When I first mentioned to the children that we were going to spend a couple of nights at a Big Cat sanctuary, they were the picture of perplexed. Turns out, they thought "big cat sanctuary" meant a lot of kitty cats, as opposed to the larger species found in Africa. Once we cleared that up, everyone was pretty excited to check out a place where they promise you go to the sleep to the sounds of lions roaring.
You really do. The lions are loud. Lion's Rock was purchased by an organization called Four Paws that has the objective of rescuing large (wild) animals that have been abandoned by zoos or safari parks. Tom has written up a bit about the organization, and I'll post that tomorrow, but for today, we'll focus on the 'tourist experience' part of the sanctuary. The rooms and lodge are located on a hill, so you overlook the "parkland" area.
Lion's Rock was originally (before Four Paws purchased it) what they call a "canned hunting" park. The basic concept is that large animals are raised for the expressed purpose of trophy hunting. The animals are raised and hunted all in the same area. Not my cup of tea at all. I have no problem with "hunting" where a person heads out and kills something that they are going to then eat, but the whole idea of "trophy hunting," where the purpose is to show off that you can kill something ostensibly bigger and more dangerous than yourself doesn't really work for me.
The facility was quite nice, with large comfortable rooms, a nice restaurant, a pool for the children and a staff that was very passionate about the rescue work they do.
And the rescue work is fascinating. In a nutshell, Four Paws rescue lions (and tigers and other large cats) that have been abused and abandoned around the world and transfers them to live out their natural lives in this sanctuary. Four Paws is active around the world in many large animal rescues, including bears across Europe as well as elephants, and different species of apes and monkeys.
The morning after we arrived, we did the "game drive," which is really a tour of the facility that takes about two hours. You could certainly do this every day, and even twice a day, if you were a passionate photographer, or were just interested in seeing how the animals on the property move about.
The property is dotted with herds of "prey" animals, although, they are quite safe from the resuced big cats, because, the cats are kept in large enclosures and not allowed to hunt. Which might elicit a "Wait, what?" from you, but do let me offer an explaination.
The big cats that live here were all bred in captivity and have absolutely no skills for living in the wild. Many were hand raised and some spent their entire lives on concrete floor cages. There is no animal here that would have survived had they been "released" to the wild. They are classified as captive animals, and as such, it is not legal for the sanctuary to provide them with live game to hunt. Instead, all of the cats are fed twice a week on dead cows from neighboring farmers.
As you can see, the lions, who are social animals, are kept in groups. This "cage bridge" was originally built with the idea that tourists would be able to walk to the middle of the enclosure and photograph the lions through the glass panels that end the tunnel. Unfortunately, the glass panels cracked upon installation. There is apparently an ongoing debate with the manufacturer and installer, but the net is that tourists aren't currently using the cage.
The lions themselves give the impression of contentment. That is, they were doing the exact same thing lions on larger parks would be doing on a hot day: sleeping.
It is possible to stay in the area and come in for a day tour; apparently feeding days are quite popular, as people seemingly enjoy watching the lions eat dead cows. As someone who marveled at a lion eating a kudu not so very long ago, I get how that could be compelling. However, as someone who marveled at a lion eating a kudu not so very long ago, I was just as glad we had missed feeding day: it would have been crowded and our guide would not have had as much time to answer my questions.
And what do we have here? One of these things is not like the other.
Four Paws is instrumental in rescuing large animals in distress all over the world. They have been very involved in rescuing "dancing bears" across Eastern Europe (and are part of the reason this practice is now illegal in many countries), so while a tiger clearly does not belong in Africa, Lion's Rock was a fine place for this one to end up. There are several tigers at the sanctuary, living out their days in solitary splendor, as tigers, unlike the lions, really prefer to be alone.
This individual was hand raised, and is quite acclimated to humans. He came up to the fence while we were there, and not only has no fear, but our guide described him as an animal who "enjoys" human company. I find that notion fairly terrifying, because, in my opinion, humans and tigers really don't belong together for any reason, but he is living out his life in an an environment that seems comfortable for him.
So, interesting, and quite thought provoking. The expense of opening this facility plus transporting animals from Europe is phenomenal. The facility itself was actually relatively cheap in the whole course of events, but maintenance, buying dead cows, and transport costs when the fly animals in adds up quickly. The lodge helps support the facility, and the Four Paws organization actively fund raises to support their costs.
Why thought provoking? We had just come from Lesotho, remember, and when you consider how much it costs to educate a child in Lesotho, versus the cost of flying lions in from Bulgaria, well, it certainly gave me pause. I am not suggesting that this facility should not exist, nor am I suggesting that these animals, some of whom lived lives that must have been tortuous before they came here (I saw the video - I'm not exaggerating), don't deserve a happy ending. But, the world is full of inequalities and problems to be solved. It's all good fodder for chatting with the children, and keeping their privileged world in perspective.
Next: Tom Gives More Background on Four Paws
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