Man Eating Lions
When you hear that phrase you most often think of the legendary Tsavo lions who gained notoriety in 1898 for killing rail way workers who were cutting across their habitat. Even though some historians estimate that these two rogue lions killed 135 men, most people accept that this is what happens when man encounters the King of Beasts. Perhaps it is just that very intrigue that causes some people to feel powerful by petting, killing or eating lions.
Petting, killing and eating lions are inextricably intertwined and if you participate in any of these activities, you may well be contributing to all of them. Lions and tigers breed equally well in captivity and are used in equal numbers in circus acts and pay-to-play schemes whereby you pay to pet a baby big cat or have your picture taken with one. Lions and tigers have the same general health and life expectancies of 20 years in captivity.
Tigers are more prone to health issues because so many are inbred to create white tigers. Tigers are an endangered species, whereas lions are not, so you would think that tigers would be traded and used less frequently. Both cats outgrow their usefulness as petting props by the time they are four months old. Both cats mature at the age of five, which is when they usually stop performing in circus and nightclub acts. By all accounts it would seem that there should be as many lions discarded each year as there are tigers. But there aren’t.
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Says Carole Baskin, founder of Big Cat Rescue, “I have been tracking the number of big cats who are publicly discarded each year since 2003. There have been 418 lions and tigers in the US who were in need of rescue since 2003 but only 20% of them were lions.” If there were 335 tigers in need of rescue, it stands to reason that there should have been 335 lions who would have ended up in need of rescue too, so where did the other 252 lions go?
Eyewitnesses have reported that male lions were being offered as big game in canned hunts in Florida and Texas. A canned hunt is where a shooter pays a fee to kill an animal in a cage. When those canned hunts are half a world away in Africa, some people will shake their heads and say, “What a shame,” but the same practices occur in the US behind closed gates. It’s the 500 lb cat in the room that no one wants to believe could end up on a dinner plate.
It’s illegal to shoot a big cat in a cage in Florida, but several “game ranches” have cages full of lions and cougars that they call their “pets.” “Am I the only person that finds it absolutely ludicrous that these people, who are in the business of killing exotic animals, would be providing permanent “pet” homes to cats they can charge thousands of dollars to shoot in a cage?” asks Baskin. Big Cat Rescue is working to end canned hunts at a Federal level so that states like Florida will have to answer to a higher authority than the 7 member board of wildlife commissioners who are all hunters.
In July 2008, Tamara El-Khoury, a staff writer for the St. Pete Times detailed her “most exotic culinary adventure last week in Dunedin, FL at Spoto’s Steak Joint” where she dined on the “African Lion Chop dish, a 14-ounce lion rib chop, char grilled for $48.” El-Khoury drooled, “The lion tasted a bit like ribs.” The public outcry against the restaurant, the reporter and the St. Pete Times was captured in some of these comments:
“I am totally sickened after reading what passes for journalism at the St Pete Times these days. I guess we're all lucky that your boss didn't send you to eat kittens, Tamara, since it's obvious you would have. You should be ashamed, but probably aren't.” Sandy
"Ms. El-Khoury, I am writing in response to your review of Spoto's and their exotic animal dishes. When I was younger (in my teens, actually), I too saw Lion on a menu in Cincinnati and was taken in by the 'excitement' of such a different-and-exotic entrée. I didn't actually order it, but I didn't think much about it either, as all of us in modern society don't think much about a lot of things because we don't have the time nor impetus to ponder every little thing we come across. Thus, I cannot blame you for writing what I'm sure you thought was a light-hearted, harmless review of a local eatery without considering the total consequences of your actions – but I hope that in your quest to become a better journalist, you receive this letter (and others that I'm sure you are receiving) and ponder what you might have done differently. Did you know that, according to several sources, worldwide lion population is down possibly 90% since 1950? That's right - 90%. When was the last time you ever witnessed a live lion in person, and actually watched it quietly for several minutes, pondering the strength, nobility, serenity, and grace of this big predator that our modern culture seems to be driving towards extinction? Did you know that lions are raised for canned 'hunts', which are not really hunts at all, but are instead pointless killing exercises where trapped, terrorized animals are murdered merely 'for the fun' and ego of the so-called 'hunters'?
While you alone are clearly not to blame for the plight of lions and other endangered species in the world, I hope you are a good person on your way to becoming a better person and a better reporter, and that you start thinking about how you can really make a difference in the world, in a more positive way than pointing people towards restaurants with bawdy marketing tactics that ultimately subvert positive goals such as co-existing well with nature's creations and treating them as we ourselves would be treated. Thanks for your attention, Tom
P.S. I suggest you contact Tampa's Big Cat Rescue for many facts about the plight of big cats in the modern age. "
“I'm an ex-vegetarian who is now an omnivore who eats a little meat now and then. But the notion of eating lions, such grand animals barely surviving humanity's onslaught, truly sickens and angers and repulses me.” John
“Perhaps they haven't seen the UN or Pew reports that say the eating meat is unsustainable. Eating lions? So sad that anyone would pay to do something so irresponsible.” Susan
Patricia Massard, a volunteer for Big Cat Rescue, contacted Chris Mercer who heads up the Campaign Against Canned Hunting in Africa, and asked if the lions being served in America’s restaurants could be coming from the canned hunt operations there. “You are quite correct that such lion meat can only have come from the canned lion hunting industry in South Africa. All captive lion breeders in South Africa sell their progeny for hunting because it is not only the only market for them, but a very lucrative one. And they are always looking for 'add-ons' whereby they can commercially exploit another aspect of canned lion breeding. The current one is cub-petting, whereby the cute and cuddly stage is exploited before the animal is old enough to be hunted. In this way they can externalize the cost of rearing the victim. And now lion meat is being marketed to make canned lion breeding ever more profitable,” replied Mercer.
One of the most flagrant pay-to-play schemes is housed in the lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel where the casino boasts that six lions per day are on exhibit. This has been in operation since 1999. No matter what time of the year you visit Las Vegas you can have your photo made with a baby lion, so where do all those baby lions go? MGM says they belong to Keith Evans who owns Lion Photo Studios. Evans says he's been doing this for 34 years and has 29 lions that he keeps 12 miles out in the desert. Carole Baskin calculates "At a bare minimum, if you wanted to keep a baby under four months old on the show floor at all times, you would have to produce four litters per year, with an average of four cubs per litter, multiplied over 9 years equals 144 cubs produced from 1999, so where are they now?" If Evans has been breeding and using lions for 34 years, as he claims, the numbers are even more staggering!
Tim Santel, resident agent in charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's law enforcement office in Springfield, Ill., was named Officer of the Year in 2004 for his lengthy undercover investigation of the illegal killing of endangered species, specifically tigers, leopards, snow leopards and the commercialization of their meat, hides and other body parts. The investigation, dubbed “Operation Snow Plow,” lasted more than six years, covered more than six states and resulted in the conviction of all 17 defendants (16 individuals and one business) charged with violating several federal wildlife protection laws. Combined, the defendants’ sentences have resulted in 80 months in federal prison, 52 months home detention, 2,200 hours of community service, $75,000 in fines and $226,000 in restitution to the Fish and Wildlife Federation's Save the Tiger Fund. One of the convictions was that of a well-known "sanctuary" in MO that was selling their “rescued” lions to be served in restaurants.
Here we are, four years later, and lions are still being openly served for dinner.
It is just about universally accepted that man eating lions ( or woman in this case) is just inherently wrong. It only happens because the majority are either ignorant to the situation or apathetic. These magnificent creatures will continue to be bred, used, abused, discarded, shot and served up in restaurants unless YOU speak up for them. There are many ways you can do that:
Don't support businesses that use lions as props.
Support a bill to end Canned Hunts:
http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/bills/?bill=10443026
Support a bill to ban contact with big cat babies:
http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=11573111&type=CO
Please mail or email your comments about lions being served on the menu in Florida to the following:
FL Wildlife Conservation Commission
c/o Captain Linda Harrison
620 S. Meridian Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600
RuleChanges@MyFWC.com
(850) 488-6251
Spoto's Steak Joint c/o
owner/chef Jim Stewart
1280 Main St
Dunedin, FL 34698
www.spotossteakjoint.com
(727) 734-0008
St. Pete Times Editor
490 First Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
(727) 893-8111
Reporter Tamara El-Khoury
490 First Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
tel-khoury@sptimes.com
(727) 445-4181
Featured on Blogger News Network http://www.bloggernews.net/?p=16679
This video on canned hunting can be found at: http://www.myspace.com/bancannedhunting
Some scenes are very upsetting and not intended for children or people who are sensitive to animal suffering.
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