Last year a picture of a lion in the streets of Braamfontein sparked a social media frenzy, but there’s a foundation which aims to stop the domestication of these beautiful wild creatures.
In April last year, Columbus the lion from The Lion Park was spotted in Johannesburg. It was later confirmed that he was the star of an upcoming local movie for which he was trained to climb a car, as seen in photos captured.
The Captured in Africa Foundation (Ciaf) works hard to dispel the myth that captive lions benefit conservation and can be released to restock reserves. The most important thing for the organisation is to educate the world at large that lions should be born wild and remain in the wild.
Involved with the foundation is Lions rugby player, Robbie Coetzee, who now finds a passion for helping to educate the public about lions and the domestication of the wild animal.
Ciaf founder, Drew Abrahamson said, “Lions are Africa’s apex predator; they are one of the main controllers of the ecosystem and if they are not around there will be [an] unbalance of epic proportions. Lion numbers in Africa are said to be between 15 000 to 20 000 and of those, roughly only 2 500 are males. Considering that the males are what the trophy hunters are after, you can clearly see that this is not sustainable.
“We need to start making a concerted effort to protect our wild lions. They are under immense pressure from human encroachment and poisoning due to retaliatory killing of livestock.”
Abrahamson encourages the public to get involved in conserving our wildlife and preserving them for future generations.
Ciaf works across the country and relocates captive wild cats to specific sanctuaries with whom they work.
Details: capturedinafricafoundation.com
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