Qatar Airways Cargo announced that it is working with non-profit wildlife foundation Animal Defenders International (ADI) to transport six young lions rescued from the illegal wildlife trade to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in Johannesburg.
Known as the 鈥楰uwait 6鈥, the young male lions Muheeb, Saham, Shujaa, Saif, and female lions Dhubiya and Aziza, were cared for at Kuwait Zoo. ADI was contacted by Kuwait government officials to help shelter the lions, so ADI offered all six a home at its 455-acre sanctuary in South Africa.
鈥淲e are proud to once again be supporting ADI, this time in bringing these six beautiful lions home to Africa. Our WeQare Rewild the Planet initiative is our commitment to returning wildlife and endangered species back to their natural habitat,鈥 Mark Drusch, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways Cargo said, adding that the transport is free of charge.
鈥淚t takes a lot of effort and logistics for our team to organize moving such large animals; from the logistics at the airports, loading and unloading the animals from the aircraft, to ensuring the correct cages and wellbeing of the animals are in place, but it is something we are all collectively very proud and passionate to be a part of,鈥 Drusch added.
鈥淭he Kuwait 6 lions have their whole lives ahead of them and will have acres of space at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary. We are thankful to Qatar Airways Cargo and their WeQare program in once again supporting us by covering the cost of the air transport back to Africa,鈥 said Jan Creamer, President, Animals Defenders International.
Qatar Airways Cargo recently opened its new state-of-the-art Animal Centre and relaunched its Live product, setting new benchmarks in the transport of live animals, and had flown more than 550,000 animals in 2023.
