Nijeberkoop - Kenya and Samba are the names of the tiger ladies who were successfully rescued by an Austrian animal welfare organization. Although their rescue was a great success, there is also a lot of sadness in this story.

The animals belonged to the Aleš circus, where they lived in tiny wagons for years. Fortunately, the tigers have not had to perform for a while now - the circus owner decided to give them up voluntarily.

Last Wednesday, the animal rights activists from Vier Pfoten succeeded in transporting the two big cats safely to a sanctuary in the Netherlands .

They were on the road for a whole twelve hours - under the strict supervision of a vet - until they finally arrived at their new home.

For the time being, the two will remain in their separate indoor enclosures and will be closely monitored by the animal keepers. This quarantine period serves to acclimatize the animals to their new environment.

Unfortunately, not everything went as well as the rescue of Kenya and Samba. There were actually three of the circus tigers - but all help came too late for Princess. When the animal welfare organization first met her, she was already in a critical condition.

The white tiger was ill and had liver and kidney problems. A sad decision had to be made: The animal was put out of its misery.

Slovakia wants to end the keeping of wild animals in circuses. According to Vier Pfoten, a big step has been taken with the rescue of the last circus tigers, but there is still a long way to go.

The situation for big cats is no better in many other countries, and even worse in Germany.

"There, it is still permitted to keep big cats in tiny enclosures of just 12 m². It is inconceivable to confine them in such a tiny space," explained Vier Pfoten.

According to the animal welfare association, this makes Germany the only EU member state without a national ban or at least a restriction on this exploitation.