After 20 Long Years In Captivity, Circus Lion Tastes Freedom For The First Time

At the time, Creamer described the scene as the most sad, wretched thing that you've ever seen, noting that it was like he wasn't even alive. Fortunately, he was rescued by ADI's Operation Spirit of Freedom, a yearlong crackdown on illegal circuses in the wake of Peru's 2011 ban on performing circus animals, after an eight-hour standoff with his owners. (Animal Defenders International)