Days before a lockdown was announced in South Africa, we were able to give a home to two tigers and three jackals at our LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary after an emergency rescue. 

The Bloemfontein Zoo, in South Africa, had temporarily closed down in December 2019 and failed to keep their promise to continue feeding and taking care of some of the animals. On March 27th 2020, the zoo was confirmed to be permanently closed, and it was later revealed that five animals had died from starvation.  The decision was made that an emergency intervention was needed to save the remaining animals.

Together with multiple other organisations, a total of 150 animals have found species-appropriate homes across the country after the Bloemfontein Zoo closed down. 

The beautiful tiger brothers, Shevar and Sharukh, are estimated to be about 8 years old. 

At this stage, very little is known about the histories of the jackals as there aren’t any documented histories available.

We have named two of the three jackals who recently joined our LIONSROCK family, after being rescued. Thabo (meaning 'happiness' in the local language) and Freedom have settled in very well at LIONSROCK. We asked the community to help us name the third, and the tribe has spoken! We have a name for our third jackal, Lebo (meaning 'thankful' in the local native language in our area).

All three jackals have settled in very well at LIONSROCK and are healthy.