Currently over 8 000 predators, mostly lion and cheetah, are being held in captivity in South Africa to be used in canned hunting as well as exploitative tourism activities such as cub petting, ‘walking with lions’ and volunteer tourism. By interacting with ‘wild’ animals in captivity, you are contributing to the never-ending cycle of cruelty and abuse. It is important to note that these same animals you interact with may well have been bred under intensive agricultural conditions and if they are not shot in a hunt, could end up as part of the lion bone trade.

AFRICA’S BEST ADVENTURES is a proud signatory of the Blood Lions ‘Born To Live Wild’ tourism campaign and pledge. We have committed to promote and encourage Africa as an authentic, wild and responsible tourism destination and therefore do not support any breeders or facilities that offer interactive wildlife activities. In addition, we support the conservation efforts of the recognized conservation community. Captive-bred and hand-reared predators have no conservation value at all.

In most instances, these predator facilities are nothing more than slick commercial operations. To fully understand the cycle of brutality, see the various stages below:

The Life Cycle of Captive Bred Lions

STOLEN: Generally lion cubs born in captivity are removed from their mothers when they are between 3 and 10 days old and are misleadingly passed off as ‘orphans’ or ‘rescues’. This practice forces the females back into intense breeding cycles where they can give birth up to 4 times faster than lionesses in the wild. Watch “The Life Cycle of a Captive Bred Lion”

CUB PETTING: These cubs are often hand reared, bottle-fed and petted by paying volunteers and tourists who are made to believe that they are helping these ‘orphaned’ lion cubs so that they can be released back into the wild. Nothing could be further from the truth. These cubs grow up without a fear of humans, are unable to hunt on their own in the wild and are often severely genetically compromised due to inbreeding. Because of this, the entire conservation community has made it clear that hand-reared, tame lions have no conservation value as they cannot be reintroduced back into the wild. Watch “Wildlife Volunteers – Conservation or con?”

LION WALKS: When the cubs grow bigger and become too dangerous for intense handling, they are moved or sold to facilities that offer ‘walking with lion’ activities. These sub adult lions are trained, often in the same way as circus animals, to climb trees and pose for ‘selfies’ with paying tourists. Watch “Should we be petting cubs and walking with lions?”

CANNED HUNTING: Once the lions become too old and boisterous to be in contact with humans, many are sold to canned hunting facilities where the lions are shot and killed in confined enclosures by trophy hunters. Others may be sold to traders as breeding stock for new facilities or into private collections around the world. Watch “What is Canned Hunting?”

LION BONE TRADE: The cycle of exploitation is completed with the lion bone trade. Lions in captivity will often be euthanized or slaughtered in order for their bones to be exported to Asia. The bones are used to supplement the tiger bone trade and are used as a substitute for Tiger Bone Wine or to be made into Tiger Bone ‘Cakes’. Watch “What is the Lion Bone Trade?”

As a result of the above, we ask visitors to southern Africa to PLEASE think before they visit, cuddle, walk or volunteer with our wildlife.

The Blood Lions website has a wealth of information on the captive predator breeding industry if you would like to do some more research.