Yesterday I went to Lion Park, a zoo of sorts on the edge of Johannesburg - this place is detested by genuine animal-lovers and conservationists because eighty lions are kept in captivity for no particular reason except to make money - although the staff claimed when I asked that the first lions to be kept there were saved from the wild - and their descendents can no longer be released because they wouldn't survive - they're too tame and don't know how to hunt. They also claim that a number of cubs are "rejected by their mothers" and have to be raised by hand - providing a fantastic opportunity to let visitors get up close and pet them - tame indeed.
The enclosures for the lion prides are pretty big - obviously there are fences around them, but the entrance gates are left wide open for visitors to drive in and out (there are signs up telling you to keep your windows closed, but this isn't enforced - I saw a few people hanging out of their car windows, taking photos). I wondered what was stopping the lions leaving their enclosures - the area outside is full of springbok, impala, zebras, giraffes, humans, etc - so it looked as though they could practise a bit of hunting just for the hell of it if they felt like it. Lo and behold, I saw a group of lions wandering towards an exit gate... One of the park staff - with NO PROTECTION - walked up to them and told them to go back in, patting them and tickling them under the ears to encourage them to go with him. The lions accepted this and followed him back in to the enclosure. At one point a young lion took a run and jumped up at him, nearly flattening him - the guy staggered and cuffed the lion back - all good clean fun, it seemed, but at this point I was expecting to see an unscheduled snack for this particular group of carnivores. Not quite that tame, surely?
3 comments:
What a Xmas Eve experience! They look quite sweet like kittens:-)
Yes it's an incredible thrill to stroke a lion! - even a baby one - but their enormous paws show that they're going to grow a LOT bigger - and the fact that the keeper in the cub enclosure has a can of mace hanging from her belt implies that even these little ones might turn nasty...
Maybe these folks are just asking for trouble; like that young hippy amateur who got eaten by an old starving bear in Alaska. That young idjut had no idea whatthehell he was doing. I'm convinced his head was filled with cotton candy about wild animals. I love carnivores too just as much as he does--
but my head is filled with reality about carnivores are carnivores are carnivores are animals are animals are animals are not humans are not humans are not humans are not humans
IZZ THEY'RE NOT KITTENS!!
SEE ABOVE!!!!!
WAKE UP & SEE THE HIPPY & THE HIPPY'S GIRLFRIEND IN THE BEAR'S STOMACH
We CAN live with them but people just have to grasp the concept of "species," "different species,"
Izz needs to learn from Cesar Milan & that man who lives with Wolves in England & from the Horse Whisperer so that Izz learns the language in particular the Body Language of other Animals, of other species. I agree with Cesar Milan when he says that when we humanise animals it causes such intense problems & so many problems for the animals & for us - it's disastrous! All that we have to remember & keep in our minds is that we're homo sapiens, they're not.
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