LOVE LIONS ALIVE by Andi Rive

PART 1 of CUBS THROUGH MY LIFE On the 10th day of December 2011 Five stars fell into my life and my life was changed forever. I had never looked after lions before that time. I had not dreamed of caring for lions, not harboured a desire to do so nor ever planned to try to do so. The birth of the STAR Pride was an unheralded but totally fortuitous event. Nursing Tindra Sienna as a newborn The first 2 STARS where born on the morning of the 10th December to a mother called Shanti. She had been in a fight and was flat on her side, bleeding profusely when she gave birth prematurely to a tiny female cub. The first one had already been birthed when Taiga and I got to Shanti. I had been walking out on the land. I had risen at sunrise with a nagging question eating away at me. Should I stay at the lion farm or should I go home to the Cape as planned? We had only come to the farm to help for 2 weeks and were due to leave the following morning. I would be leaving the farm with...

Let me tell you about Carl... On a walk in the mountain Looking out over the valley Would I be prepared to take a lion cub of approximately 7 weeks of age who was a pet to a woman who could not deal with this lion as it turned out that he scratched and he bit? On July 12th 2016 he was transported to a farm an hour away from me and 3 hours away from where he lived. He traveled in a cat box (domestic cat size). I arrived at the meeting point and lifted him out of his box, I snuggled him into my arms and told him, 'don't you worry little one, I've got you'. I asked the lady why he was so pale, she replied in an incredulous tone that it was because he was a white lion...Dha, how could I not know that, but the thing was, he was so dirty I had honestly not been able to tell that he was white, I had questioned his lack of cub spots and stripes, but thought him to be tawny. Later that day I began washing him with warm water as I held him closely in my lap. It...

 Fetching carcasses for the lions    I’m sitting on a log in the shade of a shed on a game farm in Zululand, writing whilst carcasses are being loaded onto the truck. I don't have a photo which captures the beauty of the landscapes I describe. So here I am writing this blog. It was Woman’s Day, a National holiday, but I had been called to collect 2 dead cows down in Kwa-Zulu Natal. I very reluctantly left Bell Street where I was spending the midweek holiday with Shanead. My parents were in Jhb where my Dad was both consulting with his patients as well as consulting a heart specialist about his own symptoms and Phillipa was helping my sister Chantal with her divorce case. So Shanead was alone and we were enjoying the time in a proper house. She was cooking lunch for the two of us and at the same time working on a Biology project at the kitchen counter. Before leaving I needed to ascertain whether it was necessary for me to take the trailer or if the cows were s...

A Time When I Was So Alone & Now A Time In Which I Have Found Help (Bridging the gap) In my loneliness, I have investigated why the term Heartbroken became a term. What I have discovered is that one's heart physically feels pain as if broken. The term could quite equally have been heartcracked. Heartshattered. Heartcrumpled. Heartsquashed. Heartconstricted. Heartsmothered. The other words I have physically explored are Panic, Desperation, Anxiety, Fear, Trust, Betrayal, Love, Responsibility. I can quite assuredly say that they are all words which can be felt through the human body. Knowing that one's failure affects the lives of innocent beings is almost too painful a situation to bear. There was a time in which I cried out, were there no other people out there who care to see these lions remain alive? This sounds like a Greek tragedy and for that I feel embarrassed. I stepped bravely into this world of lions, the reason being, I believe, was that I had no actual r...

A time when my heart used to walk around outside of me. Today is Taai’s 4 th birthday. I actually had to count the years this morning because although I woke up knowing that it is his 4 th birthday, I couldn’t believe it. How have 4 whole years gone by since he came into my life? Taai On the 26 th October 2013 a Lioness called Angel of Fire gave birth to 6 cubs. This is considered a large litter. Lions only have 4 nipples so 4 of the 6 cubs would comfortably suckle at one time whilst two would hungrily root around for a teat but only get to drink if they could nudge another cub off or the other cub had had enough and abandoned her spot.   For the first few days it seemed to be evenly matched with all cubs getting a chance to feed. But as the days progressed, Angel Of Fire would only allow 4 cubs to suckle, with no particular preference, she’d lie still whilst the first 4 cubs latched on but would quickly stand up and shake them all off when the 5...