Phuku

Born: 15th May 2015
Female Tawny Lioness
Lives with: Luke

Phuku is the sweetest lioness with a story to tell. She was born into a world of cub-petting, lion breeding and culling. She was born sickly and would not take food in her first few days. Cubs like this would usually be discarded for mainly financial reasons. Phuku, luckily, was found by an individual who took on the responsibility of caring for her. They took on ownership of her and hand-reared her with much love and consistency. This individual did not have their own sanctuary, needed to move and look for work in new locations so that Phuku could have places to stay. As a result of Phuku being housed at various lion facilities, she has lived with a variety of ‘camp-mates’ and become slightly defensive. At the last location Phuku was at, poachers broke in and poisoned the other lions. They hacked off the lions’ faces and paws. Phuku witnessed this massacre. She was extremely fortunate in that the male she was with had not been poisoned, so the poachers were too weary to go for her. The poachers would, however, likely come back. Phuku’s owner contacted Love Lions Alive with the urgent situation. The poachers did return and try to get her and the male she was with within the six weeks it took for our urgent permit application to be processed.

Phuku has hip dysplasia, hind leg paresis, night blindness and she was obese when she arrived here. We have her on a long term treatment plan to help with the physical aspects that can be improved. When a cat comes to Love Lions Alive, that cat is no longer privately ‘owned’ by anyone. We have seen a huge improvement in her both physically and emotionally.  Phuku now lives with Luke. The two took a few weeks to “break the ice” but are now always within a few metres from one another. She is a lovely lioness and her previous owner still visits her regularly. We are very happy with Phuku’s progress and it fills our hearts with joy when she runs in leaps and bounds alongside the fence when the food truck drives up the road.

Co-Guardians 2024-25

Yolandie Smith