LOVE LIONS ALIVE by Andi Rive

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...

Putting my actions in line with my beliefs? Taai and Mela look out from atop a boulder at LLA My heart was torn between the two courses of action. My own lion loves, Taai and Mela could have cubs. In nature these lions would be free to mate and breed. My mission statement is to give them the most natural living conditions lions can have in captivity. Where do I draw the line, how do I decide who gets to live here, how is it that I get to decide, Playing God? To sterilise or to allow nature to fulfill Mela's need to nurture. Everyday I walk in the veld under the condemning sun. My legs ache with weakness my chest constricts in breathless quakes. Yet the joy I feel at seeing Natacha rolling and rubbing against Moya, the relief I feel on observing Shannon gazing across the valleys as Reign bounds up to lie on the boulder alongside of him; the deep sigh I emit when Taai and Mela touch foreheads, makes it all worthwhile  Love fills my unfit soul. These lions have come fro...