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by Gerry Warren

gwarren@thekmgroup.co.uk

Two ex-circus lions rescued from a life of abuse and misery have
found a new home at Wingham Wildlife Park.

The pair, Brutus (pictured just below) and Clarence (bottom
picture), had been kept for most of their lives in a 28ft trailer
and still bear the scars of their life of enforced performance.

Now they will enjoy an enclosure nearly the size of half a
football pitch with trees to shelter under and platforms to
climb.

The four-year-old lions were taken away from a French circus and given temporary accommodation by the Tonga Terre D’accueil rescue centre near Lyon.

They arrived at Wingham Wildlife Park this week - none the worse

for the journey and join the existing big cat collection which

includes two tigers and a puma.

They go on display to the public from Saturday.

Animal registrar Markus Wilder said: “It doesn’t take much to
see they were mistreated. When they arrived they were quite
underweight and Brutus has a large scar on his back.

“The vet says it looks like a whip mark and it was certainly
inflicted by a human.

"The shape looks like that from a whip and the fact it is a very
wide scar is typical of wounds left to heal on their own. It was
never stitched, which it should have been.

“As for Clarence, the pupil in one of his eyes does not dilate.
He can still see out of it but it is very weepy.

"This is a very common injury after suffering a blow to the head
and it was probably done when he was quite young.

"It doesn’t seem to cause him any problems but it weeps in the
sunlight.

“He could have been hit with the handle of a whip
when he was not behaving.”

This week the lions were still indoors resting after their
journey and tucking into hearty helpings of beef.

Markus said: “Big cats like this which have always been kept in
captivity cannot be put into the wild because they just wouldn’t
survive.

“But we can give them a happier life here and we will keep them
engaged and interested with various toys to play with in their
enclosure.

“They are quite calm but we want them to acclimatise before
letting them into their large purpose-built enclosure because they
won’t have seen anything like it before.”

He added; “Obviously, they will be used to people but given
their experiences, they may have a deep mistrust too so their
keepers won’t be taking any liberties with them.”

The park is open daily from 10am until dusk. Admission
£10, seniors £9, children £8, under twos free, families £31. Call
01227 720836.