By Mark Hookham and Barbara Jones for The Mail on Sunday
Published: 22:01 BST, 4 May 2019 | Updated: 23:03 BST, 4 May 2019
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With his glorious golden mane, magnificent Simba cautiously surveys his new kingdom as he stalks through dense bushes.
His wariness is understandable. For the first time, the 11-year-old lion is safe from being shot by trophy hunters or slaughtered for his bones.
Last weekend, The Mail on Sunday revealed how Simba’s life had been saved by undercover investigators led by the former Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft.
Simba in his new surroundings last week, above. While these joyous pictures show Simba in good physical health, those caring for him say he has been traumatised by his ordeal
Bred in captivity in South Africa and touted to foreign hunters, just over six months ago Simba was being pursued through a fenced enclosure by a British hunter who had paid thousands to shoot him with tranquilliser darts.
But last weekend, just hours before another hunter was due to arrive to kill him, Simba was dramatically rescued from the ranch where he was being held and taken to a secret location and released into a large enclosure.
While these joyous pictures show Simba in good physical
