In January 2022 FOUR PAWS was contacted by the local authorities of Montenegro about a illegally kept lion cub that had escaped from private keeping and was roaming the streets near Budva on the Adriatic coast. After 10 days the starved and exhausted lion cub, who got the name Nikola, was rescued and brought to a temporary safe place. 

After Nikola was rescued, a team of dedicated volunteers took care of the young lion in a safe location. The FOUR PAWS team visited Nikola multiple times for vet checks, health and enrichment advice. There are no zoos or sanctuaries in Montenegro that could house a young lion, so it was important to move him to a long-term and species-appropriated home at FELIDA Big Cat Sanctuary. 

Together with the local authorities FOUR PAWS worked hard on the transfer of the lion cub to FELIDA. To prepare him for the journey, we performed ‘crate training’ on site. We teach him with ‘positive reinforcement’ training to walk into the transport crate all by himself. This way he does not need anesthesia and learns that the crate is not scary. On the 20th June 2022 all of the necessary paperwork was finally ready and Nikola was on its way to his new home. The FOUR PAWS team accompanying the young lion traveled through six country borders and arrived 2.000 kilometers later at FELIDA. 

The first few days after his arrival were stressful for Nikola. The young lion had never been in contact with other lions or people and was quickly overwhelmed by all the new sounds. With the help of the animal caretakers, Nikola is now feeling completely at home at FELIDA. He explores everything, eats well, is curious towards our animal caretakers and above all he loves to play with his ball made out of old fire hoses. We are so happy to see the young lion flourish after the chaotic first months of his life. 

The change of enclosure is an environmental type of enrichment and helps stimulate the animals to play and explore their environment and new objects. That is why we also moved our young lion Nikola to the big enclosure next to Simba. The energetic lion was over the moon with his new home and immediately started to discover all kinds of new sounds and smells. 

In the near future we would like to socialize the young lion Nikola with lioness Vasylyna. In order to avoid offspring in the future, the vets from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research performed a minimally invasive procedure to sterilize Nikola. The surgery went very well and Nikola now gets all the time he needs to recover. He is already starting to become his mischievous self. 

The moment we all have been waiting for is finally here! We are so HAPPY to share this wonderful news with you. Lions Nikola and Vasylyna have met for the FIRST TIME! All the results of the medical check last month showed that both lions are in perfect health. So, it was time for them to meet. Their first eye contact via the inside enclosure was a big hit. That is why we decided to move Vasylyna to a larger enclosure next to Nikola. 

Both lions are full of energy and needed some time to get used to each other’s enthusiasm. But after a couple of days, they started to settle down and it looks like LOVE IS IN THE AIR! 

It has been a couple of months since Nikola has lioness Vasylyna as his new neighbour. During that time, both lions have been very busy getting to know each other’s characters. They are young and full of energy. We can see this in their behaviour towards each other as they sometimes get a bit distracted. That is why we have adapted their enclosure to create a more secluded environment for their socialization. Together with positive reinforcement training, the use of special pheromones and switching their enclosures, we hope to stimulate their contact even more.

The socialization of two lions is a challenging and lengthy process that cannot be guaranteed to succeed. We will of course guide them every step of the way, together with our behavioural specialist. We are already exceptionally proud of the bond they have thus far.