The circus is a great place to visit for humans, but for the animals that are forced to work for days on end in cages it’s not nearly as fun.
So when this rescued circus lion finally got his paws on some real grass for the first time, he was obviously super excited! Check out this big cat acting like a little kitty below.
Will the Lion was forced to perform with a traveling circus for 13 years until he was rescued and brought to the Rancho dos Gnomos Sanctuary in Brazil. He had never felt grass on his paws for his entire life until this one perfect moment.
He was stuck in a cage for all of those 13 years so the second he gets some freedom he runs to the grass and starts stretching, playing around, doing the normal “lion” things that he never got to.
Apparently lions in captivity live up to 24 years, while animals in the wild only live an average of 13 years. This footage was only released after Will’s death – he lived for 5 more years in the sanctuary.
“He had five years of tranquillity before he died. Here he had the opportunity to interact with other lions. He loved to lie in grass and look at the sky,” sanctuary founder Marcos Pompeo said in an interview with Dodo. “He was a very happy lion.”
This scene was filmed all the way back in 2006 but was only just released to the public recently – and now we get to share it with you!
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https://youtu.be/J3L8mNwIpVA
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