This is an excerpt from an article written and published online by Traveller24 on 29 August, 2016.
Cape Town – The road to hell may be paved with good intentions. But in SA, with the current canned lion crisis, there is no excuse to be ignorant anymore.
You might view it as an innocent interaction… a fun, family-friendly activity where you can teach your kids about SA’s wildlife.
You can even believe the organisations that say they doing it in aid of conservation. But do not be fooled – petting a lion cub directly leads to its canned killing later on.
That’s why lion conservation campaign Blood Lions urges visitors, tourist, volunteers and businesses in SA to ask the right questions about conservation.
“There are only a handful of authentic wildlife sanctuaries in South Africa and they do not BREED, TRADE (they mostly receive animals rather than going out to acquire them) or INTERACT with the animals in any way,” warns Blood Lions conservationists.