A Lion Named Will

Footage shared last week by the Rancho dos Gnomos Santuario in Brazil shows the thrilling moment a lion named Will experiences, for the first time, the feeling of soil and grass beneath his feet.  Prior to being rescued and taken to the sanctuary, Will had been forced to perform with a traveling circus.  For 13 long years, the lion had been confined to a cramped cage and denied any semblance of a normal existence.

Within seconds of his release, Will can be seen eagerly running his paws through the soft soil - - tragically, a foreign material for a creature who, up until then, had known only cold metal floors. Will's reaction to the grass that covers his sprawling new home is equally ecstatic. Despite his age, advanced for his species, the lion rolls around like a happy cub discovering life's simple pleasures. But perhaps the most touching part of Will's transition into his new sanctuary can be seen in this moment of repose, as if mot impressed not by the feeling of dirt or grass, but by a new found sense of peace.

A lion can live up to 14 years in the wild, or up to 26 in captivity.

Published on May 12, 2015.