Laili and Lewa, barely one year old cubs but already weighing nearly 200 pounds each, play like kittens as they roll around on the ground, licking and nipping each other. “Lions are very social animals. A lion’s natural behavior is to play. That’s how they learn hunting skills,” explains Dan Matthews. “If they don’t play (with other lions) they’ll play with you. Lewa grew up on her own for the first five months and she’s was very spoiled.” This may sound cute, but a cub spoiled by too much human contact can be a death sentence. To survive in the wild as a member of the pride, a cub must learn from other lions and develop its own instincts.
The African Lion and Environmental Research Trust – ALERT
The African Lion and Environmental Research Trust (ALERT), a non-profit founded at Antelope Park, actively pursues a four-stage method to stem the rapid decline of these roaming majestic cats. In less than 30 years, the population of wild African lions has decreased an estimated 85% from 200,000 to 30,000. Big game hunting is not the cause but humans are responsible. The natural wild habitat is disappearing due to the unquenchable thirst for farm land and the development of the continent’s vast mineral resources and thousands have died due to incurable bovine tuberculosis.
Andrew and Wendy Conolly, native Zimbabweans, purchased Antelope Park, a private game reserve, in the 1980s. Over the past thirty years they have developed an eco-resort/adventure tourism company, ALERT and, in 1999, the four-stage Lion Rehabilitation and Release Program, on 3,000 acres in central Zimbabwe with satellite sites at Victoria Falls and Livingston, Zambia.
ALERT's Lion Rehabilitation and Release Program
Stage One takes cubs through a program that develops the cub’s natural hunting skills, socialization as a member of a pride and, once adults (at the age of 2 – 3 years old) when in the wild the cubs are becoming independent members of the pride, they are released into Stage Two. In the monitored environment of Stage Two there is no direct human contact. It seeks to establish the natural relationship of the pride social unit essential to a lion’s survival. Any cubs born in this stage have no human contact and will develop naturally. At this time, the program’s lions have yet to reach Stage Three or Four but that is on schedule.
Although the much larger Stage Three environment – 10,000 acres – will be monitored for research, it will be a self-sustaining wild ecosystem without human contact and in the presence of competitive species such as hyena. Cubs born in Stage Three will become the nucleus for the program’s final Stage Four. Naturally wild lions will be brought together to form new prides which will then be relocated to a variety of African areas with low populations.
A well developed volunteer program, organized under African Impact, heavily sustains Antelope Park’s mission both in manpower and fees. Participants, some of whom sign up for months, develop skills in all areas of wild animal husbandry for lions, elephants, horses to snakes and birds. The outreach extends to community programs within the immediate area of Gweru, Zimbabwe, and in neighboring countries through education, orphan and medical projects.
Antelope Park Lodge in Zimbabwe
The mission incurs tremendous costs and funding is dependent on donations, volunteers and the income generated by guests at Antelope Park Lodge and the Conolly’s tour company, African Encounter. The lodge is an oasis of green calm hidden from the extensive and heavily secure gated and fenced animal preserve. Bisected by a slow meandering river with lush water plants and tropical foliage, quests can relax in lawn chairs or in the open air thatched roof and stone dining hall/lounge and watch elephants wander along the river. In the evening the large brick fire pit is a natural gathering spot for an international mix of guests.
Accommodations are spread throughout the lodge area on both sides of the river with a high degree of privacy, peace and quiet. They range from $7/p.p. camp sites and $30/p.p. standard rooms (without bath) to $58/p.p. river tents, reminiscent of safaris, with comfortable beds, teak furnishings and baths. Across a wooden bridge from the main public spaces and set amidst river side jungle and landscaped lawns are the unique and elegant $67-$99/p.p. river lodges. Both the A-Frame and architecturally stunning stone and thatch lodges boast spacious rooms, king size beds, claw-foot baths and private terraces overlooking the river and its wildlife. Breakfast buffet is included with most accommodations with extensive lunch and dinner buffets a bargain at $12 and $15 respectively.
Walking with Lions in Zimbabwe
Daytime activities, ranging in price from $8 - $100, run the gamut of outdoor adventure with elephant encounter programs, horseback riding, a variety of photo safaris including one by horse drawn carriage, fishing and boating. The highlight of adventure at the Park are the Night Encounter and the Lion Walk, both essential components to Stage One for the cubs and for the Park’s human educational program. Guests are given an extensive and informative orientation.
Twice a day the Stage One lions and cubs, in pairs, are taken on 90 minute walks for the opportunity to develop their natural hunting abilities. During the Night Encounter, small groups of guests in Land Rovers, accompanied by professional handlers, follow young adult lions, at a distance, while they seek out the prey. It’s rare to witness a kill for a number of reasons. Lions, like many wild animals, eat when they’re hungry and don’t, unlike humans, kill for sport. If the Stage One lions and cubs do not kill and eat prey while on the walks then they will receive food, but the entire concept from Stage One on is for the cub to develop their essential survival skills instincts. Yet since they are young and learning, and if they’re not hungry, the encounter with their pry may be more a lesson in stalking then eating on any particular day.
The morning Lion Walk, with cubs, is Antelope Park’s premiere activity. Although for the cubs it is again an operation for them to develop their hunting instincts, for we humans it’s an extraordinary experience to get up close and personal with these cats. Although the handlers guide the cubs toward areas where the pry are grazing in the savannah, it seems that the cubs are taking us for a walk. We meander through the grass, over rocks, watch them play, observe them stalking prey, wander down to the river for a drink, chase the birds and, finally, they allow us to gently pet them as if they were ordinary 200 pound house cats.
Conservation or Tourism
Does it all sound contrived? There are critics who say the entire effort is simply a cover for profit making eco-tourism and that the efforts are best utilized to push for political and environmental change that will protect the existing wild habitat. Perhaps, I’m not an expert, yet can any change occur without a transformation of the human psyche? If non-profit and profit making efforts along with volunteerism and community outreach can result in both altering the human desire for unregulated growth and reintroduce an important animal to the wild, then do it. No effort should be exclusive – all are valid and should be pursued.
All of this costs a great deal of money, far more than eco-tourism can produce. Donations are always necessary and if so inclined can be made directly to ALERT, a UK registered non-profit charity. The Lion Rehabilitation and Release Program and Antelope Park provide a valuable, unique, educational and restful eco-tourism experience that make the Lodge an essential destination for any visitor to both Zimbabwe and southern Africa.
Marc d'Entremont - Years of experience as a chef, historian and teacher guides my travel and food writing. I explore all things that shape a culture.
