The Lion Encounter

So....there are a number of questionably ethical activities in Africa.  Exploiting tourists for easy dollars with little to no concern for animal welfare isn't unheard of...it happens everywhere, including the US.  However, the Lion Encounter is a very ethical company and the work they do directly helps in conservation of the lions.  They offer tourists the opportunity to walk and pose with a lion cub.  Lion cubs can be from 6 months to 2 years old.  The term "cub" can be somewhat misleading as the cubs in the below photos are 24 months old and are not tiny.  But they haven't reached sexual maturity yet and still like to play with wiggling tree branches (think a larger version of dangling a string in front of your house cat).  The lions are not forced to do the walks.  We are told up front that no guarantees are made and if the lions aren't in the mood...it wasn't going to happen.  Luckily, of the two we had, the male was willing to tolerate our presence.  Lion Encounter is operating African Lion Rehabilitation and Release into the Wild Program on behalf of ALERT.  They operate a 3 stage program.  State one is getting cubs from captive lions that are unable to be released into the wild.  These cubs come in at 6 months old and will be raised by humans.  They are protected at night but during the day they are encouraged to explore their natural instincts and hunt and play the way that lion cubs do.  Also during these 24 months they participate in the tourist walks.  Although not ideal, it doesn't seem to be hurting anything (the cubs already have a lot of human contact) and they aren't forced to participate.  At the age of 24 months, they retire from the walks and are taken to an area where they are allowed to hone their nighttime hunting skills (at this stage they are big enough to not fall victim to other predators).  Once they become self sufficient in the hunting arena, they are moved to a very large reserve with plenty of natural game.  Human contact at this stage is restricted to encourage as much natural behavior as possible.  However, because the lions are used to humans, the presence of humans to study and monitor them doesn't bother them.  Once the lions are moved to these large reserves, they will form prides on their own and make families.  These cubs, the one born in the preserve, will have zero human contact.  At stage 3, the lions will be released into the wild.  To date, no lions have been released into the wild.  Although disheartening, its probably practical and the best case scenario.  Wild lands are shrinking in Africa and the 'wild' isn't nearly as wild as we want to believe.  Development is taking place and most of the large animals are mostly found in reserves where the numbers can be controlled and monitored.  Plus, no one wants lions roaming loose among populated areas.  The company is working trying to find areas to release the lions, but they state 'politics' is always getting in the way.  But if we can have wild lions roaming very large preserves, that's still pretty good.

Here is me walking and posing with the King of the Jungle.  There really isn't jungle here...