Putting your hand inside a lion's mouth is never a good idea, but fortunately Lira is fully sedated and will be glad to lose the tooth that's been troubling her.

The three-year-old lion was rescued from Ukraine where she was part of the illegal pet trade as war arrived in the country.

She was moved to the Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent in the UK earlier this year, where she has been settling in nicely with her sister and three other lions from Ukraine.

Cam Whitnall, managing director of the Big Cat Sanctuary, says: "Lira arrived early this year from the war in Ukraine. She was part of the illegal pet and wildlife trade. So we didn't know too much about her. But we noticed very early on, after her arrival here, that she had a little bit discomfort in her jaw, in her mouth. It wasn't affecting our day to day in her eating, but over time, it's gradually got worse and worse."

The procedure was carried out on Friday 10 October by expert wildlife dentist Peter Kertesz (who has treated over 450 big cats) and the Big Cat Sanctuary's own vet Elliot Simpson-Brown.

The infection was most likely caused by a trauma she had suffered before arriving at the Sanctuary, which caused bacteria toxins to multiply.

The extracted tooth is used in the wild to grip on to live animals, so is not necessary in captivity and will not cause her any issues.

Extracting the huge tooth has meant the vet was able to drain a pocket of pus from the abscess beneath the tooth, which has now been stitched cleanly.

"She's on pain relief. She's on soft foods for the time being and on antibiotics and after hopefully next week, she'll be good as gold," says Whitnall.

Lira seems to be making a speedy recovery from her surgery and is back in the enclosure with her sister and is even showing interest in her next-door neighbour, Rori.

Whitnall says: "So earlier today, I went and had a little check up on her to see how she's getting on. And she was winding up her sister Amani back at the Lion Rescue Centre, now playing and also flirting by the fence where the male Rory is next door, so all seems fine."

The lions were saved by the Wild Animals Rescue Center, run by Natalia Popova, a Ukrainian woman who has saved hundreds of abandoned pets and zoo animals since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Whitnall was determined to bring the five lions to Britain, even though the sanctuary had nowhere to put them.

A fundraising campaign launched in May 2024 raised more than 500,000 pounds ($650,000) to cover the costs of transportation, veterinary care and building a new home for the cats.