Natacha

Born: 29th of March 2015 In FRANCE
Arrived at LLA Sanctuary: 7th of April 2016
Lives with: Moya and Sasha
Tawny Female
Parents: unknown

Natacha, or Nachi, as we affectionately call her, was born in France. She had then been smuggled to Spain to be a “circus lion” as a cub, where she was kept in a crate for the first eight months of her life and semi-sedated so that she could be passed around for photos. Luckily, she was confiscated by the Spanish police. Chelui CATCH Spain took Natacha in until the Captured in Africa Foundation was able to raise money to transport her to South Africa. Love Lions Alive built an enclosure for her in our sanctuary, and in April of 2016 she moved into her new home.

When Natacha arrived at Love Lions Alive sanctuary, she was startled by the feeling of the wind and her soft paw-pads were not used to African grass at first. She had little muscle structure and was slouched over. She would soon begin to stretch out and grow muscle strength. She also grew in confidence quickly, rubbing herself against the fence of her enclosure in the hopes of getting our attention. We felt it was important that a lion like Natacha, who had been so badly treated by humans in the past, needed our reassurance and love to help her settle in and improve her sense-of-belonging. However,  it is not our aim at Love Lions Alive for lions to find comfort from humans, we only give them this kind of  attention when they arrive here needing it. Our aim is for the lions to get on with being lions amongst other lions. 

We spayed Natacha in 2017 so that we could move her into an enclosure with Mandla and Isibindi, which has been a miraculous success. The two boys have become Natacha’s most beloved companions (she is quite protective over them), and she no longer seeks any sort of human attention. Natacha brings us so much joy and has become our most agile, active and athletic lioness!