More on 'Wild' Animal Tourism: Walking with Lions

Antelope Park and its site in Zim to re-introduce lions into the wild currently has 104 lions. It seems like a lot of lions to feed and provide humane living environments for. The Park profits from the lions by offering tourists the opportunity to learn about, observe, and intract with lions; e.g., you can pay to watch male lions feed, walk with 1-2 year old lionesses, view lion cubs, accompany a researcher on a viewing of a lion pride, etc. Antelope Park states that it is also attempting to strengthen the numbers of the African lions which have declined from approximately 100,000 in 1975 to 30,000 lions now. For more reading: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/12/06/lion-numbers-plunge-as-african-wilderness-succumbs-to-human-pressure,

Antelope Park has not yet succeeded in strengthening the lion population by reintroducing captive lions. Part of this may be because the strategy to reintroduce captive lions into the wild is an exhaustive and long-term 4 stage process: Stage 1: keep and breed captive lions and introduce these captive lions into the larger natural environment so that they can learn how to hunt; Stage 2: place the best hunters and most dominant captive lions into a pride in a 300 acre enclosure so that they can hunt and kill and have cubs (which have no human contact) and show that they can have a self-sustaining pride without any humans feeding them directly (although the game they eat is introduced into their enclosure); Stage 3: place the pride into a much bigger, patrolled area (to eliminate poachers) with hyenas so that they can cope with a competitive species; and Stage 4: release the cubs born into Stages 2 and 3 into the "wild" (e.g. National Parks where the Parks no longer have lions.)

Antelope Park has only succeeded in creating two Stage 2 sites. And it appears to be 2 years away from a Stage 3 site in the little country of Burundi. Burundi no longer has any lions and is very interested in re-introducing them because of the tourism potential and the role that lions play in the natural environment as a keystone species.

I am torn about what Antelope Park is doing with its lions. If Antelope Park can succeed in reintroducing members of the dwindling species, it will be a great success. But on the other hand, I wonder how they can humanely maintain so many lions. I saw some of the enclosures where the lions live but not many. The enclosures that I saw were probably 60 square feet -- around the size of enclosures that you may see in some zoos. It also again begs the moral question of subjugating wild animals for our purposes. (Discussed in yesterday's blog post)

For some reason, I feel more comfortable with the lion "experiences" than with the elephant "experiences". (For more reading: http://matadornetwork.com/change/is-zimbabwes-lion-encounter-a-misdirected-conservation-program/). Lions are dangerous, and, thus I feel like they may be subsequently less susceptible to abuse.

A lion walk is exactly what it seems, you are out in the bush with 2 lions as they meander. I watched from a few meters away as they stalked and hunted an adult zebra. Antelope Park states that the lion walks are to help these lioness cubs acclimatize to the natural environment and learn to hunt. Obviously the Antelope Park employees are controlling the lionesses (like one would control a dog) in order for tourists to walk in the bush with them. Incidentally, later we heard from a Zimbabwean that he had seen tourists with bite marks and gashes from lion walking. It was adrenaline-inducing to walk with 2 year old, 3-feet lionesses. On the first lion walk, I had a 2 year-old, 3-feet tall lioness charge into me after she was unsuccessful hunting the Zebra, yet experienced no bad consequences and then, the next day, it nuzzled into me for a back rub.

In my cursory time there, Antelope Park seemed to do some things right. For example, it provides opportunities to the communities surrounding it. It provides a lot of good jobs -- I was told that the Park has 110 employees that it seems to treat with respect. The employees appeared to be happy and genuinely enjoy their job. We saw the employees eating the same food as the guests ate and Wilson twice played in the employees' daily afternoon soccer game (his highlight of our time at the Park). We also heard about various community based projects that Antelope Park had or were in the works such as a life-skills center.

Antelope Park illustrates well the viscitudes of the travel backpacker scene, a scene that I am not particularly proud to be part of. The Park offers that "different adventure" while minimizing or eliminating the real danger lions pose. The Park is also a complicated place -- while it subjugates wild animals, it also offers good jobs, participates in the surrounding communities, preserves wild areas, and is attempting to re-introduce captive-bred lions into the wild.