Sandra, Uma, Lionel, Carmen and Maya landed at OR Tambo International Airport on Wednesday.

The cubs will soon roar their way to freedom after being held in private captivity in Ukraine all their lives and finally be able to do what lions do when they arrive at their new home in Zeerust in the North West.

The organisation involved in rescuing the lions says if they were not brought to South Africa, they would most probably have been killed.

“The breeding of lions in captivity all over the world is a serious problem,” said Jurg Olsen from Ubuntu Wildlife Sanctuary Founder.

“They use them in the beginning just for the petting industry and then when they get too old they don’t know what to do with them”.

In the meantime, the Ukrainian government has signed a new law that's expected to stop the buying and selling of wild animals in that country.

“Today the appropriate law was adopted so we cannot use wild animals in circuses anymore,” said Liubov Abravitova, Ukraine Ambassador to South Africa.

“What we doing today is the first step in implementing these new laws and standards”.

The five cubs are being taken to the North West, where they will be monitored for about three months before they are released back into the wild.

eNCA