LION BREEDING AND RELEASE PROJECT
Emma Fisher 2007

Lion Breeding and Rehabilitation Park at Gweru....Where Else in the World?

The park has touched the lives of all the volunteers who have ever had the opportunity to work there and have been lucky enough to spend quality time with the lions. Not only did I have the pleasure of walking the different sets of cubs twice a day, I also bottle fed 4 weeks old cubs and took data capture on the 2-3 year old lions whilstthey stalked their prey on a night encounter. I was also lucky enough to be taken out on a night encounter where three of the lions killed a wildebeest! Let me tell you, this was not one for the faint hearted.


You were always kept busy (the way they saw it was getting your moneys worth, it couldn't have been better any other way) -activities varied daily, from enclosure cleaning, meat preparation, snare sweeps, boundary patrols, cub sitting, cub feeds and walking the lions (in which you had to record data). Data collection usually consisted of prey response and feeding data, for example, which cub showed the most aggression during the feed. There was also horse riding through the park where I was able to get 5/10 metres away from giraffe, zebra, impala, kudu, wildebeest, warthogs etc, it was just absolutely amazing, beyond what words can describe.

One of my many favourite experiences was during one of my last lion walks. We were walking the 2L's (Ltalo and Landela) on their evening walk. Ltalo spotted 2 giraffes and chased after them…in the mean time, Landela had spotted four red hartebeest and a waterbuck (huge antelope) in the distance. As Landela chased after the antelope, Abby (another volunteer) and I ran as fast as our legs could carry us, to keep track of what was happening. We were running level with the lion when an antelope crossed the path 10 metres in front of us - it was the most exhilarating experience in the world. This is really the aim of the project, to get the lions out in the park as much as possible to practise their hunting skills for the release. A pre-chosen pack of 8 lions are due to be released in a miniature version of the wild this August (2007). Their cubs will be born into this wild environment, without having any contact from humans, and it is the projects aim, to eventually release these lions into the wild with the hope of re-populating the ever-decreasing species of the African Lion.

You become attached to the individual lions over time as each lion has their own personality. Some lions like to have their bellies scratched, others enjoy playing with sticks, and some even enjoy a splash in the water. Once we gave an elephant poo cake to Ltalo and Landela for their first birthday! They also received a card from the volunteers. Lions love poo! They roll around in it and eat it to disguise their smell to prey.

I booked my African adventure through Amanzi Travel. I believe the name Amanzi also belongs to one of the lions on the project, anyway, they were really helpful, and the whole trip was organised brilliantly, I felt safe travelling alone through Zimbabwe and I actually extended my trip from one month to two months during my stay, which was sorted out in a matter of moments through Amanzi.

I will never forget the feeling of interaction and bonding with these remarkable mammals. I had the most amazing time of my life.

Emma

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