3 March 2020 – Blood Lions

Lion cub petting and why it’s harmful

This is an excerpt from an article written by Dr Louise de Waal of Blood Lions and published online by Getaway on 03 March, 2020

In recent years, people have become more aware of the concerns around taking lion cubs (and those of other cats) away from their mothers within days after birth and hand rearing them for entertainment purposes.

This practice intentionally brings the females back into oestrus (become fertile) much quicker and feeding the cubs with puppy formula (as most places do) often leads to nutritional deficiencies, diseases and even death.

Captive predators are oftentimes subjected to crippling intensive breeding cycles and are kept in inappropriate, overcrowded and often unhygienic conditions, all so tourists can pet them.

South Africa’s captive lion population is now estimated to be as high as 12,000 lions with thousands of additional other big cats, including cheetahs, leopards, caracals, servals, as well as exotic species such as tigers, jaguars, pumas and even ligers (crossbreed between lion and tiger).

The links between tourism activities, such as cub petting, walking with lions, ‘canned’ hunting and the lion bone industry are well-documented. Despite what the owners of petting facilities may tell the public, a hand-reared lion habituated to humans can never be returned to the wild and will ultimately only have value in the trophy hunting industry or lion bone export trade.

This incessant and legal commoditisation of captive bred lions has led to the export of nearly 2,000 lions per year as live exports, hunting trophies or skeletons.

World Wildlife Day: Why lion cubs should not be part of the ‘petting zoo’

This is an excerpt from an article written by Dr Louise de Waal of Blood Lions and published online by The South African on 03 March, 2020

On World Wildlife Day, Blood Lions campaign manager Dr Louise de Waal reflects on why we feel this urge to engage in the unnatural… and pet a lion?

This is a question I have asked myself many times. Petting a predator is incongruous and unnatural, so why this obsession with petting wild animals in captivity? Why do we believe it is acceptable to put our own needs well above the animal’s requirements? Is it for that “like”-boosting selfie on social media? Does it make us look macho? Does it boost our ego? Is it for the thrill of adventure?

Over the last couple of decades, we have seen a significant shift in public awareness in the recognition that animals are sentient beings with the capacity to feel both physical and mental pain.

People are becoming more cognisant of animal welfare, and awareness campaigns, such as Blood Lions, aim to educate the public on the exploitation and abuse involved with the captive breeding and keeping of lions and other big cats.

Captive lions: Unethical and brutal conditions

There are huge welfare concerns around taking cubs away from their mother within days after birth, which intentionally brings the females back into oestrus (become fertile) much quicker. The hand-rearing of those cubs with puppy dog formula often leads to nutritional deficiencies, diseases and even death.

Captive predators are subjected to crippling intensive breeding cycles and are kept in inappropriate, overcrowded and often unhygienic conditions.

These unethical and brutal conditions are rife in South Africa’s intensive captive predator breeding industry and its associated lucrative chain of exploitative tourism activities.

Predator Breeding & Keeping Industry – South Africa

This is an excerpt from an article written by Dr Louise de Waal of Blood Lions and published online by Conservation Action Trust on 03 March, 2020

Blood Lions Campaign

The Blood Lions goal is to bring an end to canned hunting and the exploitative breeding of lions and other predators on farms across South Africa. The multiple award-winning Blood Lions® feature documentary premiered in 2015. At the same time the Blood Lions Campaign was launched to create global awareness around the captive predator breeding, canned hunting and lion bone industries, as well as the related exploitative wildlife interactive tourism practices.

Captive Predator Population

South Africa is one of the only African countries that allows the breeding and keeping of predators in captivity for commercial purposes, including lions, cheetahs, leopards, caracals, servals, as well as exotic species such as tigers, jaguars, pumas and even ligers (crossbreed between lion and tiger).

In July 2019, the Minister of Environment, Forestry & Fisheries (DEFF) stated in response to Parliamentary questions that there are 366 captive facilities registered in South Africa in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (NEMBA): Threatened or Protected Species Regulations, 2007 (TOPS) holding a total of 7,979 lions in captivity.

Blood Lions believes that the captive predator population is highly underestimated. The captive lion population may be as high as 15,000 lions with 1,000s of other big cats that are bred and kept in captivity, including an estimated 800 – 1,000 cheetahs and 1,000 – 1,500 tigers. A large proportion of the captive predator facility are based in the North West and Free State provinces.