The lives of these four Bengal tigers changed forever when Egyptian veterinarian Amir Khalil, a wild animal specialist and director of project development for the international organization Four Paws, which is dedicated to the rescue of animals in unsanitary living conditions, learned about the history of these felines and began to diagram the possibility of moving them to a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa. after more than 70 hours of travel, they arrived at the Four Paws Foundation where Sandro, Mafalda, Messi and Gustavo felt the grass under their legs for the first time… because they lived for 15 years inside a train car located in a field near the town of Justo Daract, 140 kilometers from the capital of San Luis.
Two of them had been abandoned by the owner of a circus and some time later two puppies were added that the only thing they knew was that wagon-cage. At the moment they are savoring the feeling of freedom for the first time and boy is it a new experience for them. They will no longer be able to go hunting (they lost their sense of smell) but they will be able to stay healthy, wallow, play, swim and walk.
#TrainTigers: First careful steps onto grass after more than 15 years of living in a train carriage!
No metal bars, no roof, and no confined space anymore. Gustavo, Sandro, Messi & Mafalda stepped out of their transport crates onto South African ground after their long journey. pic.twitter.com/kvEwqxavWa — FOUR PAWS (@fourpawsint)
March 14, 2022
After a week of their arrival at the sanctuary the tigers are relaxed, experiencing new sensations and flavors. Adapting to your new life on hundreds of square meters of fresh land.
“They still have a long way to go to learn about the area and the new territory,” Khalil said.
