Woman And Lion: A Love Story

by Elisa Black-Taylor
(USA)

Good morning readers. This is my first story about a really BIG cat. An African lion. I don't normally do lions as I know very little about them. I ran across this video and had to share this with the readers at pictures-of-cats.org. This is one of the most awesome videos I've ever seen about a cat lady and her over-sized cat.

The problem I've found with this story is there is more than one version. So I'll tell both of them. The video is what's important to me. And either version you choose to believe, this is a love story about a woman and a lion. A cat lady and her cat.

VERSION #1

This is a very sweet story about a woman who found a sick, starving lion cub several years ago. She did the only this we true cat ladies can do-she took it home with her. She nursed it back to health and gave it plenty of love and care until the unthinkable happened. IT GREW! So she made arrangements with a zoo in Colombia to re-home her big baby cat. The video depicts the African lion's reaction when he sees her for the first time after being separated for several years.

I loved this story when I first read it online. Unfortunately, it's probably not the true version as several people added comments to the video that Colombia doesn't have jungles. Oh well, on to version #2.

I find this one more believable as there are more online references to back it up.

Before I go to version #2, here's the video. Everyone say AAWWWWW!!

VERSION #2

The woman in the video is Ana Julia Torres, an animal advocate from Colombia and the lion's name is Jupiter. Ana rescued Jupiter the lion from a traveling circus where he was being mistreated. This occurred between 6-11 years ago, depending on which source you believe.

Ana runs Villa Lorena Animal Sanctuary in Cali, Colombia, which is now home to more than 800 animals. This all began over a decade ago when a friend asked her to take in an owl. So here we have another sanctuary began "accidentally" by an animal lover.

Ana runs the private sanctuary, located in a poor neighborhood in the southern city of Cali, solely on her teacher's salary and donations.

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Villa Lorena Animal Sanctuary is home to many wild animals with missing limbs, blind or disabled. Many are in cages, but the iguana do run free inside the 13-foot wall enclosed grounds. The property is immaculately clean and the animals well cared for. There is a monument on the property erected by the state governor in honor of Torres' work.

Her sanctuary is not open to the public. Many of the animals were rescued from the circus. Some were rejected as infants in the wild. Some were found abandoned on the streets of Cali. Others come from abusive situations. Ana wants them to live the rest of their lives in peace and quiet. NOT on display.

I hope everyone has enjoyed this story about Jupiter the African lion and Ana Julia Torres, the cat lady. If anyone has any more information on Ana and Jupiter, please feel free to add it under comments. I do find this the more believable story. Hopefully a reader can back me up on this.

Either way, I love the look on the Jupiter's face as he says "I love you" to his adopted mama.

Elisa

P.S. Michael, feel free to add any African lion comments you think relevant. I'm a little cat lady. You know more about the big cats than I'll ever learn. I won't pretend to be an expert in the "big cat" field of study. I just LOVED the video and wanted to share it.

Sources:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexis33/the-saviours-animals-b36
http://web.archive.org/web/20101227084105/http://poorbuthappy.com:80/colombia/post/woman-with-lion-from-jungle-of-colombia/

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