As the issue of canned hunting of lion becomes more and more publicised, let’s give a thought to one of the first, if not the first, private organisations to get involved to stop it – SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary. Canned hunting, for anyone who doesn’t know yet, is the managed hunting in confined spaces of lion […]

The video hoax of a German tourist annoying a game ranger highlighted how crucial it is to find the right job….and how important it can be to know your bush etiquette when you’re out on safari. As a South African safari guide, based in Tanzania, I have to admit there are a few slightly annoying things that happen over and over […]

The term ‘canned hunting’ probably leaves many people scratching their heads. But for the folks behind Campaign against Canned Hunting (CACH) – who are holding the Global March for Lions this Saturday in Johannesburg – it’s a deadly business. The theme behind this year’s march, which will take place outside the Lion Park in Lanseria, […]

Most of us in South Africa are aware that as cute as it sounds, cuddling a lion cub is a no no. It just feeds the ‘Canned Hunting’ industry (where lions that are no longer cute are turned in to soft targets for wealthy hunters to kill). But did you know that taking part in […]

South Africa’s legendary Lion Whisperer Kevin Richardson has received two rescued lion cubs from Spain…and it’s clear from the video on this page that the cubs couldn’t be in better hands. A few hours ago Richardson posted the following excited message on his facebook page: “THE CUBS ARE HERE, THE CUBS ARE HERE!! Meet George and […]

Following the Australian Brumbies’ tour of South Africa in May this year, super rugby player Clyde Rathbone wrote about the realisation of his own “complicity in the exploitation of Africa’s wildlife” after he and his team mates visited a lion park in South Africa. His article – highlighting the plight of many cubs who will be taken […]

There was a phenomenal turn out in Cape Town today for the Global March for Lions. The Mother City was one of 60 cities around the world that participated in this March against the shameful South African industry that keeps over 8,000 lions in captivity for breeding and hunting. Animal activists united together and marched […]

People in cities across the world – from Hong Kong and Brisbane to Paris, London, LA and Kampala  – will be marching to save South Africa’s lions on Saturday 15th March 2014. The Global March for Lions, which will take place around South Africa as well, has been initiated by local wildlife activists who wish […]

In response to the outrage sparked by photos of American TV celebrity Melissa Bachman gloating behind a lion she killed in South Africa, a retired professional hunter speaks exclusively to SAPeople about the well-meaning but potentially dangerous implications of the flurry of anti-hunting social media campaigns. More than 430,000 people have signed a petition calling […]

“Lions, Bones & Bullets” is a new documentary that sheds light onto South Africa’s controversial commercial captive lion industry and follows the wildlife trafficking trail to Laos and Viet Nam. British author Richard Peirce talks to lion farmers and hunters in South Africa who are exporting lion bones to Southeast Asia for the traditional medicine […]

Today is World Lion Day (10 August) – a day to celebrate one of Africa’s most iconic species and to raise awareness on conservation issues globally. Lions are recognised worldwide for their importance not only from a nature conservation and ecological perspective, but also symbolically, culturally and in terms of tourism. The significance and dignity […]

Safari lovers around the world have two weeks left for a chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime safari experience in South Africa with the country’s famous ‘Lion Whisperer’ Kevin Richardson. It’s a great opportunity for expats who are missing home – to not only win a holiday back in SA, but to also be helping ensure […]

Environment Minister Barbara Creecy’s report on the use and protection of SA’s iconic wildlife was groundbreaking… writes DON PINNOCK from Daily Maverick. But is there the political will to turn its recommendations into policy? At the launch of the far-reaching report on the management of lions, elephants, rhinos and leopards by Environment Minister Barbara Creecy’s […]

Carte Blanche first broadcast the Cooke Report exposé on canned lion hunting in 1997. Two decades later, the captive lion industry has expanded in scope and brutality – cubs are removed from their mothers, hand-reared, petted, then bred for the bullet or their bones. But these practices began to damage Brand SA… By 2019, the […]

It’s great news for wildlife as Minister Barbara Creecy of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) today announced crucial and long-awaited steps towards changing the status quo of the commercial captive lion breeding industry in South Africa. Speaking at a stakeholder’s feedback meeting in Pretoria, Minister Creecy said that South Africa will […]

A team of mercenaries plunge into a rural part of Africa, rescuing a hostage from ruthless terrorists. They make quick work of the bad guys until their extraction helicopter is shot down during the firefight. The team treks to a nearby site to await rescue, but stumbles across something much worse: a rogue lion with […]

West Mathewson, the owner of a lodge in Hoedspruit that was known for his interactions, and conservation work, with lions, died after being mauled by his two white lions today. “Confirmed reports that lodge owner West Mathewson was killed by his two white lions at Treetop Lodge near Hoedspruit this morning,” according to a tweet […]

South Africa is not a good place for lions today, on World Lion Day – and it won’t be tomorrow either, with an estimated 11,000 lions held captive in more than 300 facilities across the country, according to Humane Society International-Africa (HSI-Africa). The captive lion breeding industry is marked by ongoing exposure of poor conditions […]

Over 622 youth from around the world have signed a letter calling on the South African Government to phase out captive predator breeding in South Africa. To commemorate Youth Day in South Africa, leading conservation organisation Blood Lions and Youth For Lions sent a letter on Friday to various Ministers of the South African Government […]

South Africa’s captive-bred lion industry will go down in history as one of the most shameful wildlife disasters ever created by humans on earth. While it continues to spiral into an increasingly corrupt trade, it drags down with it our country’s credibility as a reputable wildlife tourism destination… writes Environmental Writer Louzel Lombard Steyn. A […]

The National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) are in the process of laying animal cruelty charges in terms of the Animal Protection Act (APA), 71 of 1962, against Walter Slippers, owner of two captive predator breeding facilities in Alldays, Limpopo. During inspections in April and May 2020, the NSPCA found deplorable conditions with underweight lions, lack […]

A 23-year-old man has been arrested by the Hawks in Hartbeesfontein, near Klerksdorp in South Africa, in possession of lion skins, that could have come from the lion-breeding industry, and various drugs.   In a search of a house in Tigane in North West province, the police found three lion skins, mandrax tablets, half and […]

As the world staggers under the catastrophic impact of eating a wild animal, probably a pangolin, the South African government has reclassified 130 wild animals as meat. The next pandemic could be round the corner with its epicentre at the southern tip of Africa. South Africa has embarked on a mission to commercialise and commoditise […]

South African-based Blood Lions and the Humane Society International are two of the 241 conservation bodies around the world that have appealed to the World Health Organisation to publicly confirm the serious threat of live wildlife markets to human health, as evidenced by the Coronavirus pandemic. In a joint interview this week, some of them […]

This is a question I have asked myself many times… writes Dr Louise de Waal, Campaign Manager of Blood Lions. Petting a predator is incongruous and unnatural, so why this obsession with petting wild animals in captivity? Why do we believe it is acceptable to put our own needs well above the animal’s requirements? Is […]