Turns out some festive decorations make purr-fect toys! Locals are dropping off old and unsold trees at Linton Zoo in Cambridgeshire, giving the large cats new scratch poles and sources of heat.
Christmas is anything but over for these playful lions.
The big cats at Linton Zoo in Cambridgeshire, England, have been given old trees to play with as a post-festive present, reports the BBC.Bosses say the evergreen conifers are "like catnip" to the ferocious felines. Adorable footage shows the deadly animals using the needles as a gigantic scratch pole.
Zoo staff are also using the trees to keep the animals warm, by putting them in the zoo's bio-burner
Zoo director Kim Simmons said local residents and nurseries had been dropping off their old and unsold trees at the popular tourist attraction."We've already had quite a few trees coming in, which are giving the lions hours of fun," she told the Telegraph.
A fearless house cat was spared one of his nine lives when he stood up to a mountain lion with only a window pane between them. Despite the fact that the lion was much bigger, stronger and more fierce than the pretty Himalayan, the long-haired kitty showed no fear as the lion glowered at him from only inches away.
The brave kitty shows not an ounce of trepidation as the lion looms over him, gigantic paw in the air.
The cat even offers a 'meow' greeting only to receive a deep-throated hiss in return. He occasionally looks back at his more cautious orange friend, who keeps his distance.
Cat lovers everywhere like nothing more than a hug and kiss from their feline friends.Ana Julia Torres, however, went a step further when she was kissed by a much bigger cat - a 17-stone lion.
Ana rescued grateful Jupiter, an African lion, from a circus in Colombia six years ago. He was extremely malnourished after having been badly mistreated.Now though he is the picture of health and couldn't resist planting a huge smacker on Ana, who runs a shelter for sick and miestreated animals.
The story of this video begins on a day not unlike so many other before and since. The footage was taken at the Kicheche Bush Camp, which is an animal wildlife sanctuary located in the heart of the Olare Motorogi Conservancy. Bill and Barbara Westbrook were just enjoying the day, taking in the sights and recording video that they could share with their friends and loved ones back home.
Suddenly, terror strikes. A calf that is just seven days old suddenly looks as if it’s going to become the victim of a nearby pride of lions. The pride is closing in fast, clearly thinking that they’ve just found their next meal. Bill and Barbara watch on in horror, wondering if they should do something or call someone to come help.
Luckily, help presented itself – in the form of the most heroic giraffe that you’ll ever have the pleasure of laying eyes on! Watch as this giraffe shows that pride of lions that he means business and manages to save the calf before disaster can strike!
Though the actual event went on for over a half an hour according to the Westbooks, the video itself condenses the best bits down into one of the most amazing minute-long videos that is currently gracing YouTube’s servers. Trust us – this is one truly remarkable video that you’re definitely going to find yourself watching over and over again!
Three lion brothers decided long ago that it was best to stay together.Sirwa, Sayid and Shona lead a pride of 24 lions on the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.
Sirwa is one of three peaceful lion dads in the pride.
Theirs is the Eastern Sector Pride, the largest lion pride on the conservancy and the safest — the survival rate of cubs is the highest for miles.The arrangement is highly unusual. "They have not split from their birth pride as male lions are known to do," Ol Pejeta told The Dodo. "They protect the pride as a brotherhood coalition, which is rare. They peacefully share equal dominance, mating rights and pride protection duties with no infighting among them."
With the strong lionesses of the pride, the brothers are raising their families.
"Male lions are notorious for being aggressive and impatient with cubs," Ol Pejeta said. "However, our field technician Chris, reports that the three brothers are extremely gentle with their offspring — Chris has never seen them lash out at the cubs.
Lionesses Sior, Sekela and Pash, of the pride.
Sayid fathers his cubs and defends the pride from intruders with his two brothers — and has the scars to prove it.
Shona, a brother, a father and a peaceful member of the pride.
The unusual arrangement shows how unique animals can be, with varying histories and experiences.
The pride is truly a force of love and loyalty.
Ol Pejeta is a wildlife conservancy of 110,000 acres that seeks to conserve endangered species and promote community development. Learn what you can do to help.
If you love cats, the idea of holding a wee lion cub sounds pretty appealing. Don’t do it, though.Lion petting is a tourist activity you’ll find in many of Africa’s so-called Lion Parks, according to World Animal Protection (WAP). Lion cub petting is emerging as a serious problem.Maybe you think you are helping the wild cats by taking pictures with them. But you’re not. Actually you are reinforcing the poor treatment of lions by petting lion babies — and in all sorts of ways.Now that the Cecil tragedy has put lion treatment under the magnifying glass, Africa wildlife advocates want to underline the importance of lion care.Resisting the urge to pet lions is one thing you should avoid, advocates say, when visiting Africa.
Please don’t pet the lions
In its recently released lion report, WAP estimates there are 5,800 captive-bred lions in 150 commercial facilities just in South Africa alone.Those cubs you snap a picture with were likely taken away from their mother long before they were weaned. In the wild, a cub is normally weaned at 8 months. But in commercial breeding facilities — where you can snap a photo with Simba — they are often separated from their mothers at only a month old. One month.
Separation from mom is just the beginning. That cub in your picture won’t be a cub for long, you know. It will grow into a full lion — no longer a petting attraction or photo prop. WAP says that many adult lions wind up hunted or euthanized once they no longer provide tourism entertainment.Think twice before you smile and tickle the little lion cub. Here’s a WAP video that explains in full:
Just say no to lion parks
Unlike responsible conservation centers that breed lions to preserve and help the species, lion parks are in the business of creating lion entertainment for tourists. Popular tourist sites like TripAdvisor sometimes fall prey to such commercial come-ons.Lion Park in Johannesburg received TripAdvisor’s 2015 Certificate of Excellence. The Park has a full page on lion cub handling and the controversy surrounding the practice. But the park still does it, saying:
“It should be noted … that the vast majority of visitors to the Lion Park do not feel that the cubs display signs of irritation or unhappiness when being touched.”
The baby lion’s feelings aside, WAP believes this practice sets up a negative, entertainment-based life for wild creatures that should be helped, not exploited.Cannedlion.org details how cub petting hurts lions and how we can help encourage South Africa to shut down the lion industry. Often lions are bred for commercial purposes and later get “canned” — a method of hunting where the animal is hunted within a captive environment.Travelers and tourism can help out lions if tourist dollars are spent at wildlife reserves or sanctuaries.
“Lion Park” in the name doesn’t always mean the park is commercial, either, sometimes sanctuaries include the term in their names. So do your research. The Drakenstein Lion Park near Cape Town is a sanctuary for captive-bred lions, and it details why tourists should not visit places where they can “play with cubs.”
In its lion report, WAP encourages tourists to patronize South Africa’s network of 400 national parks and similar protected areas where wild lions can be viewed in their native habitat.One of the best known parks is Kruger National Park (pictured left), which is home to Africa’s Big Five: elephants, lions, leopards, black or white rhinos and Cape buffalo. Karoo National Park is another to visit — it’s on my list because lions were reintroduced there in 2010, after an absence of 170 years.
The message is clear.
When you visit Africa, see lions in the wild, not in a zoo-based entertainment environment. Unlike conservation-minded facilities like, say, the San Diego Zoo, commercial lion parks are focused on tourist dollars, not the welfare of lions. Avoid them.
THIS is the jaw-dropping moment a family captured rare footage of a brutal battle between a crocodile and three lions at a Kenya game reserve.
Life can be tough, even when you're at the top of the food chain: Lions and crocodile duel
Tourist Kai Banks was on safari in Samburu National Reserve with his family when he shot the violent stand-off between a male lion, two lionesses and the enormous reptile. The warring beasts were spotted fighting over the carcass of a dead elephant.But the meat wasn't an easy catch for any of the predators, as shown in this viral video.
As soon as both the croc and lion spot their prey, they begin to eye up the competition
Life can be tough - even when you're at the top of the food chain - because as soon as both the croc and lions spotted their prey, they began to eye up the competition. It might seem the solitary crocodile had the upper hand as he bravely bares his enormous jaws (along with their sets of razor-sharp teeth) at the lion, but it is hardly a fair fight when two other ferocious cats join the fray.
In the scenes that follow, a second duel - which Mr Banks caught on stills because of "technical issues" - reveals how the crocodile is persistent but weakening as three against one proved to be insurmountable odds. Gnawing at his snout and biting his tail, the lions dominated the croc as they piled on top of him.
As the battle came to a crippling end for the ancient reptile, the lion who picked the fight stood victorious over his rival as his family claimed the elephant prize. Commenting on his YouTube video, Mr Banks wrote: "My family and I managed to catch an extremely rare event on camera during our recent trip to the Samburu National Reserve in Kenya.
"We knew it was something special when our guide's mouth dropped open as soon as the lions jumped onto the crocodile. Take a look!
"Many thanks to the beautiful Saruni Samburu lodge and to our incredible guide, Sambara."
An American woman was killed and another person injured by a lion that jumped into their car at Lion Park near Johannesburg, South Africa on Monday (1 June).The woman was in the passenger seat and had her window down when the attack occurred. The driver tried to help her and was injured in the process.
Scott Simpson, assistant operations manager at Lion Park, confirmed on eNews Channel Africa (eNCA) that the tourists were driving with their windows open."Our staff working at the top of the camp tried to get the lion away from the car. Ambulances were called immediately but it was too late," he said.
Simpson added that the park puts a lot of effort into warning visitors to keep windows shut.
"We make it so clear. We put signage up everywhere that people must keep their windows closed. We hand them a slip of paper when they enter the park. I really don't understand why people think it's OK to leave windows open," he said.
In March, Brendan Smith, an Australian visitor to the same park, was also attacked by a lion that entered his vehicle through an open car window, but he survived.eNCA also reported that two days later a 13-year-old boy on a bicycle, who was taking a shortcut through the park, was attacked by a cheetah.Although Simpson confirmed the woman's nationality as American, the US embassy in South Africa said it was waiting for details and added that it was working to "provide any assistance possible".
The Ghost and the Darkness
Meanwhile, the descendants of the Tsavo Man-Eaters lions have emerged from the African Bush to strike terror in workers replacing the Kenya-Uganda Railway.In 1898, the notorious Tsavo Man-Eaters – a pair of lions with a taste for human flesh – killed dozens of Indian workers who built the British Kenya-Uganda Railway, before they were shot by a British colonial officer.Now their descendants in Kenya are attacking workers laying the £2.5bn replacement of the rail line by the Chinese.According to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), a ranger was attacked and badly injured by a lion last week, whilst he was guarding an area near the construction of the new railway line. The area was to be visited by the Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta.
Earlier this year, KWS had urged workers building the new standard gauge railway to take extra care in the evening, so as to avoid being prey for Tsavo's lions.
KWS assistant director Robert Obrein was reported to have told workers in the area: "(The Company's) camp is in the area where the notorious man-eating lions that were responsible for the deaths of a number of workers who built the Kenya-Uganda railway in 1898 roamed. It is also near Tsavo River where other big cats such as cheetahs and leopards come to drink water."The Lions of Tsavo became famous in 1898 when a team of Indian builders were attacked by two lions while building a bridge over the River Tsavo.The two lions went on a rampage for a number of months, and were estimated to have killed 135 workers.The person in charge of the construction, Lt. Col. Patterson, finally killed the two lions in December 1898, a good ten months after they started their killing spree.
The Tsavo Man-Eaters on display in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois.
The lions' rampage lasted 10 months, and they were estimated to have killed 135 workers. Workers built barricades made of thorn fences to keep the man-eating lions out of their camps, but the big cats leapt over the barricades or dragged themselves – and the prey back out – through the thorns.The lions have featured in a number of films, the most notable being The Ghost And The Darkness, starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer.Many theories have been put forward as to why the lions became man-eaters, including the burial customs of the Hindu workers who cremated their dead in the open, leaving the corpses to be scavenged by the lions.Historians have also highlighted the ancient Arab slaving caravans that traversed the remote Tsavo region, dumping the dead where they fell as encouraging lions to eat human flesh.African lions are estimated to attack around 70 humans per year in Tanzania, and kill up to 250 people a year. However, lions are relatively peaceful compared to hippos: despite their cuddly reputation hippopotamus kill nearly 3,000 people a year in Africa.
