The animal tourism industry takes many different forms. One of these is photo opportunities, which is how Masrya, a lioness discovered in Egypt, ended up spending most of her time in a small cage set on a busy street. She was declawed to be less dangerous, but her increasing size and strength meant she had to be locked in a space that gave her only enough room to sit, stand, and watch the world go by.
In 2013, a German woman happened across Masrya, and made it her mission to rescue the big cat. The Spots & Stripes Conservation group, based out of the U.K., funded the rescue operation, and brought the tiger to the Stichting Leeuw Lion Foundation in the Netherlands.
The rescue workers said that Masrya had been kept in clean, if not ideal, circumstances. While she’d been deprived of much activity, she had very little aggression or aversion to humans, which made working with her easier.
At the sanctuary, Masrya was housed next to four month old lion cub, Nero, who had been rescued from a circus. It didn’t take long for the two to bond, a cub and its surrogate mom. After some time, the sanctuary decided it was time for Masrya to return to Africa.
Instead of breaking the pair apart, Stitching Leeuw found a home at the Emoya Big Cat Sanctuary in South Africa that would welcome them both with open arms. They have a safe space to live the rest of their lives together.
Learn more about Marya and Nero in the video below! What did you think? Leave us a comment, we’d love to hear from you!
SHARE this amazing video with your friends and family on Facebook. This story is just too amazing to keep to yourself. Share it!