Words: Kevin Richardson. Image: Jackie Hill- Murphy
Apart from the rugged work of looking after these wonderful lions, my time is also spent growing the non-profit organization we launched in 2018 years to spread awareness about the challenges facing Africa’s lions.
It comes as a shock to most people that lions are incredibly at risk with less than 20,000 left in the wild and numbers dropping year on year. Wild lions aside, captive lions suffer equally with three lions shot daily in a canned hunt – a practice which forms part of an elaborate economic cycle that capitalises on the breeding of lions as if they were cattle.
Well-meaning, but naïve tourists flock to South Africa each year to bottle feed or pet lion cubs believing they are contributing to the conservation of the species. This is a terrible deception and if a tourist facility is breeding lion cubs and allowing tourists to pet them – they are almost certainly part of the canned lion hunting network.
This work is tough and not for the faint-hearted. Lately the international press has really picked up on these issues and international outcry is increasing… but not fast enough! Please join my fight for lions by signing up with the Kevin Richardson Foundation. The Foundation can be found on most website and social media platforms.