Bethlehem, South Africa. At the end of August, FOUR PAWS was able to rescue all 15 remaining animals of the zoo in Gaza. Laziz was brought to the FOUR PAWS Big Cat Sanctuary LIONSROCK in South Africa. Some days ago, he was finally released to his one hectare outdoor enclosure with wide grassland, trees and bathing pond.

"Laziz is enjoying his new home very much”, says Hildegard Pirker, Head of the Animal Welfare Department at LIONSROCK. “It was very touching to see how he discovered all the things he hadn’t known so far. He went through his whole enclosure, along rocks, bushes and trees for one full hour. Finally, he rested in the shadow next to his pool. Making all those new impressions was definitely tiring for him. But it is great for us to see that he did not lose his curiosity and wanted to check out everything around him right from the beginning. By the way, the pool is his favourite spot, where he likes to stay most of his time.”

About LIONSROCK
FOUR PAWS Big Cat Sanctuary LIONSROCK, a project by FOUR PAWS, provides an appropriate, lifelong home for over 100 big cats that were kept in inadequate conditions in zoos, circuses or private captivity. The facility, founded for the big cats in 2007 in South Africa (Free State province, 18 km from the town of Bethlehem) offers the highest standards, including large areas for family groups; facilitation of natural behaviour through enrichment; and the highest standards of medical care and enclosures. In LIONSROCK hunting, trading or breeding of big cats is strictly prohibited. The park encompasses a total area of 1,250 hectares. The enclosures for the big cats cover an area of 60 hectares. In the rest of the park, other typical South African species live freely (e.g. zebras, wildebeests and other antelopes, etc.).    

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