Lion cubs Sarnia and Marina emerge into the African sun after spending most of their lives in a tiny two-bed flat in Romania.
Last weekend - with Sunday Mirror readers' help - the five month-old sisters were released into the Shamwari reserve by wildlife charity Born Free.
Coronation Street star and charity patron Helen Worth watched as the cubs excitedly explored their new home after being flown to South Africa on a special Kenya Airways flight.
She said: "They were delighted to see each other. They rushed towards one another and started playing. They had never been separated before.
"Now they are going to be together for the rest of their lives in natural surroundings. You just know they are going to be happy here."
The tiny cubs - thought to have been rescued from a circus - were dumped, starving and ill, at the door of vet Monica Minciu. She runs an animal charity from her flat in Bucharest.
She bottle-fed them back to health but they destroyed her home. Born Free, Sunday Mirror readers and an anonymous donor stepped in to pay for them to have a new life.
-TO win a chance to visit the cubs, join Born Free for £2.50 a month at bornfree.org.uk or call 01403 240170.
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