The lion is known as the king of the jungle and with good reason. Our amazing story takes place in Wylie, Texas at the In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Educational Center. Vicky Keahey is the founder of this amazing place and the heroine of our piece.
Most of us are familiar with folks who rescue unwanted pets like dogs and cats, but there are majestic, exotic creatures from the wild animal kingdom that are often left alone, abandoned and neglected. Even though the lion is enormous in power, strength and size, as babies, they are vulnerable and needy like kittens and puppies.
A small, 3-month-old cub called Lambert was brought to the In-Sync rescue center as a very frightened, adorable creature. Lambert, like an other scared baby animal was full of high anxiety. Vicky decided to gift Lambert with something that many human babies find immense comfort with. She wasn’t exactly sure it would work, but boy, did it ever!
Vicky placed a warm, soft blanket around Lambert, and he was calmed down immediately. In fact, two years later, and young Lambert still has his “blankie,” and it remains by his side. It’s such a lovely story about feeling protected and safe.
Lambert’s background is quite interesting, unfair and sad, especially since he was raised from inside a west Texas home. The beautiful African lion cub was procured illegally for a family in the Lone Star state who longed for the exotic creature, after the children fell in love with the hit Disney movie, “The Lion King.”
The two and three-year-old kids told their daddy they wanted a Simba, so in the summer of 2014, he went out and bought one. Word has it, that Lambert even slept in a bed with the children’s grandfather. Sooner than later, the family decided they no longer wanted Lambert. Maybe taking care of a jungle pet was a lot of work. Maybe they feared police would find out, or even realized that this tiny cub would begin growing quickly into an adult-size within less than two years.
As far as the blanket goes, Lambert had taken to the warm and fuzzy item immediately, falling quickly asleep. And to this day, the handsome two-year-old lion likes a warm blanket fresh from the dryer nightly, so he can curl up in and doze off.
At age two, Lambert already resembles a strong, full-grown male lion. This stage is known as the sub-adult stage, as the cubs begin to resemble adult lions. At 2 years old, females are about three-quarters the size of their mothers, but males can be larger. Males will have a small, mohawk mane, as you can see in the photos and video of majestic Lambert (see links below).
Beside his blanket, the curious king of the jungle enjoys playing with a custom-built skateboard and destroying trash cans. Lambert also adores cooling off in the rescue center’s water fountain.
Some might say that strong and mighty Lambert was robbed of a normal, natural life, and this is certainly true, but he could never live safely in the jungle now. So, this is a kind and humane way to allow this beautiful male lion to have a second chance at life.
