Taai

Born: 26th of October 2013
Arrived at LLA Sanctuary: 10th of March 2017
Lives with: Beau
Tawny Male
Parents: Stripey (father) and Angel of Fire (mother)

Taai was one of six cubs born to his mother, Angel of Fire, and father, Stripey. Lionesses, however, only have four nipples to comfortably feed four cubs. The mother did not accept all six of her cubs and Taai was rejected. He therefore had to be hand-reared by members of the Love Lions Alive team. He then moved into an enclosure at our sanctuary, full of wild grass and trees. At first we paired him with Mela, but he did not befriend her. After giving it a few months, we separated them for Mela’s sake, and she paired up with the more affectionate Carl. 

Taai then seemed to settle into having his enclosure to himself – but Beau had different plans. Beau, who was Taai’s neighbour, really wanted to be his friend. Beau paced the fence near Taai, rolled on his back, licked his lips and called out to him. We then built a gate in between their enclosures and swapped the two lions between camp 2 every two days over the course of more than 14 months. During this time, they got used to each other’s scent and actually became friends. Taai would even answer Beau’s calls. We eventually let them into the camp together and they ran to each other, rubbed on each other, rolled together and simply loved each other.

Beau has taught Taai to love again and to jump to catch his food.

Co-Guardians 2024-25

Rupert Schaller x2
Neela Alla