Two white lionesses have been given a new home in Kent

KentOnline / KMTV

Meet Izulu and Zuri, the half-sisters, who are used to living in the busy environment of a zoo have been given a new enclosure at the Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden.

Transcript

00:00What do you think retirement in the Kent countryside looks like for a lion?

00:04Well, it's something like this. It might not be what you imagine your golden years to look like,

00:09but for half-sisters Zuri and Izulu, they've embarked on the 60-mile journey from Hertfordshire

00:14Zoo to the Big Cat Sanctuary in Smardon, where their usual days of posing and putting on a smile

00:20for zoo crowds has been replaced by a life of tranquillity and enrichment. The sanctuary,

00:26which is home to around 40 big cats, isn't open to the public in the same way as a zoo. Guests

00:31are only given private tours designed to minimise the day-to-day impact on their habitats.

00:37It's going to be a lot quieter because we're not open to the general public.

00:41They're still going to be used for education and fundraising and just being wowed at. It's all

00:46very new for them. It's a complete change of environment, obviously new faces that are

00:49looking after them now. So they're sticking together like glue, finding reassurance from

00:54each other and just taking it all in. Hopefully at some point they'll get to work out that when

00:59we bring our guests around on their tours, those guests usually bring nice things like chicken

01:03drumsticks, so I'm sure they'll be engaged with our experiences pretty soon. The hope is to

01:08eventually integrate them with their male African lion neighbour, Kasanga. He's a really gentle,

01:14laid-back male, similar age. He has lived with females before, so we're just going to see how

01:20they interact next to each other with a dividing fence line and then in time when we see positive

01:25behaviours, look to mix them as a little mini pride for companionship. The park says that

01:30despite them staying close to one another in the first few days for comfort, they're already showing

01:34signs of making themselves at home, climbing onto their platforms and taking some time to enjoy the

01:40limited winter sun. This year the Big Cats Hanctery is celebrating its 25th year. Project

01:46lead Cam Whitnell's family have been rehoming and protecting cat species for generations,

01:50all starting with his grandfather. He says it feels as though the cats at times have even become

01:56part of the family. It's always exciting to welcome new cats, especially Zuri and Azulu. Obviously

02:01I've grown up with them at the zoo, so you know there's no better place like the Big Cat Sanctuary

02:06for them to see out their final days and they're settling in well. It's going to take a little bit

02:10of time for them to adjust and get used to their surroundings, but when they do they'll flourish.

02:15The pair's retirement comes after one of the animal park's biggest projects to date,

02:19bringing four lions from war-torn Ukraine to live out their lives in a new home here in Kent,

02:24with a specially made enclosure hoping to be opened later this year.

02:28They say in retirement you never get a day off and that couldn't be more true for the pair that

02:32have moved in here this week. They've been given a brand new enclosure, a brand new home

02:36to enjoy and explore. For the rest of what we could say is a new set of nine lives each.

02:41Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.

02:44you

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