Apr 30 2008
more food for thought
An even shorter (but not and sweet) post today. What do you as readers think of the idea of rescuing lions from Romania and flying them to Africa? I would be very interested to hear your views. Call it a snap survey….
By the way, refer to comments on the previous post, for my rambling response to Wim.
17 responses so far
Seamus, So many questions… By “rescue” do you mean with the hopes of them eventually being released into the wild? Where are they coming from? circuses and zoo’s? Would these lions benefit the gene pool of the wild population? What kind of costs would be incurred? I’m all for rescuing any animal in bad conditions, but with resources spread so thin (especially at this time) would the benefits out way the costs?
Sorry about that last post. I was in a rush to catch a bus and a million questions popped into in my head all at once.
I had a few minutes on the bus to reflect on your question… If they need rescuing, then yes! If it can be done, then it should.
I would love to hear more details…
Interesting questions indeed, both from Seamus and Lisa. I must admit my first off the top of my head response, without reading the article about the Lion rescue, was flippant: “Oh give them to some celebrity to raise on their New Mexico/Arizona/Wherever Neverland of a Graceland in luxury in the US of A. Maybe it will distract forementioned celebrities from rushing off to Africa and adopting “orphans” to feed their mother-of-god delusions….”
But then I read the article and saw where those lions ended up and, uncharacteristically, I thought a little bit. I considered the notion of those lions becoming “educational ambassadors.” And I saw that there could, maybe, be some positive outcomes here. For everybody: animal rights activists, conservationists, indigenous peoples movements, tourism, photographers, dreamers, journalists and even the Eastern Cape parasites who can now colonize these freshly de-bugged imports. Fresh meat everybody!
The rescued lions have been put in an award winning private game reserve in the Eastern Cape Province, the most economically challenged province, of South Africa. I am sure this esteemed establishment paid some towards their relocation there. (because I did start to compute some of the relocation costs and equate that to Oh say a Lion Guardian salary, but the numbers got too complex and I didn’t have answers as to who was picking up which tabs anyway……)
The best possible outcomes are several: the lions are in a more natural setting for them. I mean lion cubs with enteritis in dumpsters. That just isn’t pretty. Lions in an African setting: now the picture gets a bit better. They will, once the healing has begun, get to be seen by visitors from all over the world, some of them heads of state, some just rich and others maybe less so but i don’t dounbt that all these people end up at that game reserve because they are genuinely interested in knowing more about the continent and experiencing it’s diversity of people and ecosystems. Safely. The important word. Safety. This game reserve provides the African Experience safely. No malaria. No surprises. (Correct me if I am wrong but didn’t Charles and Harry and Wills stay at this particular Eastern Cape private game reserve when they popped in?)
Yes, going to Afica and seeing lions is important. So too are those dollars and Euros and British Pounds which the visitors bring into the Southern tip of the continent. And the infrastructure and the jobs for locals that their visits require. If a rescued lion can pose for a photo op in Shamwari, bring him on! Lions in Africa. That is what the people want. let the people decide, as good comrade Che said.
Later we will deal with the identity issues Alas! poor Brutus might have when he realizes that he is just another discarded circus act, just like the rest of us, scattered all over the world by the indifferent hand of destiny, no longer knowing where home is or if we are even out of the cage.
Oh and if you have lost the plot with this comment, two words: “educational ambassadors”.
Since I would take a bullet in the chest to thwart a hunter from killing any animal, what do you think I would decide, about these three lions. If given the chance, I would have rescued them too, for my sanity as well as theirs. I owe “them”, animals are the only reason I’m still here on this planet. My love for all creatures, has been the only constant in my life. My one true love!
I didn’t notice the link to the story. Now that I have read it I have to say yes, they should have been rescued. I can’t stand the thought of them suffering.
All,
These are interesting responses. And its great to hear that there are diverse opinions within the readership of this blog.
Lisa and Theresa, I kind of knew what your responses would be… perhaps this was a rhetorical excercise on my part. Animal welfare / animal advocacy is certainly a reason to want to remove Alaspoorbrutus and his furry friends from their situation. As an african I would not wish to have to live in Romania, let alone in a cage, in Romania, not allowed to perform in the circus anymore.
kd has a good point. I should have mentioned that the eastern Cape is one of the poorest provinces of South Africa and desperately needs the jobs. And well, if you have to put pussycats in captivity, Shamwari is about the best there is. I recently drove all the way along the western boundary fence, along a regional road, and it seems that its a reputable institution.
Perhaps I sometimes lapse into the romantic (erroneous?) notion that wildlife conservation should entail conservation of wild places. I find I have to remind myself that conservation happens in a gradient of human-dominated landscapes, ranging from absolute wilderness to large encosures on game farms as found in South Africa.
As for the “used-up circus act…” there was some famous guy who said something a while back about all the word being a stage… Alaspoorbrutus and his Furry Friends are playing their part just like we are. Lets hope they have some fun while on safari.
ps. Lisa I gather that they will be released into a large enclosure where they will live for the rest of their lives. The costs incurred would be considerable, and I think the decision as to whether this is sensible or not is quite subjective.
I know that conservation dollars need to be spent where they will do the most good in the long run, but when it comes to cats my heart always overides my head.
Lisa, your heart and brain are working just fine. By rescuing these lions, attention was called to their deplorable conditions. The first step towards shutting these hell holes, down. Too bad some of Romania’s dancing bears, were not rescued as well. Seamus, I too knew what your response would be. We all grapple with where our donations go. Wildlife rescue centers or conservation of wildlife in the wild. If more people gave a damm, our decisions would not be so painful. We do what we can, knowing it will never be enough. Ranger support or feeding a captive chimp. Planting trees or building more cages. Setting aside land for wildlife or treating sick gorillas. I try to do both categories. I can not make a “Sophie’s Choice” but I certainly see the validity for those that do.
It’s interesting how conservation projects and issues have developed over my forty-five year lifetime from focusing on preserving single wildlife species to conserving environment and ecosytstems and, recently, to maintaining the ecology of the biosphere. In some ways this relocation feels almost like it belongs to an earlier time, decent but nothing to do with modern conservation or the issues raised daily on this site. Though the story concludes in South Africa the original problems really have nothing to do with South Africa at all.
I suppose the true underlying issue is the validity of private international collections of exotic animals and Zoos and whether they operate well as valid scientific institutions or solely as menageries. The answer, I suppose, is a bit of both, local sideshow funding academic and practical work worldwide. Some do it well, maintaining genetic databases and breeding programmes leading to improved veterinary knowledge and reintroductions where populations become ever more isolated or depleted (and we may need them more and more), while others are just for entertainment. Both are valid, both are inspirational, sometimes recreational, and educational, it’s just whether they are humanely run according to the standards of their locality.
Informative though, in highlighting how much things have evolved (if not resolved), in the conservation and wider world.
Should add, that as it difficult as it is for us to decide who to support, it is doubly difficult, for bloggers, to ask for our help, in the first place.
I know just what you mean Theresa. Sometimes it’s hard to decide where my small donations should go. Tigers have always been number one, followed by the rest of the cats, but then there’s the gorillas, elephants, giraffes… I just have to see a picture of a baby orangutan suffering to make me decide I really don’t need a new pair of shoes.
BTW Seamus… Definately NOT an erroneous notion. I have a real passion for our old growth forests (you’ve seen how beautiful it is here), but it seems right now we’re cutting them down for toilet paper and our current government is hell bent of giving the ANWR to Conoco and ExxonMobile. Even better, we’re about to start killing off the wolvesthat so many people struggled to save. The attitude seems to be: Oh well, the animals can’t go extinct if we have them in zoo’s, right? Besides, if we kill off the coyotes they wont dig in the trash and the trees will grow back!
If these are the two lion cubs I’m thinking about, that the Born Free org helped relocate, I actually contributed toward their rescue. I’m sure they could have been relocated to a zoo in England or elsewhere in Europe, but they had a chance at a better quality of life at Shamwari.
Having been involved directly in a similar lion rescue taking an illegally imported lioness from the Middle East to Shamwari, I can say that YES!! it definately is worth all the expense and effort. To see the amazing recovery of a desperately weak and distressed captive lion cub into a healthy, naturally ‘wild’ young adult (within the boundaries of her sanctuary) was little short of a miracle. Shamwari is a top resort for the rich tourist but the sanctuary land is donated by en entrepreneur who wants to give something back to the wildlife. Its a fantastic place and has a great educational value in teaching tourists something about the draedful conditions captive animals are forced to endure. Each and every animal is important.
[…] almost a month, and we recently received another contribution to discussion around my post titled “food for thought” Fascinating, as its one of the shortest posts I’ve ever done, but its evoked the most […]
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