LOVE LIONS ALIVE by Andi Rive

RESPECT FOR NATACHA I cannot even imagine what Nachi used to see, feel and hear during her life in a travel crate in the circus. What did the people who handled her, who passed her from one tourist to the next; minute after minute after minute, smell like? Where they hot and sweaty? Perfumed? Did they smell of other animals, hotdogs and cotton candy? What does human supremacy smell like? Did they croon to her in soft loving voices or ignore her whilst loudly chatting to each other? What did she hear when they were raising the Big Top or when they had packed up, ready to drive to the next circus location? Men shouting, workers whistling, poles clattering, canvas flapping, metal rattling? I can guess that she saw new sights all of the time. But wait, did she, or was her crate inside a vehicle whilst they traveled? When the circus decamped, was her cage set between canvas walls in an alleyway of guy ropes? Did all the different tourist hands, eyes and faces blur into ...

Bolts are are being bolted and keys turned in locks. The people of South Africa are locking themselves inside their homes as of today. In our case it is a matter of zipping up the tent. I can hear the lions romping and running, their feet pounding on the earth the sound reverberates through the canvas walls. I hear two of them have a tussle, lion moans turn into a few quick growls answered by snarls. Lions do this, they have spats, the thing is that spats from large cats are more intense in sound than that usually heard in alleys. But it is quickly over and the snarls evolve into roars. The royal proclamation is take up by surrounding lions and within seconds, 6 of the lions are in full roar. The baboons answer in a frenzy of screeches. I can hear rocks hitting rocks as the baboons throw smaller ones down onto the boulders below. Birds of a dozen varieties whistle and sing. In fact, as I listen I am amazed at the number of sounds I can here from my lock down spot in the tent. There ...

Let's talk about cubs. They are not pets. Not one single cub should be bred by humans to live a life in captivity. Even if we provide them with hectares of space and give them the highest level of treatment, THEY DO NOT BELONG BEHIND FENCES. Not one more cub! There is no excuse, no legitimate reason, no genetic imperative and no conservation value for breeding cubs in captivity. The lions that already exist in captivity need to be taken care of by us humans in the best way possible. It is criminal that lions are in captivity in the first place, without exacerbating the problem by producing more lions. In my book I look deeply into the mentality behind the breeding of lions into captive situations and the type of people who subject wild animals to lives behind fences. There are people out there who have chosen to keep lions in captivity, who have created breeding facilities and who believe in a policy of imprisoning others for the glorification of self. These people are...