The Lion and Safari Park is once again offering lion cub petting, eNCA reported.
Lion Park spokesman, Whin Booysen, told eNCA the park had sustained financial losses as a result of discontinuing the petting. “We lost vast amounts of tourism without the activity as it is very popular at the park. Lion cub petting is something that all related attractions offer. Everybody is doing it, so we have to keep it. We work very hard and the petting is very popular among our tourists,” he was quoted as saying.
Tourism Update contacted the Lion Park on Tuesday and a member of staff confirmed that the activity had been reintroduced two days ago. However, the staff member could not provide more information on the decision and management could not be reached.
The Lion Park announced earlier this year that it would stop offering lion interactions, including walking with lions and cub petting. It cited negative publicity as the reason for the decision. Soon afterwards, it started marketing cheetah walks.
Paul Tully, Sales and Marketing Manager at Captured in Africa, points out that the NSPCA of South Africa disapprove of interacting with big cats. "there are no wildlife organisations that support cub petting big cats and walking with lions or cheetah experiences as they do nothing for conservation," he says. "Why aren't the Lion Park about animal welfare other than thinking about profits?" he askes.
Tully warns that these lions that are pettedby humans cannot be released into the wild. "Lion Park are simply continuing to breed to supply the tragic and sad demand for cub petting 'cute' lion cubs. Then where do these lions go when they are older? Lions cannot be handled by the public when they reach two years of age," he says. He argues that this is not responsible tourism. "Not only do we have an unethical tourism activity, it's blatantly lying to the general public about the lack of benefits that captive big cats have to the conservation of that species." He also points out that handling a lion should not be considered educational becaus tourists are never meant to handle these animals.
