Lion cub escapes conflict in Lebanon and settles in South Africa

BEIRUT — When Sarah first arrived at her rescuers’ home, she was sick, tired, covered in ringworm and signs of abuse all over her furry little body.

After spending two months in a small Beirut apartment with an animal rights group, the four-month-old lion cub arrived last week at a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa after a long journey by yacht and planes, escaping Israeli airstrikes and abusive owners.

Sarah became the fifth lion cub to be evacuated from Lebanon by local rescue group Animals of Lebanon since Hezbollah and Israel began exchanging fire the day after the Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7 that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip last year.

AnimalsLiban first discovered Sarah on social media in July. Its owner, a Lebanese man from the ancient city of Baalbek, posted bombastic videos on TikTok and Instagram of himself parading with the little lion cub.

According to Lebanese law, it is prohibited to own wild and exotic animals.

The lion cub “was really just used for show,” said Jason Mayer, executive director of the Animals League.

The group finally took her back in mid-September after filing a case with the police and the judiciary, who questioned her owner and forced him to hand over the cat.

Soon after, Israel launched an offensive against the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah – after nearly a year of conflict – and Baalbek was heavily bombed.

Mier and his team were able to pluck Sarah from Baalbek weeks before Israel began an aerial bombing campaign against the ancient city, and move her to an apartment in Beirut’s busy Hamra commercial district.

She was due to fly to South Africa in October, but international airlines stopped flying to Lebanon as Israeli planes and drones struck targets near the country’s only airport.

Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border into Israel in support of its ally Hamas on October 8, 2023, the day after Palestinian militants staged a deadly surprise invasion of southern Israel. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes. Beginning in mid-September, Israel began intensive aerial bombardment of most of Lebanon, followed by a ground invasion.

Before the conflict, Animals of Lebanon was active in stopping the animal and exotic pet trade, rescuing more than two dozen big cats from confinement in luxury homes and sending them to wildlife sanctuaries.

Since the start of the war, AnimalsLiban has also been rescuing pets that were trapped in damaged apartments as hundreds of thousands of Lebanese fled bombings – almost 1,000 in the last month alone.

“Many of them are still in our care because the owners of these animals are still forced to leave their homes,” Mier said. “So we can’t expect a person to take that animal back, even though he might be living on the street or in a school.”

Before the conflict escalated, the human rights group was able to move more freely around the country as fighting largely continued in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel. But the situation has become more complex as airstrikes have become more frequent and spread to wider areas of the country.

Unaware of the war around her, Sarah flourished. She was given a plate of raw meat daily and grew to 88 pounds. Every morning she hugged Mayer’s wife Maggie, also an animal rights activist.

But activists face a major obstacle: How can they get her out of Lebanon?

Animals of Lebanon collected donations from supporters and advocacy groups around the world to put Sarah on a small yacht and take her to Cyprus. From there she flew to the United Arab Emirates before her long journey ended in Cape Town.

Mayer expects Sarah will be kept in custody for observation and disease control, but will soon become part of a community of other lions.