Lions
are such beautiful, noble animals, aren’t they? When you see one of them
sitting there with their long manes and proud faces, it kind of fills you with
respect. I have a relative who had the opportunity, a number of years ago, to
take a safari in Kenya. She tells me she was fortunate enough to see some
actual lions relaxing under a tree, one day. She had a great thrill to see
them, even from her considerable distance, but she was quite happy to remain
safely in the tour bus.
Well,
as it turns out, not everyone sees it quite that way. Some people look at these
amazing creatures and see money. Lots and lots of money. And they’ll do
anything to get their hands on it.
Lion
poaching and is a serious and well-known problem. Do you remember the great upset
that was raised, last year, over the death of Cecil the Lion? He was an African
lion living in a Zimbabwe wildlife sanctuary. He had made a bit of a name for
himself as a tourist draw and as the respected subject of university studies. In
July of 2015, Cecil was killed by a touring American sports hunter and his
guides. The lion somehow ended up out of the safety of the sanctuary and where
he was wounded. Then, some hours later, he was killed.
The
response, both online and directly towards the sports hunter, clearly
demonstrated people’s strong displeasure with the needless killing of our
beautiful wildlife.
Well,
charges were laid against the guides, the tourist is no longer welcome to hunt
in Africa, Zimbabwe put a temporary ban on trophy hunting, and a new American
Law has granted the lions protection. Now the government can ban or restrict
the importation of trophies or live cats.
So we should all
be tap-dancing and jumping with glee, right?
Well,
we should. But there’s always a catch.
In
the last couple days, administrators of the park have announced that, as a
direct result of Cecil’s death and the subsequent outcry, big game hunting has
dropped so drastically that they now have too many lions. They’re saying they
may have to destroy as many as 200 lions to balance things out!
Can
these poor cats never get a break?
But
you don’t know the half of it.
In
the last few months, an animal rescue group had to rescue 33 lions from an
illegal circus in Peru. The lions were living several to a very small cage.
Many were emaciated from malnutrition and some even had their teeth knocked out
and their claws removed so they would have no means of self-defense as they
were being “trained.” There were many medical conditions uncovered.
Much
of the attention is being given to a stately, older male who’s been living in
captivity most of his live. While in the Peruvian circus, the lion developed a
cataract in one eye. It is, by all accounts, a treatable condition, but his
previous captors didn’t get him the medical care he needed. The cataract was
allowed to develop freely for way too long. By the time he was freed, the poor
animal was blind in the one eye.
On
top of all that, the lion’s previous captors didn’t give him a proper name.
They simply addressed him as “blind”. That kind of says something about their
feelings towards these animals.
You’ll
be happy to hear his new caregivers have provided him with a new name. You may
now address him as “Joseph”. Now, that’s much better.
The
lions were flown out of Peru and off to an African wildlife sanctuary, where
lionesses were reunited with cubs and the young ones found out what it’s like
to romp around once again.
That’s
a happy ending for them. Now we’ll just have to wait for the day when those
lions can, once again, simply relax in the shade of that Kenyan tree and be
quietly admired from a respectful distance.
Photo by Daughter#3
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