SanWild Sanctuary

24/10/2026

🦁❤️ Bombi & Kyara: Two old souls who have found comfort in each other.

They may not be our friendliest lions, but behind those growls are two beautiful souls who have endured more than their fair share of hardship.

Kyara was rescued from a circus, where she spent years confined to a small cage, surrounded by crowds of people. Her incredibly intense eyes tell a story of their own, and understandably, she has little love for humans.

Bombi, who turns an incredible 23 in January, suffered a serious facial injury in his younger years. Multiple surgeries and repeated veterinary treatments left him equally distrustful of people.

But something beautiful happened when these two elderly lions were introduced. ❤️

They formed an incredibly strong bond and have become fiercely protective of one another. After everything they’ve been through, they’ve finally found companionship and comfort in each other.

We still need to check on them every day to make sure they’re both healthy and doing well, as you can see, they aren’t particularly amused by our visits! 😅

And that’s perfectly fine with us. We respect their wishes and leave them in peace 99.9% of the time.

Even at their age, they remind us that it’s never too late to find someone special. ❤️🦁

And as you can see, our beautiful green grass is already turning brown again. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for some much-needed follow-up rain! 🌧️🌿

09/10/2026

08/10/2026

There’s something magical about SanWild after the first summer rains. 🌿☀️💚

The bush is coming alive again, with lush green grass, soft golden sunlight and the promise of a beautiful summer ahead.

This gorgeous serval is one of four rescued by in France and brought to SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary to begin a new life.

The four have been spending time in our rehabilitation facilities, gradually rebuilding their natural immunity and preparing for the next chapter.

With the rains now in full swing and the bush turning green, we’re getting closer to moving them into larger, natural enclosures, where they can rediscover their wild instincts and take another step towards their eventual release into the greater sanctuary.

It’s a beautiful reminder of what wildlife rehabilitation is all about. Giving animals the time, space and opportunity to be wild again. ❤️🐾

07/10/2026

Meet Junior, our 16-year-old caracal that arrived from another rehabilitation centre that had to closed down. In the wild, caracals usually live 10 to 12 years, so every day with him is a gift. Because of arthritis and being hand-raised, he can’t be released, but we’ve built him a spacious, natural enclosure where he’s thriving. Watching him explore, strong and curious, reminds us why we do this. Junior, still magnificent.

03/10/2026

Flashback to the past with Louise Joubert who founded SanWild in 1998 and registered it as a non-profit in 2000. Her vision lives on in the work we do today over two decades on 🐾

29/09/2026

Sometimes help comes at exactly the moment you need it most… and this was one of those moments.

A very heartfelt THANK YOU to Sanette, Paul and the team at Bekmar Besproeiing for coming to our rescue when we urgently needed parts to repair one of the water pumps at SanWild.

Water is something we so easily take for granted, but here at SanWild it is absolutely essential. Our rehab centre and the animals in our care depend on it every single day, so when the pump went down, getting it repaired became a real priority for us.

We reached out for help, and Bekmar did not hesitate. You helped us with the parts we needed and made things just that little bit easier for us at a time when we really needed it.

Thank you also to our wonderful Madeleine and Pieter for collecting the pump and bringing it all the way back to SanWild. We appreciate you both so much.

And below is the best thankyou we can give you...a video of our water pump up and running again!

Sanette, Paul and everyone at Bekmar, please know that your kindness did not go unnoticed. For you it may have simply been helping with a pump, but for us it meant getting an essential part of our rehabilitation centre working again so that we can continue caring for the animals that depend on us.

There are so many challenges behind the scenes in running a wildlife sanctuary, and moments like this remind us just how fortunate we are to have good people willing to stand beside us when we need a helping hand.

Bekmar..from all of us at SanWild, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We will not forget your kindness.

29/09/2026

Best friends! Little Guy and Imara playful as ever 🐾😊❤️

25/09/2026

A little Ysis & Yoda update 🦁❤️

As you can see… life is terribly stressful at SanWild. 😴

Ysis is perfecting her yawning technique while Yoda has clearly decided sleeping is the better option.

They’re both doing really well. With Layish and Mel now living next door, there’s also a fairly impressive roaring competition most evenings.

Lions doing lion things… happy, relaxed and content.

And that makes us smile more than we can say. ❤️

23/09/2026

Little Guy and Imara are growing up fast! 🦁❤️

They have settled beautifully into their new home at SanWild and are now very much entering their teenage phase, gaining confidence, pushing boundaries and becoming more independent every day.

In just a few months, we’ll need to start preparing for their next big chapter: a large 8-hectare natural enclosure with hills, open plains and thick bush where they can explore, grow and live as naturally as possible.

For now though, Little Guy seems quite happy with his venison… and testing exactly how close the camera is allowed to get. 😂