{"id":2213,"date":"2019-08-09T12:14:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T12:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelwithanda.com\/?p=2213"},"modified":"2019-08-31T13:58:18","modified_gmt":"2019-08-31T13:58:18","slug":"petting-baby-lions-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelwithanda.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/09\/petting-baby-lions-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Petting baby lions in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

My name is Anda and I am obsessed with lions. I have spent hours in different zoos observing these magnificent animals, although this \u201chobby\u201d can be quite frustrating. First of all, I believe no animal should be locked up in a cage, at least not in a space too small to ensure a decent quality life. Lions are huge, they need space to grow, run, develop their muscles and catch their own food. Anything else is almost the same as torture. Secondly, lions are big lazy bastards and it can take hours before they move. Seeing lions in their natural environment has thus been on my bucket for as long as I can remember. And so has cuddling a baby lion. My dreams have finally come true in South Africa. But only after learning a few very important facts about lions and lion cubs which helped me to put my big moral dilemma aside.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Principles first!<\/strong><\/h5>\n

I usually don\u2019t feel the need to explain my actions to general public, however petting lion cubs (or any cubs for that matter) is a very delicate subject so I will make an exception here and point out a few things about me:<\/p>\n

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  1. Every time I see or hear about animal being tortured, I report it to the police<\/strong> or respective authorities.<\/li>\n
  2. I never eat products from baby animals<\/strong> (such as lambs or baby cows), in fact, I rarely eat meat at all.<\/li>\n
  3. I try to act responsible to the environment<\/strong> as much as I can \u2013 you won\u2019t see me litter but you will hear me nag about plastic bags and straws.<\/li>\n
  4. If my activity would (consciously) cause animal getting hurt<\/strong>, I would immediately abandon it<\/strong>. Spiders and mosquitos are excluded from this category.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, I hope I made it clear that I am not one of those \u201cpicture at all costs\u201d spoiled bitches. I am well aware that the actions I took in South Africa are to some extent questionable (after all, I did fly there and contributed to air pollution), however I believe I did my best to follow the principles I stated above. Having said that, I am now moving on to the main reason you are probably reading this post, asking yourself: is petting a lion cub safe, how do lion cubs end up in places like this, what do they do with the cubs when they grow up, are their mothers hurting <\/strong>and many other questions.<\/p>\n

    On our way to Vuyani Safari Lodge<\/a> I had a privilege to talk to an experienced driver-guide Phillip<\/strong>, who deeply cares about nature and animals. I will only focus on the lion part of our discussion at this point. He told me that there are many lion parks in South Africa where you can see lions and interact with lion cubs, however most of them are raised to be killed by animal hunters. First, I was shocked to hear that shooting lions<\/strong> in South Africa is even legal<\/strong>. And second, that the lions are actually being raised for hunting<\/strong>. Can you imagine cuddling a baby lion knowing it will be shot just a couple of months later? Fuck off, humans!<\/p>\n

    I was sick to the bones and literally cried while listening to the terrible stories (I am even crying now when I am writing this post). Fortunately, he said there are a few decent and honest reserves where they raise and take care of lions for various reasons: they are either hurt or brought over by owners who are not able to take care of them anymore. One of these parks is Lion & Safari park<\/a> <\/strong>in Broederstroom near<\/strong> Johannesburg.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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    Investigating further about this park, and especially after reading their statement about lion cubs\u2019 interaction had me convinced that visiting Lion & Safari Park was the right thing to do. In fact, the management even tried to shut down this activity but suffered a great decline of visitors due to that. If other parks are reluctant to do the same and you have people and families depending on your income, then I can somehow understand their decision. I was especially moved by these words: \u201cIn light of our commitment to eradicate cub petting we are willing to join with other organizations and the government to ban cub petting altogether. In the meantime, we can assure everyone that our lion cubs ARE NEVER SOLD TO HUNTERS. We abhor the concept of canned hunting and it is disappointing that wild assumptions and false accusations abound without even a shred of evidence to support them.\u201d<\/em> You can read the full statement here.<\/a><\/p>\n