Five Sisters Zoo comes to the rescue again to save lionesses - Steve Cardownie

Lionesses Luna and Plusza who were rescued from conflict zones in Ukraine and will find a new home at the Five Sisters Zoo near Polbeth, West Lothian. Picture: Five Sisters Zoo/PA Wire

I spoke at some length to Adam, the zoo’s Education Officer who filled me in on some of the background to this rescue.

He told me that the lionesses were moved from the battle zone to Kyiv where they were looked after at the city’s Wild Animal Rescue Centre before being moved to Poland, then on to Belgium and are due to arrive in Polmont this side of Christmas.

The rescue centre in Kyiv is striving to save wild animals affected by the war as it provides temporary shelter and medical treatment for the animals that are rescued “from the hottest spots in Donetsk and Luhansk.”

Before the war “the animals were kept in captivity, either privately owned or in zoos and then abandoned in cramped cages during explosions.

Military personnel often ask us to save the helpless predators they find.” They are obviously seeking financial donations to help them continue their invaluable work and my modest fee for writing this column will be duly sent.

Back here the lionesses will be housed in an enclosure adjacent to where the only surviving lion from the four that were rescued from a circus in Belgium in 2015 (the others having died due to their age.)

So “Skinny” will soon have these two sisters to keep him company , although initially from the other side of a fence!

Two keepers from the zoo, Emma and Gary, were in Belgium last week making arrangements for the sisters transportation and were delighted to see just how close the siblings were and at four years old they are expected to have a long and happy life, free from the trauma of war, in their new home in Scotland.

Adam was also happy to tell me about the education and conservation work that the zoo undertakes saying that 10,000 “learners” from nursery level all the way through to university have passed through the Zoo’s education programme this year.

Their mission is to educate participants about world-wide bio-diversity loss and the urgent need for conservation.

He ended our talk by inviting me to the zoo’s Christmas celebrations which start from November 5 and which boas illuminated pathways through the zoo, giant lanterns and food and drink outlets as well as the customary Santa’s Grotto-see you there!

I have visited the zoo on a few occasions and have been impressed by the standard of the enclosures provided. Given that all the animals have been rescued the efforts by the staff to take good care of them is commendable.

Zoos might not be everyone's cup of tea but Five Sisters is really a rescue centre that houses over 160 species whose future was uncertain to say the least before the zoo stepped in.

Such centres exist throughout the world and there is a fair amount of collaboration between them as they all strive to protect and provide a future for the animals they care for.

Five Sisters is known as an extremely reputable rescue centre, which is why it is regularly contacted when animals need refuge. I admire the work it does I am happy to promote it and the cause it supports.