War Veteran Safely Transports Lion and Wolf from Ukraine in His Van

The ongoing invasion of the Russian army in Ukraine has shocked the world in recent weeks. Our hearts still go out to the victims of the war.

But we are also touched by the countless stories of courage and resilience of the Ukrainian population. Many stories circulate of people risking everything to protect animals in the country.

Recently, a British man went above and beyond to rescue the animals of Ukraine. He did so by evacuating a lion and a wolf by driving them out of Ukraine in a minibus.

According to Metro, Tim Locks, an Iraq war veteran, went on a mission to deliver aid to Ukraine amid the war. But his journey took a surprising turn when he received an unusual request.

Transporting such animals is not an easy task even in the best of times. Getting them across the border amid Russian bombings was a daunting challenge. But Tim knew he was the man for the job.

“Oddly, no one else wanted to do it,” he wrote on Facebook. “So this is what we do.”

After calculating that the animals’ cages could fit in their minibus, Tim and his mates traveled to Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southeastern Ukraine.

“It took three hours because the crane operator and the excavator operator didn’t speak a word of English, and we didn’t speak Ukrainian, so there was an interpreter translating everything,” Tim told Metro.

The rescue team began their journey to the border, but it was clear that many challenges lay ahead.

“Once we had put all of our gear in the back of the bus, there was no room left,” Tim said. “As we were leaving the city, we got a police escort, the air raid sirens went off, and we had only 35 minutes before the curfew began.”

They drove hundreds of kilometers through the war-torn country, being bombed along the way.

The team had to stop at Ukrainian checkpoints, and Tim says that when the officials asked him to declare their cargo, he responded with “a lion and a wolf,” to their disbelief.

“A guard told us there was a war going on and it wasn’t a time to joke,” Tim told Metro. “I took him to the side of the van, opened the door, and showed him a real big lion, like Aslan from Narnia.”

After much effort, the group managed to cross the border into Romania and reach their destination, a zoo in Radauti.

A Romanian team helped unload the animals to their new home, lifting their cages with a forklift.

Tim says the animals settled in well, despite the long ordeal to get them there:

“Simba and Akela are settling in well,” he wrote on Facebook. “Both are eating and drinking well and enjoying some rest after the long journey.”

The rescue workers rested for a few hours at the zoo, with some festive “tea and cookies.” But then they immediately returned to Ukraine to continue their relief efforts.

“We are going back to Ukraine, but the bureaucracy makes it difficult to get animals and aid across the border,” Tim told Metro.

Nevertheless, the transport of a lion and wolf from Ukraine proved that they can do the impossible. “No one thought we could do it,” he said.

Many thanks to Tim Locks and his companions and everyone who helped bring this wolf and lion to safety!

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