Thread by @AnimalDefenders

#ForeverInOurHearts. In 2020 we said #farewell to some dear friends, Lucho, Junior, Tilin, and Ricardo, we will never forget how they touched our lives and remember them here. #restinpeace #rescuedanimals

LUCHO was saved from a small concrete pen during a dawn raid by #ADI on an #illegalzoo in Peru, in 2015. The friendly #spectacledbear enjoyed five precious years in the forest habitat we provided at @TaricayaE, where he loved to float on his back in his pool.

JUNIOR was #rescued by #ADI in 2014 from a #circus in Colombia, & was one of the 33 #lions we airlifted home to Africa. He was taken from us by cancer at about 9 years old, but got to roam his piece of Africa with brothers Bumba & Zeus at the #ADIWildliifeSanctuary.

TILIN was #rescued by #ADI from a #circus in Bolivia in 2009 after the country banned #animalacts. After almost 20 years alone & chained, he was reunited with his own kind, female #Hamadryasbaboon Tina (#exoticpettrade victim), to be his friend at the sanctuary in England.

RICARDO was getting old for a #lion with such a bad start in life. #ADI had first exposed his plight in a #circus in Peru years before his #rescue, where we filmed him in a tiny cage, his eye inflamed. He was subsequently confiscated, the eye removed

once the operation to empty Peru’s #circusanimals got under way in 2014, he was placed in #ADI care. With his short stature & one eye, Ricardo embodied resilience & bravery. We all miss his distinctive roar at the #ADIWildlifeSanctuary. #rescued #lion

Thanks to the #ADI supporters who helped give these beautiful souls a better life. It is worth fighting for just a day of freedom for these animals who have endured so much. It breaks our heart to say goodbye, but we cherish the precious years they enjoyed living as they should.

Share your well wishes and/or favorite memories. 💕