Many nations have legally prohibited the use of wild animals in circuses. However, some circuses seem to be blinded by greed and persist in binding these creatures. Mufasa, the mountain lion, has gone through all of this in around 20 years.
Image Credit: Animal Defenders International
Mufasa was rescued from an unauthorized Peruvian circus. He has been carried from country to country and made to perform for the last 20 years. The unfortunate animal had never tasted freedom until Animal Defenders International (ADI) arrived to liberate him. Operation Spirit of Freedom, run by ADI, is a year-long campaign against unlawful circuses. After an eight-hour standoff with his owner, Mufasa was finally set free because they didn’t give up.
Image Credit: Animal Defenders International
Mufasa was in bad shape when he was rescued. He was imprisoned on the back of a truck with other equipment. He didn’t even have the security of a cage.
“It broke my heart to see Mufasa tied up amid the circus equipment, living on the back of a pickup truck.” A huge collar and shackles were tied around his torso, and when we ripped them off, he extended for the first time, free. ” According to Jan Creamer, head of Animal Defenders International (ADI),
Image Credit: Animal Defenders International
However, not only was his physical health harmed. When the rescuers let him free, he was frightened since he was scared of humans. Apparently, being chained for 20 years has had a negative impact on his mental health. Mufasa was moved to ADI’s Spirit of Freedom rescue center in Lima, Peru, where he started to get better both physically and mentally.
Image Credit: Animal Defenders International
Despite making a full recovery, he was unable to be sent back into the wild. As a result, the rescuers relocated him to the Taricaya Ecological Reserve. A unique cage in the Amazon jungle has been created for him inside. Mufasa can now spend his days as close to normal as possible.
Image Credit: Animal Defenders International
Mufasa was neither the first nor the last animal to be saved. ADI will keep working to release illegal circus animals and someday restore them to their natural habitat.
A video of the rescue is available here.
