LOVE LIONS ALIVE by Andi Rive

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...