Vienna, 11 February 2025 – “All you need is love…” — this famous motto from a Beatles song also holds true for animal couples in the wild animal sanctuaries of the global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS. To increase the welfare and species-appropriate behaviour of rescued animals, the sanctuary teams have become experienced ‘matchmakers’ by successfully socialising bears or big cats. Bears Pashuk and Gjina at BEAR SANCTUARY Prishtina in Kosovo as well as lions Nikola and Vasylyna at LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary in South Africa are some of the many happy pairs at FOUR PAWS. A potential new love story is currently in the making with lions Manuschka and Diego getting to know each other at FELIDA Big Cat Sanctuary in the Netherlands.

Brown bears Pashuk and Gjina: Rolling in love

Bears Pashuk and Gjina found their happy ending at BEAR SANCTUARY Prishtina, where both of them arrived in October 2016 after years of misery in cruel private keeping. Pashuk had been kept in a dark cage next to a restaurant in Albania. When still a cub, a tight iron chain was placed around his neck. Over time it grew into his flesh, severely restricting his breathing and causing enormous pain. After his rescue, the veterinarians had to operate on him immediately to free him from his chain and treat the deep wound on his neck.

Bear Gjina also had to spend a life in agony as a so-called restaurant bear in Albania before her rescue. She was kept in a cage of only four square meters with no protection from sun, rain or wind. She was force-fed up to 20 bottles of beer per day, which guests of the restaurant could purchase for her, making her enclosure reek of alcohol. After their arrival at BEAR SANCTUARY Prishtina, it was soon decided to socialise the two bears, as they showed interest in one another.

‘Nikolyna’: A new chance at life and love

Lions Nikola and Vasylyna were found 2,000 miles apart. Both were wandering the streets as cubs after escaping from private keeping. Nikola was only five months old and malnourished, dehydrated and in dire need of veterinary care, when he was picked up from the streets in Budva, Montenegro in February 2022. Vasylyna escaped to the streets of the village Vysoke in Kharkiv region in Ukraine in August 2022. The female cub was unable to run or climb, as her muscles were underdeveloped. At FELIDA Big Cat Sanctuary, the two lions got a new chance to live and love. After recovering from the trauma of their past, the two were slowly introduced in January 2024.

The two lions share the same favourite activities, both love to play with a ball and their enrichment. Since they could recover and regain their health at FELIDA, the young couple was transferred to LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary in April 2024. In their new forever home, they are now enjoying their natural habitat under the African sun together.

“Their relationship is still young and so are these two lions, who had to overcome so much. They deserve to spend their life in companionship. We are happy that we could bring them together and can see a wonderful bond growing stronger between them every day”, says Hildegard Pirker, Sanctuary Manager at LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary.

‘Mango’: A new love story in the making

Love is in the air at FELIDA Big Cat Sanctuary. In October and November 2024, lioness Manuschka and lion Diego arrived at the sanctuary. After they settled in, they were slowly introduced to each other in the past few weeks and moved into neighbouring enclosures.

“They were very cautious at their first interaction. But curiosity took over and they started moving closer to the fence. Now we are seeing that Diego and Manuschka are seeking each other’s presence and contact. We hope their love story continues,” says Juno van Zon, Head of Animal & Facility Management at FELIDA Big Cat Sanctuary. The team is continuing the socialisation process and has already lovingly nicknamed the two lions ‘Mango’, consisting of parts of the two lions’ names.