Shortly after reading the Book "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel I was not at all prepared for what I was to experience in the Lion and Rhino park just outside Johannesburg: playing with 7 week old tiger cubs! A business associate of Sandra's was in town. Being Dutch it's perfectly understandable that he expressed a desire to see lions. Sandra knew the place as she had been there some years ago with a friend. The Lion and Rhino park is a big park rolling over several hills. At the gate you pay 50 Rand per person to drive in and if you are good you will spot a huge amount of antelopes and rhinos. Further along there is a separate enclosure in which they keep a pride of Lions. On Saturdays and Sundays they do a lion feeding. Clearly the lions know what is about to happen when all the cars line up along their fence. A very battered bakkie is driven in with what looks like most of a cow on the back. The ranger gets out, fastens the carcass to a pole and drives out. They first feed the cheetahs in the other enclosure which gets the Lions to the other end of their field. Even so I find it rather daring for the ranger to get out of the vehicle and fasten the carcass to the pole while you can see the Lions running towards him.
At the rest area they do a venomous and non venomous snake show later on. There we discovered that they had a nursing station where they kept baby lions and baby tigers! Tigers are endangered and the park has volunteered to help with the raising of Tigers. The climate is similar to what they would have in their indigenous areas. As the baby tigers would have been killed by their parents they were separated from them and are being brought up from the bottle. They consciously want to expose the baby animal to humans so they are easier to keep later on and also to raise awareness of their plight. The offspring of these tigers will hopefully return to the wild one day. As most of the behaviour they require to hunt successfully is in their instinct they believe this will work.
They have Bengal and Siberian tigers. The cubs are about 7 weeks old and have sharp claws and sharp theeth. They express an interest in chewing things. Especially fingers, t-shirts, trousers and shoes.
Lions feeding at the Lion and Rhino park
Male lion in Johannesburg's Lion and Rhino park
A professional nature photographer shooting pictures of baby lions
Sharp teeth and sharp claws investigating me thoroughly
7 weeks old Bengal Tiger at Johannesburg's Lion and Rhino park
Presentation of a cobra at the snake show of the Lion and Rhino park