In March 2011, multi-award winning photographer, Born Free friend and all round good bloke George Logan, joined the Born Free Foundation team in Ethiopia for a very important and special journey. To bring Dolo the lion to the world rescue and conservation centre at Ensessakotteh where he would have the space and privacy he deserved as well as grass under his paws for the first time.
George’s documentation of Dolo’s momentous translocation has now been developed into this short video, kindly produced by Duncan Smith.
Finalising the land agreement and sourcing building materials took their time, but finally, on March 22nd 2011, Dolo was moved to his new lifetime care facility at the Centre which will offer him space, shade and peace. A large team including BF Ethiopia Project Director Stephen Brend and Vet Consultant Rea Tschopp, Born Free Foundation Founder Virginia McKenna, Programmes Director Alison Hood, Senior Vet Consultant John Knight and many more accompanied Dolo on his relocation.
A beautiful Ethiopian sunrise welcomed this momentous day for Dolo and after being tranquilised and given a health check by Rea Tschopp, he was placed in a specially made travel crate for the 250km journey to Ensessakotteh. An excited convoy followed Dolo back to Holeta and watched as he took his first tentative steps into his new indoor shelter and bushy sub-range.
- Dolo in his new enclosure © George Logan
Born Free Foundation would like to offer heartfelt thanks to The Cullum Family Trust, Einat Danieli and Born Free Foundation members for supporting the relocation of Dolo and the development of his enclosure – the first lifetime care enclosure at Ensessakotteh!
If you would like to help Born Free to create Ensessakotteh, please consider making a donation and read about other ways you can help here.
For more information read Project Director Stephen Brend’s blog on the relocation of Dolo and a report on Dolo’s welcome to Ensessakotteh.
George Logan is a long-term supporter of Born Free Foundation and the proceeds from his impressive book, “Translocation”, which seamlessly and cleverly brings together the wild animals of Africa with the wild landscapes of Scotland, are generously being donated to Ensessakotteh. You can purchase George’s book here – http://www.bornfree.org.uk/give/shops/translocation-photos/
For more information on Dolo and Ensessakotteh, please visit http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/wildlife-rescue-centres/ethiopia/
To promote the campaign and raise awareness, agency WCRS and George Logan produced a series of stunning images of ‘homeless’ animals in familiar urban settings.
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