HOMECOMING

HOMECOMING: 5 lions and 12 tigers rescued from Guatemala circuses make their great escape to freedom at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa. Following an 18-month operation to help enforce Guatemala’s ban on animal circuses, officials warned ADI to leave the country by 21 January, or risk losing them. Organising a flight like this normally takes weeks, but ADI was racing against time as flight after flight was blocked due to landing and security restrictions on flights from Guatemala. As the clock ran down, an escape route was secured through Mexico, Belgium, and Qatar. See the inside story of a 3-day relocation that finished in South Africa on 21 January, 2020. At the time, no one realised that the animals escaped disaster, just a few weeks after they left Guatemala, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a lockdown, they could have been stranded. This really was the great escape. A short taster of the upcoming Wild Rescues series, taking you inside these incredible missions to save animals – to be launched in 2021 – SUBSCRIBE NOW, DON’T MISS IT!