Peru banned circuses from using wild animals, but not all of them complied. Animal Defenders International made it a priority to find confined and abused animals still kept by circuses. One they found was Mufasa, a mountain lion that had been in the circus for at least 20 years. He was kept chained in the back of a pickup truck.
Mufasa’s journey to freedom began in April, when ADI received a tip-off that Circo Koreander was illegally operating with wild animals in an isolated village in northern Peru. ADI, police and wildlife officers moved in for a surprise raid but were met by hostile resistance. An eight hour stand-off saw riot police and a Public Prosecutor called in before Mufasa – Peru’s last wild animal in a circus – was handed over, along with a condor.
The cat was taken to the Spirit of Freedom rescue centre near Lima to recover. He got veterinary care and a pen to stretch out in. When he recovered his health, Mufasa was taken on a three-day journey to the Taricaya Ecological Reserve at the edge of the Tambopata rainforest reserve. Now he has both support and the freedom to run through the forest. -via Viral Viral Videos