Panthera Big Cat Sanctuary
Volunteering has always been a big part of my life back home, and I knew that whenever I went to South Africa, volunteering was something that I wanted to incorporate into my trip. Back at home, I’ve typically always volunteered with kids or families at organizations like the Ronald McDonald House or Big Brothers, Big Sisters, so while abroad, I wanted to try and do something a bit different. So, before heading to South Africa, I planned to spend at least a week volunteering, ideally with animals, but I knew that I couldn’t just go anywhere. I googled ethical places to volunteer with animals in the country and a list of 7 came up. They were a mix of monkeys, big cats, sharks, etc. but the minute I saw Panthera and did a bit of research of what the sanctuary was about, I knew they were the one for me, and luckily, they had availability! I committed to spending a week here, but by the end, I wished I could have stayed much longer.
One of the most known uses of animals in captivity is the use of big cats (or many other animals) for show in the circus, or in zoos. Many of these animals (especially in the circus) live in crates no bigger than a few m2, and never have the opportunity to live freely. Big cats (or any animal for that matter) in zoos are often said to be part of a ‘conservation’ plan, as they breed the animals to help them from going extinct, but if they are no longer wild, are we really preserving anything? These animals are confined to small spaces for their entire lives, and often bred into captivity (it can’t just be released into the ‘wild’) — either way, any animal confined to a small space doesn’t have the life that it deserves.
One of the saddest, and most overlooked reasons for an animal coming to Panthera is the use of the big cats for the bone trade & canned hunting industry. The owners of Panthera, Cat & Lizanne, were involved with many of the cats from birth, and is why they have chosen many of the cats that they have to come to Panthera. They initially came as volunteers to other ‘sanctuaries’, and were told that these cubs had been abandoned by their mom and needed their help in feeding them. What they came to learn, was that these cubs had been forcefully pulled from their mom within hours of being born within a breeding facility, and required significant attention in order for them to survive.
Cubs have a significant value right from birth – volunteers will pay to come and spend time holding, feeding, and cuddling the cubs, often paying upwards of thousands of dollars to do so. Once a cub is old enough to walk on its own and is still in its ‘cute’ stage, people can come in for day visits and will pay a fee to pet and hold the cubs. This is a lucrative business for ‘sanctuaries’. A cub is only ‘cute’ to people for so long, so these businesses need a steady flow of cubs to do so, which means constant breeding. Once the cubs are too old for the ‘petting’ side of the industry, they often get moved into an area where people are allowed to walk with the cats. They are then trained and often beaten with sticks (so that they become scared of these) so that humans can walk alongside them and get their photos taken with them. After this stage, the animals have very little value left for the owners. At this point, they either get placed into the breeding facilities themselves, where they do not receive enough food, become malnourished and are either sacrificed into the bone trade, or get sent into a canned hunt.
The bone trade in China is a lucrative business, as they believe that tiger bones have significant health benefits. This was banned a long time ago, but is still an issue to this day. As the amount of tigers in the world decreases, people are looking for other ways to get ‘tiger’ bones, and many people will use lion or other big cat bones in their place — unless you see the carcass and skin itself, you would never know whether you have a tiger or lion bones.
If the cat doesn’t die for its bones, it’s likely to be sent into a canned hunt. A canned hunt is essentially a trophy ‘hunt’ that isn’t a fair chase. People go online, select which cat they would like to ‘hunt’ and this cat is then placed within an enclosure so that it is unable to escape, essentially guaranteeing the kill. Its too easy for the ‘hunter’ and impossible for the animal to evade the inevitable. Many people will do this for the trophy alone — and has become such a big problem that many countries have banned the trophies from being brought into the country. Sadly, this is technically not illegal in South Africa, as no part of the government wants to be the one responsible for the industry and the repercussions that would come with shutting it down, and admitting that it has been in the wrong for so long.
A big part of Panthera and its philosophy is education. Informing the public about what is going on behind closed doors is essential if change is ever going to come about. Big cats are used in many unethical ways. There are more big cats in captivity as pets in the United States, than there are wild cats left in the world. This is absolutely heartbreaking — big cats are wild animals and should have the room to roam freely.
So what does Panthera do to help these animals? Panthera is a not for profit, truly ethical animal sanctuary for big cats from all over the world, giving safe havens to big cats that have had a rough upbringing. Panthera works closely with the Born Free Foundation, and takes in lions, tigers, leopards, cheetah, caracal, jackal, you name it. Most of the animals that come to Panthera were used in the tourism trade (such as cub petting, walking with cats, circus’ or zoos), or were in a breeding facility to be used for canned hunting or the bone trade. At Panthera there is no petting or touching of the animals of any kind, absolutely no breeding, and there is always a fence between the animals and us, and they are treated as closely to ‘wild’ animals as possible.
Food comes in random intervals every few days so that the animals don’t start to expect it at a certain time, and all of the food is donated by nearby farmers (and never slaughtered to feed the cats). They are given medicine & supplements to help them overcome sicknesses brought on by the breeding facilities (such as malnourishment) or from inbreeding, and are given enrichment toys to give them something to play with and have some fun. Their enclosures are huge and built specifically for each animal, so that they all have the best life that they possibly could, and all seem very happy and relaxed.
The main point that I want to get across is how important it is do your research before you think of volunteering or visiting any animal sanctuary, zoo, or circus. There are over 200 big cat ‘sanctuaries’ in South Africa, but only 7 of them are truly ethical. Don’t be afraid to ask questions before you sign up or visit. If they have nothing to hide, they shouldn’t mind you prodding a bit. How do they really treat their animals? How do they get there? Are you going to be holding a baby lion, petting a cheetah or tiger or walking alongside them? None of that is natural to them, and the minute we cuddle them or hand feed them, they’re toast. They can no longer go back into the wild as some may suggest, as they will no longer see humans as a threat, and instead as a source of food. Would you still cuddle the cub knowing that in a few years it would be killed for its bones, or sold online and thrown into an enclosure for a ‘hunter’ to come and put a few bullets into it to hang their trophy on their wall?
As a volunteer at Panthera you wont be petting any animals, instead, you’ll be doing the dirty work, but that means providing the animals with an incredible life that they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have otherwise. My time as a volunteer included picking up big cat poop, cleaning out enclosures, going on educational tours that they offer to the public, building enrichment toys for the animals, and spending time visiting with the big cats. They all have different stories of how they got there, but they love the company and home that they have now.
For more information on Panthera Africa, things you can do to educate yourself, or ways to help, please see the links below.
