Johannesburg - It’s A R100 million decision. That’s how the managers of the controversial Lion and Safari Park have described why they have backtracked on a commitment to stop cub petting at their new premises in North West.
In a letter sent last week to the Campaign Against Canned Hunting (Cach), National Council of SPCAs and the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), they explain why they had to resume cub petting after images surfaced.
But the NSPCA’s Wildlife Unit and the EWT said the Lion and Safari Park was now “confusing” the public.
In 2014, a CBS 60-minutes exposé revealed the Lion Park, then based in Lanseria, bred lions to ensure a supply of cubs year-round. When they reached maturity, they were shipped out to canned-hunting outfits because they were too dangerous to be near tourists.
In a letter to the conservation groups, management said the new Lion and Safari Park, opened on July 16, planned to offer only an ethical lion experience with no cub petting.
“In accordance with our previous undertaking to stop cub petting, this activity was not available when the new park opened.
“We had every intention of running the new park without cub petting and we tried to replace this with other activities.
“Unfortunately, this led to a dramatic and unexpected drop in the number of visitors and tour operators. We were told, in no uncertain terms, the high demand for cub petting was causing them to rather visit our opposition, where such activities were still offered.
“The result was we were not competing on a level playing field and, unless our competitors also stopped the cub petting, the massive R100m investment in our new world-class facility, the survival of our business and the livelihoods of all our staff would be at stake.
“Reluctantly, we had no choice but to temporarily re-introduce cub petting,” management added.
Yolan Friedmann, chief executive of the EWT, said: “While we understand their business challenge, our recommendation was to remain steadfast in their commitment to not confuse the public by saying that some forms of cub petting are okay and for the Lion Park to rather be part of the process of educating the public about the serious pitfalls associated with most captive lion facilities and those that offer cub petting.
“While this may mean a short-term knock to their profitability, we are sure an educated public would be far more appreciative of the Lion Park’s commitment to be part of cleaning up a dubious industry and, in the long run, this will translate into visitors to the park.”
Isabel Wentzel, who runs the NSPCA’s Wildlife Unit, agreed. “Cub petting is done to lure people to these kinds of facilities. This decision by the Lion Park is a money thing.
“There’s a big move from overseas tour companies not to bring tourists to facilities that have interactions with animals like lions, but they (the Lion Park) have a different story about demand for cub petting.”
In its letter, the park stated its lion cubs were never sold to hunters and once cubs were too old for petting, they were kept until they died of natural causes or donated to reputable zoos and parks.
“As soon as this activity becomes illegal, all the players will be in the same position and we will happily stop cub petting forever,” it said.
At the weekend, Linda Park, the Joburg director of Cach, met senior park management, later writing they had set up exceptional facilities but now had a massive mortgage bond.
“The implications of a drastically reduced cash flow meant they would have been in serious financial trouble before the end of the year. “ Park added.
Allison Thomson of Outraged SA Citizens Against Poaching, responded angrily: “I’m shocked and bitterly disappointed by Cach doing an about-face on cub petting.”
Founder of Cach Chris Mercer said: “We are entering into dialogue to achieve our goal of a ban on the breeding of lions in captivity for interaction and canned lion hunting.
Saturday Star