I want to see a big cat up close, but should I?
How can we tell if a captive facility is one that we should support or avoid? With so many predator parks calling themselves sanctuaries or claiming to rescue their animals, how can we be certain that the facility is ethical or not?
South Africa has close to 400 captive predator parks, most of which are purely commercial, or at a minimum designed to earn a profit from their animals. This has resulted in an rampant industry that keeps approximately 8,000 lions, 600+ tigers, 500 cheetahs, 300 leopards, and 1,000s of other predators all in captivity.
To help you better understand what unethical and profit-driven predator parks look like, read on to learn more about the captive Red Flags.
Remember: a True Sanctuary does not breed (have baby animals), trade their animals (buy or sell or exchange) or allow any humans (including owners) to interact with (touch, hold or feed) their animals other than for veterinarian reasons, and they offer animals a home for their entire lives in extremely high standards of care. True sanctuaries legitimately rescue captive wild animals from cruel and negligent circumstances, rather than for the purpose of holding the animals captive to earn an income.
The first Red Flags all relate to BREEDING, INTERACTING WITH and KEEPING CUBS. If a predator park has a near constant presence of cubs and other baby predators, it means the facility is breeding with its animals (which a true sanctuary would never do) or they are buying or renting cubs from other breeding facilities.
All of this requires young cubs, as young as only a few days, to be removed from their mothers so they can be bottle fed and handled by paying tourists. This causes enormous distress for the cubs and mother and poses serious health issues for both.
Facilities may tell you that the animals are bred for conservation purposes and ultimately will be released back into the wild. Conservationists and scientists all agree that breeding predators in captivity for tourist attractions is not genuine conservation. Breeding lions in captivity for conservation purposes is not necessary in South Africa as we do not have enough wild habitat for a growing wild lion population.
Very often, tourists are told that the cubs have been orphaned or rejected by their mothers as an excuse to purposely separate them. The reality is much crueler: young cubs generate a steady income stream for the owner and it forces the mother back into oestrus so that she is ready to have more babies.
Captive-bred predators are poorly equipped for a wild existence. For example, they have never learnt to hunt, socialise with their own species, or interact with other wild predators. Unfortunately in South Africa we do not even have enough safe wild space for our population of wild lions, so breeding lions under the guise of conservation is highly misleading. Those animals are ultimately all used for some commercial activity.
Any TRADE (buying, selling or even exchanging) predators is a major Red Flag as it means they are contributing to the cycle of exploitation from cub petting through to captivity and the canned hunting and trade in bones and other body parts. These animals are commoditised at every point in their lives from birth through to death.
Predators are also sold in the live trade to zoos and breeders overseas. This ensures a life in captivity, often in extremely poor welfare conditions and used for tourist interactions. If a facility cannot give their predators a high quality of care for life or if they are sold off to other predator parks and zoos, then these animals are likely to end up in breeding facilities, canned hunts, the bone trade, or passed around captive facilities for the rest of their lives.
To learn more about which facilities you should support, see Wild Choices for more information. The website has an interactive map that you can use to search captive facilities across the country and see whether they engage in any unethical activities.
Animals are sentient and deserve a life that is not only free of cruelty and suffering, but with plenty of opportunities to thrive. Captivity that is driven by entertainment for profit is unethical and cannot fulfil the sentient needs of predators.
If you want to make a genuine contribution to wildlife and conservation, rather view lions and other big cats exactly where they belong – in the wild.
