Rescued Lion Says Goodbye To Savior After 20 Years Together

Meet Jupiter, a well-known Colombian Lion who became famous while residing at Refgio Villa Lorena.

Villa Lorena is a one-of-a-kind animal sanctuary.

Ana Julia Torres is the keeper of four lions, nine Bengal tigers, jaguars, cougars, a crocodile, a speckled bear, and an ostrich.

Jocko, a chimp, spider monkeys, and hundreds of beautifully colorful birds are also there.

One thing they all have in common, according to Ana Julia, is that they’ve all been abused.

“They’re lame, or they’ve lost limbs; they’re blind, or they can’t focus, or they’ve lost an eye,” she explains.

“I have two human children and 800 animals — some clawed and others very hairy, but all of them amazing,” Torres explains.

There are over 800 animals at the refuge, but Ana’s favorite was Jupiter the lion.

Jupiter was rescued from the circus, where he was frequently beaten and had his claws removed.

Jupiter, understandably, lost trust in humans and even developed a fear of human interaction.

This phobia vanished once he was cared for by Anna Julia.

The healthy lion, on the other hand, was relocated to the Los Caimanes zoo in Monteria.

Jupiter was taken from Anna Julia’s custody due to her alleged lack of documents to retain the lion.

Unfortunately, Jupiter quickly lost weight and became very ill while at the zoo.

Jupiter was moved to a location closer to Ana Julia in order to preserve his life.

He was sent to the Cali Zoo for treatment, where veterinarians worked around the clock to care for him.

The vets discovered that he had terminal liver cancer and anemia. He had one last chance to visit his beloved Ana Julia.

Jupiter lost his battle with liver cancer and died in 2020, but his memory will live on.