Maggie Shaarawi was at home in Beirut, Lebanon, with pneumonia one March night when she received a video from a concerned animal lover. Upon opening the link, she saw a small lion cub lying on the ground with his mouth taped shut and a metal chain around his neck. A group crowded around him, laughing and recording videos. Some grabbed at the cub and pulled his ears.
“They found the lion cub!” Shaarawi, vice president of the nonprofit Animals Lebanon, immediately began shouting to her partner Jason Mier, the organization’s director. Three days earlier, a separate video of the lion cub had emerged on social media in which he was being dragged out of a tiny wooden box by the chain around his neck. Animals Lebanon alerted authorities, who then detained the owner, who claimed the lion was missing. Now Shaarawi was looking at evidence that the lion had resurfaced.
Acting quickly, Shaarawi started calling authorities. “When I saw the tape on his mouth, I knew there’s no way I will wait until the morning,” she says.
When I saw the tape on his mouth, I knew there’s no way I will wait until the morning.
Maggie Shaarawi, Animals Lebanon
Thankfully, authorities knew where the lion was; community members who saw the cub reported his location to police. Animals Lebanon received permission from the government to take the cub, who was just a few months old, into their care. The couple jumped into their car and made the two-hour drive to a police station in northern Lebanon. After a veterinary examination, they loaded the cub into their car and headed home.
For the next two months, Animals Lebanon would care for the cub they named Pi while they arranged a permanent home for him. There are no true wildlife sanctuaries in Lebanon, Shaarawi explains, so they’d need to transport him to another country for lifelong care.
Nation in turmoil
Before 2019, Animals Lebanon had plans to build a rescue center for animals saved from the illegal wildlife trade. But in 2019, an economic crisis hit the country, plummeting the value of its currency by more than 95% and leaving people without the ability to access the money in their bank accounts. Since 2019, Lebanon has endured one of the most devastating economic crises in modern history, as reported by the World Bank.
Then COVID-19 descended upon the world, followed quickly, in August 2020, by a massive explosion in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, that immediately killed over 200 people, injured thousands and left 300,000 people homeless.
The impact on Animals Lebanon has been all-encompassing. The organization can no longer access the money in its bank account, donations and adoptions of cats and dogs have dwindled and the number of abandoned animals has increased. Prior to 2019, around 80% of the group’s funding came from people within the country. Community members “still care about animals and want to help us, [but] they’ve lost access to their money,” says Mier. Animals Lebanon essentially had to start from scratch.
The organization was in a stable place when they took Pi in, Mier says. But it has been stretched thin after taking in four rescued lion cubs in nine months. Proper milk formula is unavailable in the country and needs to be shipped from Europe, and the organization had to fly a veterinarian in from the UK since there are no local vets experienced in treating lions.
“It’s not something that they financially planned for, but they rose to the occasion,” says Kelly Donithan, director of animal disaster response for our Animal Rescue Team, who has worked with Animals Lebanon many times, including after the 2020 blast when our rescue team deployed to Lebanon.
A new life for Pi
After hearing about Pi’s rescue, Humane Society International offered to pay for his flight to a sanctuary, offsetting a major cost to Animals Lebanon. Previously, the organization had sent rescued lions to Drakenstein Lion Park—a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa where lions live free from breeding, trade and direct interaction with visitors—and the sanctuary happily agreed to take Pi.
Shaarawi flew with Pi and met our HSI/Africa team, who were there to greet them and help ensure Pi’s transition went smoothly. Dr. Audrey Delsink, HSI/Africa’s wildlife director, watched as Pi tentatively emerged from his travel crate into his temporary quarantine enclosure. “As one of the only social big cat species, it’s important for lions to have social interactions with others of their species; but because Pi was so young, he couldn’t safely be introduced to any of the other lions at the sanctuary. But he was at last safe for the rest of his life and would later graduate to a larger cub enclosure after his mental wounds had healed.”
As one of the only social big cat species, it’s important for lions to have social interactions with others of their species; but because Pi was so young, he couldn’t safely be introduced to any of the other lions at the sanctuary.
Dr. Audrey Delsink, HSI/Africa
Watching Pi enter his new home was the most amazing experience of her life, Shaarawi says. Still, a part of her felt saddened that Pi didn’t have a lion companion. On her last day at the sanctuary, she cried as she said goodbye to Pi.
Fast friends
Shortly after Shaarawi returned home, someone reached out to Animals Lebanon interested in relinquishing a lion cub he owned. The cub looked to be just around the same age as Pi, which Shaarawi knew meant she could be his companion. Like Pi, Freya stayed in the care of Animals Lebanon for two months before being transported to Drakenstein Lion Park in June. HSI again paid for the cost of the flight.
Freya first spent time in quarantine adjusting to her new home. The sanctuary then began facilitating a series of gentle introductions between Freya and Pi before placing them in a large enclosure together. From the beginning, it was clear Freya was the more confident, playful one while Pi was hesitant. Freya often watches over Pi, patiently waiting for him to show interest in her. Once he indicates he wants to play, she pounces at the opportunity.
Another rescue amidst chaos
Although Animals Lebanon’s work with Pi and Freya is complete, in early September, another cub needed rescuing after her owner was detained in Lebanon. This rescue would be even more complex.
Just days after the cub was confiscated, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated, leading to a wave of destruction and displacement. People have been forced to flee without their pets or have escaped with them but have nowhere to go. Animals Lebanon has been providing people temporary pet housing, crates, food and other supplies. When they can, staffers have been searching for animals separated from their families. HSI has provided an emergency grant to Animals Lebanon to help.
Throughout all the chaos, the newest cub—now named Sara—has been recuperating with Animals Lebanon. The lion, used for social media fame, was being driven around the city to be shown off. Authorities took the cub, and Animals Lebanon offered to care for her. She has been receiving veterinary care for hair loss and burns, and Animals Lebanon has made plans for her to go to Drakenstein Lion Park, where Pi and Freya now live. The escalating conflicts in Lebanon make transporting a lion cub out of the country complicated. As of press time, urgent evacuation options are being pursued.
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