Born Free complete gargantuan 8,000 mile leopard rescue and relocation

Friday 3 May marked International Leopard Day. So coinciding with this day of celebration and awareness for the iconic spotted big cat, a global collaboration of organisations has announced the final stages of a enormous operation to rescue two leopards from a life of abhorrent animal rights abuse and trafficking.

On Wednesday, the Born Free Foundation and its international partners succeeded in the tremendous 8,000 mile translocation of two of leopards to their ancestral home in South Africa. There, the pair began their new lives at Born Free’s Big Cat Sanctuary at Shamwari Private Game Reserve.

Born Free’s Leopard rescue

Illegal wildlife traders trafficked mother and daughter Alda and Ginny to a unlawful breeding facility in Śrem near Poznań, Poland. The two are believed to be 14 and eight years old respectively. and traders confined the pair there in dirty, cramped conditions:

That is, until 2017, when authorities raided the animal farm and shut down the facilities.

A team of experts from Belgian wildlife rescue centre, Natuurhulpcentrum (NHC), travelled to collect Alda and Ginny. Alarmingly, they found them with filthy coats and showing signs of malnourishment. Since 2017, the dedicated staff at NHC have cared for the mother and daughter. They have been giving them the specialist care they’ve needed to begin recovering from their ordeal.

An epic journey

Initially intended as a temporary home, NHC has kept Alda and Ginny under their care ever since. During this time, NHC, Born Free and its partners have been working for years to secure all the correct documentation and certificates to rehome them:

Significantly, that re-homing became a reality this week. Alda and Ginny travelled more than 8,000 miles by road and air on international and domestic flights. Eventually, they reached their destination at Born Free’s Big Cat Sanctuary at Shamwari on South Africa’s Eastern Cape.

After their epic journey, on Wednesday the leopards took tentative steps out of their crates into their 2.5 acre bush enclosure. The two began by sniffing the South African soil beneath their paws. Then, they carefully examined their new surroundings:

Within half an hour, the mother and daughter had found each other, and continued enjoying the privacy of the thickets and dense bush:

As a result, Born Free Manager at Shamwari Private Game Reserve Catherine Gillson said:

The dramatic change that Ginny and Alda are about to experience in their lives is going to be a privilege to see. The horrendous conditions that they experienced whilst living in their birthplace of Poland in an illegal breeding centre is going to be a stark contrast to the natural thick vegetation in their enclosures surrounded by their indigenous ancestors on Shamwari Private Game Reserve.

While sadly they can never fully be released to the wild, we hope they will quickly adapt to new environment where they will have natural enrichment, be fed the correct diet and live out their lives in the respectful care of our dedicated Born Free Animal Care Team.

A success for biodiversity and animal rights

The relocation followed Born Free’s similar successful operation in March to rehome two lions rescued from an abusive animal farm in Ukraine.

Notably, Born Free has completed the two momentous relocations in its auspicious 40 year anniversary.

Given this, Born Free’s Head of Policy Dr Mark Jones said:

While the purpose for which these poor leopards and so many other wild animals were illegally bred and kept in the Polish facility isn’t entirely clear, it’s highly likely that, if they hadn’t been rescued, their future would have been very bleak indeed.

The trade in wild animals, both legal and illegal, is a major cause of biodiversity loss, and one of the principal risk factors for the emergence of future pandemics, as well as being devastating for the individual welfare of countless wild animals.

Born Free works tirelessly to end the illegal trade in wildlife, and to ensure any legal trade is robustly regulated to protect the welfare of affected animals and eliminate any associated risks to wildlife conservation and animal or human health.

We were instrumental in the development and recent revision of the European Commission’s Action Plan Against Wildlife Trafficking and are promoting the need for an international agreement to combat the illicit trade in wildlife, always with the aim of keeping wildlife in the wild, where it belongs.

Feature image and in-text images via Born Free Foundation