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Summary After lengthy final preparations, a plane carrying 25 lions rescued from Bolivian circuses finally took off from an airport at Santa Cruz on Wednesday, bound for a wildlife refuge in Colorado where the animals will start a new life.
Veterinarians and officials from Animal Defenders International (ADI) carefully moved the lions into smaller to be loaded on an airplane for the 15-hour flight to the northern hemisphere. The lions, including three young cubs, were rounded up after Bolivian President Evo Morales administration passed a 2009 law banning the use of animals in the circus. ADI, which has offices in the United States and Great Britain, successfully sent four of the lions to a reserve in California last year.
