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global movement
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global movement
what is
Youth For Lions is a young, vibrant sub-campaign of Blood Lions®, an international multi-award winning feature film documentary and campaign which sheds light on the South African predator breeding, canned hunting and lion bone trade industries.
We aim to educate you, the young people of the world, about these exploitative industries. We also want to engage with you around how cub petting, walking with predators and volunteering at predator farms is enabling and contributing to the wider captive predator breeding industry in South Africa.
important things you should know
DID YOU KNOW…
… that every single day, 2 to 3 captive bred lions are killed for their bones in South Africa?
learn
about lions
They start off spotty!
Young lions have rosettes and spots on their sandy coats, but these generally disappear as they mature.
Lions weigh almost 200kg!
On average, males weigh 190 kg and females weigh 126 kg. They need this weight and power behind them to hunt large prey and defend their pride.
Lions are big eaters
Lions can eat up to 40kg of meat in a single meal – around a quarter of their body weight. Their tongues have sharp-pointed rasps, called papillae, which are used to scrape meat off the bones.
Lions numbers are low
There are believed to be as few as 20,000 lions left in the wild. In fact, lions have disappeared from more than 90% of their historic range.
Lions roar together
Lions are the only known cat species where individuals roar together – with even young cubs joining in with their mews. Prides often roar together to mark their territory – a roar can be heard from 8 km away.
VISITING PREDATOR PARKS
There is no conservation value in breeding lions and other predators in captivity. We recommend that you visit lions in the wild rather than in captivity. However, if you want to visit a predator park, ask these important questions: Where do the cubs come from? Where are their mothers? Where do the adult lions go?
walking with lions
When lions, tigers and cheetahs have grown too big and boisterous for cub petting, they are still used to make money in ‘lion walking’ activities. These predators are trained (often in similar ways as circus animals) to behave and pose for selfies. When they become too dangerous to interact with humans, they are killed so their bones can be exported to Southeast Asia where they are used in among others traditional medicine. Training predators to pose for photos is NEVER conservation.
VOLUNTEERING
Young volunteers from all around the world believe that they contribute to conservation by hand-raising predator cubs. They often pay large amounts of money to ‘volunteer’ at these facilities, but are told lies that the cubs are orphaned or abandoned. Volunteers are used to tame these animals, making them easier to handle and train. Keep your volunteering wild. Email us if you want to find out more.
cuddling & petting cubs
Who wouldn’t want to cuddle a cute lion cub? All young animals are adorable! The sad truth is that by interacting with lion, tiger and cheetah cubs, you help to tame them, which means that they cannot be released back into the wild. Instead, they are often sold to canned hunting operations. Lion cubs are way cuter with their mums and siblings in the wild.
watch to learn more
how you can help!
PLEDGE
Be part of the change!
SIGN OUR PLEDGE and SAY NO to animal interactions and captive facilities that exploit wildlife.
SUPPORT
Spread the word!
HELP US #CANCELCAPTIVITY by sharing our social media posts with your friends and followers.
EDUCATE
Host a presentation
HOST A YOUTH FOR LIONS screening or presentation and help us spread the message.