This video is a joy from beginning to end. Not only are the cubs adorable:
but you can see how touchy-feely lions are. They love physical contact.
For the benefit of the cubs, mama comes with a toy: the tuft on the end of her tail:
And there's more scenes of happy quiet times together:
Happy is the lion family that snoozes together:
Posts
At least unlike some people Kevin has not had the Lions Declawed.
ReplyDeleteI see it with some Lions I've come to know well and they have suffered greatly. All because of a TV series they were mutilated. Very very sad.
Declawing any cat, big or small, is a moral crime and should be a legal crime. It is nothing but deliberate mutilation. I'm going to restrain myself from expressing my outrage at the procedure and just refer anyone who's interested to a site with the facts of the matter:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm
What TV series do you say is responsible for the mutilation of the lions?
Hi Craig sorry I missed your reply
ReplyDeleteThe series was made here in New Zealand it was called The Lion Man and it was filmed at Zion Wildlife Gardens. Craig Busch was the frontman for it. He imported Tigers and Lions from the USA and Africa. Some were already declawed including 4 white tigers that were obtained from a private breeder. One of those white tigers killed keeper Dalu Mncube in May 2009. Of nearly 40 big cats 30 were declawed Mr Busch had many declawed here in New Zealand between 2000 - 2008. MAF investigated and produced a report for this http://www.scribd.com/doc/15903006/MAF-Report-Zion-Declawing-Investigation-Feb-2009
Declawing in New Zealand is not legal. It is only supposed to be done for medical reasons but sadly the vets and the MAF officials simply let it happen. Mr Busch is no longer at Zion Wildlife Gardens it's being managed now by his mother as Park operator. Mr Busch is in South Africa apparently making a new series. He's based at Ed Hernes Rhino and Lion Reserve. He likes hands on contact with wildlife but that has been banned here in New Zealand due to Dalu Mncube's death. Sad situation. I don't feel Mr Busch in this regard has done anything for conservation although it is claimed he has. I see the legacy left in the big cats that have been mutilated by a very cruel procedure. As they grow older the effects will get progressively worse that is the sad part. They deserved a lot better.
Thank you for your detailed reply and especially for the link to the report. I have seen all of The Lionman TV series. I have not said anything about it because I knew of Busch's expulsion from Zion Wildlife Gardens and the information I had about the situation did not make sense. Now it does.
ReplyDeleteI think that while watching the show my wife and I commented that one of the cats seemed to be walking strangely, but it never occurred to us that he would have had them declawed. It saddens me deeply that he did this to these innocent animals. It's also sad that the truth of the situation is not widely known. I will do something about that.
I hope South African authorities will prevent a similar situation there.