Relief for Wild Animals in Africa

After our human mommy died, we thought the tough times were over. Now Grandpa and Grandma say COVID stopped the visitors...and the income.

In the beginning.

We used to be very happy predators at the Loebies Predator Park just outside Bela Bela, South Africa. Our human mommy Annel, took such good care of us. She walked with us, feeding us with her hands, rubbing and hugging and giving us love.

You can see it here in a video Beast Buddies did of our mommy and us in 2017:

Then things changed

In September 2019, our mommy very suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. We couldn't understand why mommy didn't come around anymore. Why couldn't we cuddle with her? Why couldn't we hear her voice? Why couldn't we smell her? Why did she go away?

At least we still had Grandpa and Grandma. They took over and have been taking good care of us, although it has been tough. It was like starting from scratch, but they love mommy and they love us, so they worked hard to make sure we are well fed, well loved and taken care of. They depended on income for our food by getting a lot of people to come here to see us. People usually enjoy watching us being fed.

The lions here eat between 4 and 5kg's of meat per day. We are 10 lions at the moment. At 4kg's per lion, that equals 40kg's per day and 1.2 tons of meat per month. This gives Grandpa and Grandma a meat bill for us lions alone on average of $2034 (R35 000) per month. They worked hard to foot the bill of this non-profit through tours, training, accommodation etc. In fact, visitors at the park were the norm. Our favourite was when groups of children came to learn about us. That way we knew the next generation would be able to care for us responsibly in the future.

Then things changed again.

We don't understand it. No visitors are coming around anymore. We don't hear children's laughter. No tour guides bring guests to see us. It feels a lot like when mommy suddenly stopped coming. Grandma and Grandpa say it is because of a virus that caused lockdowns and travel bans all over the world. Nobody is paying to see us anymore. But we still have to eat. We still have to be cared for. Grandma and Grandpa are doing all they can, but they say they need help.

So we thought, if people can't come to us, maybe we could get the message out to them that we need help. If you help us raise funds, Grandma and Grandpa will use it to feed us. Meat is expensive, but we need it to live.

We have many brothers and sisters, cousins and friends, living here that all need your help so we can eat. Will you help us?

Every bit helps. We just want to raise enough to live.

Please help us!