OREANDA-NEWS. Two hard-working teams of SSE employees have been hard at work building a new lion enclosure at Five Sisters Zoo in West Calder.

The attraction has been dedicated to raising ?150,000 to re-home four male lions from a travelling French Circus in Belgium.

The animals were confiscated by the authorities in March 2014 as Belgian Law forbids the use of wild animals.

Brian Todd and Bruce Teirney, Area Service Managers based at Grampian House, helped put together two teams of SSE engineering staff from sites in Edinburgh, Fife, Perth and Dundee. They gave up their time to help through the company’s Be the Difference scheme.

Brian said: “We originally found out about the project at the Five Sisters Zoo from engineer Robert Martyn.

“He knows the family that run the zoo and was aware that they were undertaking a project to build a new den so that these rescue lions could be transferred over from Belgium.

“Robert suggested that this might be a good Be the Difference project, so we got touch with the zoo and said we wanted to help.

“We have spent time excavating and levelling the lions den and carrying out general maintenance and ground keeping. As the zoo relies heavily on sponsorship, funding and volunteer work, it was great to be able to get involved and help.”

The lions were found to be in good health when rescued, despite living in terrible and cramped conditions and having had their front claws removed – a common practice in circuses.

They are also missing their distinctive manes, having been castrated at a young age. This would have been the only way to keep the four large males together in a small area.

All four lions are now at a rescue centre and awaiting transport to the zoo, which has been desperately fundraising to provide them with a permanent home.

Lesley Coupar, from Five Sisters Zoo, added: “We really appreciate the support of SSE emplyees who gave up their time to work on the lion enclosure.

“We have succeeded in re-homing three ex-circus bears in the past and are now determined that we can do this once again in order to give these poor lions a home where they can live out the rest of their lives peacefully.

“We have ?20,000 still to raise to reach our fundraising target of ?150,000. This will allow us to complete the enclosure and transport the lions to the zoo, which we hope to do in October.”