The legitimacy and urgency of the calls by FOUR PAWS for the improvement of legal standards regarding keeping conditions in captive environments and a ban on other forms of captivity, cannot be more demonstrable than by the story of Kolwezi. 

Lioness Kolwezi and her siblings Kalemi and Lubumbashi were born in 2009 at the Lubumbashi Zoo in the Democratic Republic of Congo and aptly named after cities in the province. For many years the Lubumbashi Zoo was neglected, and the animals were inadequately fed and cared for while being housed in rusty, dilapidated cages. 

The zoo lacked sufficient space or money to accommodate the siblings and they would have been forced to move to another State Zoo where conditions were sadly no better. FOUR PAWS intervened and Kalemi and her siblings were moved to LIONSROCK, their new forever home in 2010. She is now perfectly content at LIONSROCK in a large enclosure with a variety of amenities appropriate for her species.