AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
A Lebanese group has relocated a rescue lion cub to a sanctuary in South Africa. The group, Animals Lebanon, has rescued hundreds of pets left behind by owners fleeing the fighting that's turned the country upside down. NPR's Jane Arraf was there for this latest operation.
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: I follow Jason Mier down the hallway of his small Beirut apartment. He opens a door.
ARRAF: And that is a lion in your spare bedroom.
JASON MIER: We call it the lion room.
ARRAF: It's extraordinary. It's hard to believe she's real.
She's just a few feet away, looking like a plush toy, except she's poised to jump. Animals Lebanon, founded by Mier and his wife, Maggie Shaarawi, obtained a court order giving them custody of the cub.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: Her owner was a Lebanese social media influencer. He used her as a prop in TikTok videos.
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ARRAF: At the age she should've been with her mother, the cub, visibly distressed, was being picked up and paraded around in gyms, studios and cars. She had patches of skin missing from her face.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOOR OPENING)
MAGGIE SHAARAWI: Good morning.
ARRAF: After two months of feeding, showers and massages from Shaarawi and another caregiver, she was visibly healthier. Mier has spent that time figuring out how to get the lion to South Africa after the only airline still flying in and out of Lebanon said it would no longer take animals.
MIER: So what we try to do is send them to internationally accredited sanctuaries, where they will have an enclosure and feeding and care which, as closely as possible, can replicate wild life. And she will live out her whole life in that facility.
ARRAF: For anyone who questions why the group is helping animals instead of people in the middle of war, Mier points to all the frantic calls from Lebanese asking them to help save their pets.
MIER: While we are helping animals, our work directly helps people. We have been contacted more than 1,000 times since the end of September. It's not a cat or a dog picking up the phone. Those are people who want our help.
ARRAF: The group relocated previous wild animals by air. This time, the sea was the only option. We met them before dawn Thursday to drive to the Beirut Marina. The lion, named Sara, in a crate labeled one live lion, is loaded onto the vehicle. And then it's a drive through the empty darkened streets to the outskirts of Beirut, vehicles in the small convoy spaced apart to avoid appearing a threat under the constant Israeli drones.
MIER: Can we pull the boat?
ARRAF: At the Marina, she's loaded onto a yacht - the cheapest option available, Mier says. She paces in the cage, while Shaarawi tries to comfort her.
SHAARAWI: Sara. Sara. (Non-English language spoken). OK, Sara. I am here, my love.
ARRAF: The staff strain to lift the metal cage onboard.
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ARRAF: After Cyprus, it's a plane trip to Dubai and then on to South Africa.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: Shaarawi, who has spent every morning with her, cries as the boat pulls away.
SHAARAWI: It took a lot of love and care to make sure that she gets back to health.
ARRAF: 30 hours later, Mier and the lion finally reach the Drakenstein Lion Park near Cape Town. Sara is released into an enclosure, where she gulps down water from a small pond.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: You're a good girl, Sara.
ARRAF: After Beirut, everything here is different - the grass, the air - and there on the other side of the fence are two other lions Animals Lebanon sent here earlier in the war, waiting to meet her. Jane Arraf, NPR News, Beirut.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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