Are the SanWild lion prides the lucky ones?

 

 

As South Africa's tourism industry continues to grow there is also a more sinister side to the country's tourism industry. The sighting of an African lion has always been and will continue to be high on the list of "what to see".

Sadly very few people will be told about the terrible horrors facing almost 6000 lions held in the sordid canned lion breeding and hunting industry.

Many of the visitors will hold a cute lion cub and will return home proudly showing off their photographs in which their hearts warmed to Africa’s King of the Beasts.

What they will not know and what is highly likely, is that in actual fact it is guaranteed that the cute cub in their photograph will eventually die a horrible death.

Watching a television screening of the Cooke Report in 1997 in the United Kingdom and subsequently in South Africa by Carte Blanche most animal lovers and decent people across the globe where appalled and disgusted when they found out that in a stunning country like South Africa the King of the Beasts where bred like broiler chickens to be gunned down by so-called ethical hunters. Since then this terrible industry has grown from strength to strength in South Africa. Only 4 years ago an average of 400 captive bred lions were gunned down by hunters, last year an alarming 1200 lions were killed in legal and illegal hunts. An increase of 200% in just four years!

For those of you who do not know what canned hunting is; it is the breeding in captivity of large predators with the only purpose of killing them in a "trophy hunt" when the animals reach an average age of about 5 years. Trophy prices paid for male lions are much higher than that of a lioness. Hunting prices range from about R220 000 up to a million rand for a full maned white lion. In South Africa a number breeding projects exist and some of them can hold as many as 400 lions in a single breeding project.

Although many international and local animal welfare and right groups have lobbied against canned hunting SanWild remains the only registered animal welfare charity that cares for lions confiscated from illegal breeding projects and intended hunts, but this has by no means been a walk in the park. The costs to feed the three lion prides for 2011 totals R650 000.00.

With no governmental support; and as much as possible support from the Foundation Brigitte Bardot, SPA (France) and the Humane Society International, it has remained an uphill battle to cover the huge costs of ensuring the safety and welfare of three prides of African lions. SanWild has received no additional support from the many other animal welfare organizations who lobbied actively against the canned lion hunting industry.

 

 

Early in February 2010 SanWild issued a press statement to inform our supporters. NGO’s and the public that should we fail to raise sufficient donor funding to continue to feed and care for three prides of lions, we will have no other option than to put 16 healthy lions to sleep. Fortunately at the time our financial crisis could be adverted with the help of generous donors.

You may very well ask why SanWild does not attempt to find other destinations to where at least some of the animals could be relocated to help ease the financial burden. For 5 years we attempted to find safe and secure homes for the lions in particular, but most possible opportunities lead to a dead end when potential foster parents were told that they may not breed, commercially trade of hunt any of the SanWild lions. During this time we found one individual who had agreed to sign a foster parent contract to ensure the lions welfare and accepted all the terms and conditions contained in a legal document draw up specifically to ensure the animals safety. However when we found a suitable foster parent our local conservation department in Limpopo Province refused to issue the required export and transport permits to Gauteng Province; resulting in the failure of the intended relocation.

 

It is now just over two years later and we are happy to report that with God’s saving grace and with the help and support of various private donors, companies and the Foundation Brigitte Bardot we have managed to continue to care for the lions.

Our meat supplier also agreed to supply meat for our lions on credit for times that we ran short of funding. He has also gone out of his way to ensure that he could supply meat at a much cheaper rate by discarding his own profits.

To all and everyone who contributed and helped we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We are now standing at the beginning of 2011, but the danger to the very lives of the SanWild Lion Prides remain – if funding cannot be secured to continue to take care of them the horrible reality of putting them to sleep remain. Sadly SanWild simply does not have access to adequate funding to feed the animals without your financial support and help.

 

 

May we take a moment to share with you our lives with the SanWild lion prides?

Jespha’s pride was the 1st confiscated lion pride to arrive at SanWild in 2003 after they were rescued from South Africa’s infamous canned lion hunting industry. All at SanWild have grown to love this very special lion and his family deeply. Jespha is the oldest lion at SanWild (around 12 years). He has a magnificent black mane and for this very reason at the age of 6 years old, he was set to be hunted for a whopping R500 000.00

 

 

Jespha had been used extensively to father many lion cubs while he was kept in a captive breeding project. When the family arrived three young cubs (which we named the Three Sisters) had already been removed off the pride and was being hand raised so their mother could come into oestrus again. She was pregnant again on arrival at SanWild and produced two small cubs called Ronga and Aroha. Despite all our efforts to reintroduce the three young cubs with their pride, we failed, but eventually they were integrated with Lutalo’s pride.

 

 

Lutalo and his sister Aisha were also kept at a captive breeding project that supplied lions for hunting. However when they were still quite small the two cubs were loaned to a lion cub petting operation where lion cubs are displayed in shopping centres or at various tourist or weekend getaway destinations.

 

 

Here the small cubs are handled extensively by guests and visitors who normally are charged a fee to allow their children to play with the cubs and have their photographs taken. This practice is very wrong and only puts a great deal of stress on the young cubs. It also results in the forceful removal of young lions from their mothers. It is very rare for a lioness to simply discard her cubs or not have sufficient milk to raise her own young. Daily the public is being lied to blatantly to make them enjoy and accept cub petting operations.

To keep the lion cubs calm and safe for handling Lutalo and Aisha was drugged on a daily basis until young Lutalo had an adverse reaction to the drugs and almost died. Fortunately both he and his sister ended up at a veterinarian who immediately recognized the drugging of the cubs. As a great animal lover and sickened by what he saw, he kept both cubs overnight for observation and placed a desperate call for help to SanWild. The cubs owner had the necessary conservation permits and could not be prosecuted for putting the animals on display, but we knew that in most of these situation s all wild animals had a price on their heads and with the help of one of our most loyal donors in France, SanWild via the veterinarian successfully negotiated to purchase the two small cubs from their owner. Lutalo and Aisha are now fully grown and share a pride with the Three Sisters and Bombi.

 

 

Bombi is the only lion at SanWild not saved from the infamous and sordid canned lion industry. Bombi was born in the Budapest Zoo along with his two siblings. Sadly soon after birth his siblings died and Bombi was all alone. His mother showed little interest in the cub and he was pulled for hand raising. As Bombi grew older he was taken for daily walks in the zoo on a leash like a pet dog and displayed to visiting children. This is where Bombi was 1st noticed by Dr. Gabriella Kiss, a qualified veterinarian working for Pfizer. Gabi immediately fell in love and decided that she was going to do whatever is necessary to negotiate Bombi’s release from the zoo and return him to Africa. SanWild after extensive negotiations agreed to accept Bombi and the small cub arrived a couple of months later. Today Bombi is a healthy 6 year old lion and proudly takes his place as a pride male alongside Lutalo.

 

   

On the 3rd September 2004 another group of confiscated lions arrived at SanWild. This time they were not captive bred lions, but wild animals that were illegally trapped and removed from the wild to be hunted illegally. By this time South Africa had become an extremely dangerous place for lions and the legal and illegal hunting of lions reached an all time high. Despite claims from various government sources that the breeding and hunting of captive bred lions protected wild lion populations, the illegal trapping and luring and hunting of wild lions increased daily. The lions that arrived at SanWild that morning where some of the originally trapped lionesses and their offspring trapped illegally in the Timbavati and Klaserie Private Game Reserves adjoining the world famous Kruger National Park. Fences between the reserves and the Kruger Park had been removed and wild animals were free to roam between the reserves at will. Initially the four wild lions were introduced into a private game farm in Hoedspruit where the two large males were hunted. The females remained and eventually gave birth to their cubs. When the male cubs were old enough to be hunted, an illegal hunt was arranged. Fortunately the police criminal investigations unit and the conservation departments who had been investigating the theft of giraffe and rhinos form a nearby provincial reserve stumbled on information about the illegal trapping of the lions and they could be saved in the nick of time. Because of their majestic appearance we decided to name them the Royal Pride.

   

We deeply care for all the SanWild lions and our commitment to them remain for life.

One cannot but help putting your heart and soul into loving and caring for these majestic creatures; their amber eyes, their strong vibrating voices, mighty roars and their love for the rest of their pride members is something that remains in one’s mind and one cannot but wonder how it is possible for anyone to pump these beautiful creatures full of bullets simply to have a trophy and brag about how you killed a lion in Africa. Once life has passed from their bodies and the glow has left their yellow eyes, no beauty remains; only the horrible realization that all pride and strength have gone and only death remains.

For us the lions have always been an inspiration, but hearing their mighty roars in the middle of the night or in the early morning before sunrise, somehow always fills one with sorrow. Sorrow that these creatures can never regain their freedom as they are too habituated to man and because SanWild as a sanctuary is simply not large enough to allow for the release of all 16 lions.

Despite this sorrow we have seen the individual lions pretty content and happy with their large natural habitat enclosures. In a country that has become an extremely dangerous place for all lions – captive bred or wild, we realize that this is the best we can possibly hope to give them for now. As long as they have their families, good food and peace and quiet it certainly goes a long way towards giving them quality of life. Hopefully one day we will be able to secure safe foster homes where the lion prides can be returned to the wild. Daily new reserves are being established and it has always been our intention to release any of the prides to suitable foster homes. Maybe one day their “fairy godmother” will waive her magic wand and make all their wild dreams come true!

For more history on our lion prides please visit our SANWILD LION PRIDES under the Success Stories link.

However in the interim we need to ask for your urgent financial support to reach our yearly budget target ASAP. All donations are appreciated no matter how large or small. From past experience we have learnt that it is the many smaller donations that could truly make the difference between life and death. 

Alternatively direct internet banking transfers or direct deposits can be made into our trust account at ABSA Tzaneen. Account number 9111221180, Branch Code 334349. The swift code for international transfers is ABSAZAJJ. IBan Code: ZA 632005.

SanWild have been approved and registered by the South African revenue service in respect of Section 18A on the income tax exemption act. This means that all company or private donations now made to SanWild are tax deductible under South Africa tax laws. 10% of your taxable income qualifies for this deduction.

Please know that our lion’s lives depend on your kind support. We are merely their custodians and can give them all the love needed, but without your help we cannot provide their most basic need; a full stomach!

Please also know that we would be most grateful if you could find it in your heart to help us during these very difficult financial times. All donations, no matter how big or small are appreciated.

Should you have any questions; or have any suggestions, please email louise@sanwild.org Contact telephone numbers +27 (0) 15-3187900/1 or +27 (0) 83-310-3882