In line with the mission of World Animal Day on 4 October, young South Africans have stepped up to raise welfare standards and conserve our collective wildlife heritage, starting in South Africa… writes Louzel Lombard Steyn. A new generation of conservationists are on the rise and on World Animal Day, young leaders have called for […]

The High Court of South Africa has dismissed the appeal filed by Zanchieta Wild Cat Farm against the judgment of Honourable Ms Justice Mokgohloa concerning Zanchieta’s inclusion in the award-winning Blood Lions documentary; and instructed Zanchieta to pay Blood Lions’ legal costs. Blood Lions’ documentary feature film – which blows the lid off claims made […]

Three people have declined to serve on a government panel. That’s not exactly news. But, given who they are and the panel on to which they were invited, their refusal has exposed major fault lines in South Africa’s treatment of wild animals.   The high-level panel was set up by the Minister of Environmental Affairs, […]

A Swiss man living in South Africa who fashions himself as a kind of lion whisperer and says his mission is “to  bring animals into people’s hearts” is coming under attack for his behavior with lions and his posts on social media, especially after a video surfaced a few days ago of him hitting one […]

In fantastic news for wildlife conservationists – and for rhinos and lions – the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, announced today that it will no longer be offering cub petting to the public, with immediate effect. The Reserve has been popular with local and international tourists for 30 years […]

Judgment was handed down in the Pretoria High Court, South Africa, today regarding the controversial lion bone export quotas from South Africa. The Court ruled in favour of the NSPCA, finding that the setting – by the Minister of Environmental Affairs – of the annual quotas in 2017 and 2018 was unlawful, constitutionally invalid, and […]

Imagine walking through a lush tropical forest. You hear a rustle overhead, and a half-eaten fruit plops onto the trail. You lock eyes with a howler monkey, before he gives a soft grunt and moves higher into the trees. These magical, fleeting connections with a wild animal can be the highlight of a holiday. Wildlife […]

A South Africa without lions is unimaginable – an iconic species of the Big Five. But we could face a world without these magnificent African ambassadors… as the breeding of lions for commercial purposes continues to flourish, warns Four Paws, one of the largest welfare organisation in South Africa, fighting for the protection of our […]

Find out more about where South Africa has been and get some insight into where it could be going with this eclectic list of some of the best non-fiction local movies on Showmax. 1. The Boers at the End of the World (Available to Expats too) Argentina’s Patagonian region is home to an Afrikaans-speaking community. […]

The world’s leading lion scientists argue that captive predator breeding has no conservation value. Successful reintroduction from captivity into the wild among large felids is extremely rare. Nonetheless, the captive predator breeding industry in South Africa operates on the pretext that reintroduction to the wild is a viable strategy and that it contributes to broader […]

South African conservationist Gareth James Legg and his team have just returned from a very successful expedition to Everest base camp where they created some incredible awareness around the plight of the world’s big cats and the environment. During the trek the three passionate South African conservationists – who are all qualified safari guides – […]

Hope abounds for South Africa’s lions as a new Parliamentary report has called for an end to captive lion breeding in South Africa! The news has been welcomed by local and international conservationists and NGOs, and the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Phillemon Mapulane, has been praised for his part in getting the […]

Nineteen lions were allegedly shot last week in South Africa, and another 80 could soon be killed in the Free State. All apparently for the lion bone trade. The news was broken yesterday by Blood Lions, a campaign that aims to bring an end to canned hunting and the exploitative breeding of lions and other […]

One of the most mind-blowing things about South Africa is its wildlife… writes Phil Maloney. Have you ever watched the National Geographic channel on TV? It’s like that, but with the added thrill of getting malaria (for real – if you go to the Kruger Park, take malaria medication). There are kabillions (rough estimate – […]

TV soap stars from ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’, who are currently on a promo trip to South Africa, have removed photos they had shared of themselves petting lion cubs and other bred captive animals. Animal conservationists had been shocked by the photos which showed the stars – Heather Tom, Karla Mosley and Jacob Young […]

Conservationists have been shocked and horrified by photos posted to Instagram by stars of TV soap, ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’, that show the CBS celebrities petting captive bred lions and cheetahs in South Africa. Paul Tully, from Captured in Africa Foundation, says: “This is another shocking example of lack of research and outright naivety […]

Another cheetah attack in South Africa has emerged, making world news this weekend with Britain’s tabloid ‘The Sun’ headlining it “cheet-ing death”. A Chinese exchange student, Peggy Lio from Macau, was attacked during an arranged cheetah encounter at Emdoneni Lodge and Cheetah Project. Watch video below. The attack reportedly occurred last month, the day before […]

In September 2016, CITES* met in Johannesburg for CoP17 – a meeting of member states to clarify and review trade in endangered species. One particular talking point was met with shock and condemnation from the conservation world – South Africa would be permitted to legally trade in captive bred lion bones – against the general […]

Today marks the advent of World Lion Day – the first global campaign to not only celebrate the majestic animals, but to highlight the dire danger they are in as their numbers decline daily and they could face extinction in the wild by 2050. Only an estimated 20,000 lions remain in the wild, with some […]

A lion conservation group has come out against a lion-breeding and cub-petting facility in Limpopo where pictures were allegedly taken of lions that are starving, and it has been suggested that as these facilities come under increasing pressure to stop their activities, a similar fate may face as many as 8,000 captive-bred lions in South Africa. Drew […]

On the anniversary of the death of a lion in Zimbabwe, which was known to researchers as ‘Cecil’, Four Paws organisation has taken stock of the trophy hunting situation. One year ago, on 1 July 2015, “Cecil” the Lion was killed by an American trophy hunter in Zimbabwe. The circumstances surrounding his death exposed the excesses […]

This week saw a South African win an award for his searing documentary, another magical multitudinous meditation on the beach in Cape Town and the opening of a hot new design centre in downtown Johannesburg. Plus much more. Remembering Cecil – March in London South African opponents of hunting, canned hunting and petting of lion cubs march […]

Two of the most popular wildlife videos on YouTube, watched millions of times already, are of grown men playing with lions as if they were their pet kitties. The scenes of human-animal love are so intoxicating, it makes everyone want to go out and do the same, walk with a lion, pet a cute little cub. […]

Everybody’s heard of Africa’s “Big Five”…but not everybody identifies the animals that belong in that Big 5 group correctly. Ask around in your office. Most foreigners – even South Africans sometimes – will confidently trot out “rhino, elephant, lion…” and then they get stuck. Animals like hippo, cheetah, wildebeest, hyena and even giraffe and gorilla […]

The Lion Park has reportedly confirmed tonight that the lion which fatally attacked a female tourist in the South African park today will not be put down. There have been a frenzy of tweets on Twitter since the news broke this afternoon that a 22-year-old American tourist was mauled to death by a lion which bit her through […]