to date
Jet2.com has joined forces with Yorkshire Wildlife Park, who is leading the mission, to charter a one-off flight to rescue a pride of 13 lions which are being held in cramped conditions, facing an uncertain future at Oradea Zoo, Romania. Under the supervision of leading wildlife veterinarians, the big cats, which range in age from one to 27 years old, will be flown to Doncaster Robin Hood Airport and re-housed at a specially built 10-acre enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Doncaster
Philip Meeson, Boss of Jet2.com said, “When we heard about the plight of the lions at the Romanian zoo, we immediately offered to provide a Jet2.com charter aircraft and the support of our highly trained staff free of charge to transport the big cats to their new home near Doncaster this February.”
“As Yorkshire’s leading leisure airline, it’s a great honour to be involved in what is looking to be one of the biggest ever cat rescues. We are working closely with the wildlife park to ensure the campaign runs as smoothly as possible so that these majestic animals will soon, quite literally, be the pride of Yorkshire.”
Cheryl Williams, Director of Yorkshire Wildlife Park said, “This is a huge project for the Park and we are extremely grateful to Jet2.com for chartering a flight specifically for these magnificent creatures that desperately need our help. “Without Jet2.com’s generosity, we would now be facing a long and arduous journey by road which would have been particularly treacherous with temperatures now dropping to minus 20 throughout central Europe. We just can’t thank them enough.”
John Minion, Animal Director at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, commented on his visit to Oradea Zoo, “The zoo is in a very poor state of repair, with lack of money for even food for the animals. The Romanian zoo now must now abide to European legislation; therefore these issues are now being addressed, which is why we have planned this mission.”
“Despite the dreadful living conditions, their spirit was still very evident as seen by one of the lionesses who came over to greet us, purring like a family cat. Some of them had health problems that veterinary care, good diet, exercise and appropriate housing will help greatly.” Yorkshire Wildlife Park who has raised over £120,000 for the welfare mission, but is still in need of another £30,000 to pay for veterinary care, building a lion house, transportation costs and creating the reserve for the big cats.
Further donations can be made at www.lionrescue.co.uk
For more information visit www.jet2.com or to make a donation to the lion rescue mission, visit http://www.lionrescue.co.uk/
