by Ana Julia Torres is a woman who has dedicated her life to protecting abandoned, ᴀʙᴜsᴇᴅ, or sick animals. In fact, she built a shelter for them with her own resources, and has received unconditional love from them in return.
Ana Julia Torres is a woman endowed with a special sensitivity toward animals, especially those that have been exploited in different ways by men. Her complicity led her to undertake a task that many considered to be rather idealistic. She started to ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇ animals that’d been ᴠɪᴄᴛɪᴍs of ᴀʙᴜsᴇ.
To welcome the animals and provide them with everything they required, Ana Julia Torres created a space called Villa Lorena, in a poor area of the city of Cali, Colombia. There, for more than two decades, she’s been building a home for many different species of animal.
Ana Julia Torres cares for four lions, nine Bengal tigers, jaguars, cougars, a crocodile, a speckled bear, and an ostrich. There is also a chimpanzee called Jocko, spider monkeys and hundreds of brightly colored birds. One thing they all have in common — they’ve been ᴀʙᴜsᴇᴅ, says Ana Julia.
There are around 800 animals in Villa Lorena, but she has a special affection for Jupiter the lion. She Rᴇsᴄᴜᴇᴅ Jupiter from the circus, where he was often ᴀʙᴜsᴇᴅ and had his claws removed. Understandingly, Jupiter ʟᴏsᴛ trust in humans and even developed a phobia of human contact. When he was taken care of by Anna, this phobia completely changed.
Unfortunately, all healthy lions were transferred to the Los Caimanes zoo in Monteria. Jupiter was forced to remove from Ana’s care because of her reported lack of documentation to keep the lion.
The lion rapidly ʟᴏsᴛ weight in the Los Caimanes zoo and became very unwell. To sᴀᴠᴇ his life, Jupiter was transferred to Cali zoo where he could be received better treatment from vets. And also, this place is closer to Ana. He was diagnosed with ᴛᴇʀᴍɪɴᴀʟ ʟɪᴠᴇʀ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ and ᴀɴᴇᴍɪᴀ and he wanted to see his beloved Sᴀᴠɪᴏʀ for one last time.
Jupiter ᴘᴀssᴇᴅ ᴀᴡᴀʏ in 2020, but he remains in our hearts.
