From Middle East war-zone to Ukraine — Gqeberha man rescues animals caught in the crossfire

Most people try to get as far away from conflict and war as possible. Not South African Lionel de Lange, who often finds himself in danger – driven by his compassion for vulnerable animals. 

De Lange, a Ggeberha native now living in Ukraine, was recently stranded in Israel as Iran’s drone attacks forced the airports there to close – delaying his return to Ukraine, where he oversees the care of big cats and other rescued wildlife – and more recently hungry pets.

The director of Warriors of Wildlife, said he had arrived in Israel to meet with the Israeli National Parks authority. He had previously successfully rescued a trafficked lion from Israel and was trying to arrange refuge for five lion cubs confiscated from smugglers. The plan was disrupted by the escalation of conflict.

“We had already taken in a rescued lion cub called Zion,” he said.

Zion is now living at the Simbonga Sanctuary just outside Gqeberha, and De Lange had high hopes of doing the same for the five cubs that are currently in quarantine in a zoo in Israel. 

De Lange met with the park authorities on Thursday last week – and even managed to fit in a turtle release – before missiles started flying overhead. 

Read more: Trump urges Tehran evacuation as Iran-Israel conflict enters fifth day

De Lange said: “I was super fortunate to go to a marine unit and be part of the release of five turtles, three loggerhead turtles and two green turtles, which were all caught in fishing nets and caught in plastic bags and fishing lines and things like that, and had to be rehabilitated and released.

“So that’s what I did on Thursday, and then the plan on Friday was to visit the lions, but then Thursday night, early Friday morning … both sides were firing missiles at each other. Israel at Iran, Iran at us, so we were stuck in bomb shelters for two nights.

“The government shut everything down. It was like Covid times. There was no one on the streets, only essential services were allowed to operate. The skies were closed so I couldn’t fly out.”

So what did De Lange do? On Sunday, he got a lift to the border of Jordan and walked across. He then drove to Oman, from there making his way back to Europe. At the time of speaking to Daily Maverick he was at the border of Romania and Ukraine, about to enter the country he moved to almost two decades ago. 

He added that he wanted to get back to the abandoned dogs and cats he has been feeding in Ukraine. 

‘War is war’

Speaking about witnessing war on two different continents he said: “War is war. The big thing that is the same is that in all of them, unnecessary people and animals die.” 

However, he said the war in Ukraine is more intense than the Iran-Israel conflict. 

Read more: Wildlife warrior describes life in war-torn Ukraine

“We actually have a front line (in Ukraine) where there’s physical fighting going on, where soldiers are shooting at each other. And small drone warfare. I work on the front line with the Russians just across the river from us, as close as 500m sometimes. I’ve been in shelling incidents. We’ve been sniped at twice. My ambulance has been shot at twice. And then we are hunted by drones. The Russians are actually hunting civilians and ourselves, aid workers on the front line.” 

He said in Israel, ballistic missiles and drone attacks were taking place and while that was devastating to civilians, “they’re not dealing with artillery and mortars and tanks and soldiers fighting hand to hand, and that is what's happening in Ukraine”.

That said, his planned rescue of the five little lion cubs will be affected by the conflict.  

“It’s going to affect any rescues because what it will do is, as long as the skies are closed, that means we can’t fly any wildlife out. We can’t fly in. We’ll have to overland by road. We can’t get out via the south with any animals, even if we had to put them on trucks in crates, we couldn’t go south because we’d have to go past the Gaza Strip and into Egypt,” he said, adding that that was too dangerous. 

“We can’t go east … that’s going into Iran. And then north would be Syria, and so they’re all dangerous countries for us. We could possibly go through Jordan, but then all the documentation and permitting required will definitely make it a lengthy and dangerous process. 

“But you know, if the lions are there, we'll try and keep them safe and that’s all we can do. We’ll keep them safe and healthy as much as we can. But all we can do is hope and pray that this escalation, this war, this conflict ends soon.”

De Lange and his team to date have rescued 41 lions, a tiger, 17 bears, a pack of wolves, and a monkey – nearly all from Ukraine, with the exception of a few lions from South Africa and Israel. Some were placed in sanctuaries, but many facilities fell short of their promises to care for the rescued creatures. So De Lange decided he needed a refuge he could control. 

After a two-year search, he secured a property near the Gamtoos River, just outside Gqeberha. Simbonga Sanctuary is now home to 14 lions, a tiger and a range of free-roaming species – a permanent refuge for wildlife in need. 

How you can help

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De Lange explained that the sanctuary predominantly runs on donations and income from day visitors and overnight guests – but tourism hasn’t recovered to its full capacity, and the sanctuary is far from fully occupied.

He stressed that many people are eager to contribute when there’s a dramatic rescue, but few appreciate the ongoing financial commitment that comes afterwards.

“It’s not just the rescue; it’s the care for years afterwards. We took in little Zion from Israel two years ago – he’s going to live until he’s 22 or 23 – that's a lifelong commitment. That’s far greater than the initial cost of the rescue.

“Zion was rushed into emergency surgery two weeks after he arrived due to a blockage in his intestine – which set us back nearly $1,000 (R18,000). We also do manicures and pedicures on them,” he laughed. DM