Last Sunday, the journey to their new home in South Africa began, and the young lions were given a soothing spray to keep them calm, water, and plenty of snacks to stay busy on the flight.
They arrived in Johannesburg on Tuesday, after a long journey with stop-offs in Cairo and Frankfurt.
Jan, an assistant at ADI, said: “It is the most fantastic [feeling]. It is absolutely wonderful. All the months of work and preparation; permits [and] complications that [come] with moving these animals… this is the big day.
“They are in Africa. They are going to spend the rest of their lives in the sanctuary under African skies.
“These lions have never run free. They have never run across grass. They have been kept in concrete compounds.
“Now they get to spend the rest of their lives in freedom.”
Ori and Ben Tzur spent their first day of freedom exploring and mapping their territory, and ADI said they already have learnt where everything is and met their new neighbours – the sanctuary’s other pride. Both are healthy and eating well, according to staff.
“This is the most space they have ever had,” ADI wrote on its website.
However, being used to the heat of Israel, Ori and Ben Tzur opted to spend the night not out in the field, but in their heated house inside the sanctuary.