Unicorn's Guide to the Galaxy - uh Sanctuary ^,^

This page collects information and links about the farming of captive lions and why they can't be released into the wild - why the KRWS Sanctuary does not breed.

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BREEDING One of the subjects that seems to bring out controversial commentors is breeding. Some have even outright accused Kevin of running a breeding farm. The Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary does not breed the lions in their care. I feel this has been very obvious. Either the accusers are simply trying to sow doubt and misinformation to undermine Kevin's efforts, or they are misinformed themselves, or they are confusing the past with the present: Kevin didn't always know what he knows now. Yet, rather than keep his insights to himself, he's chosen to use his relationships with captive predators to spread awareness and educate others in an effort to stop the abusive industry and save lions as a whole.

More than twenty years ago, when Kevin was first introduced to working with lions in captivity, it was at a park that bred lions. There are documentaries out there of his time there, and perhaps these people just saw them for the first time now and don't realize those are twenty years old. Once Kevin realized the fate captive lions faced, he rescued the ones he had been working with and grown close to and created his Sanctuary to give them a much better life - which does not include breeding. ~ The Sanctuary was using contraceptives, spaying a few at a time when they could afford it, and all the lionesses are now spayed.

I even saw a comment crying to let them breed and "be natural"..! ^^' Um, lions in captivity is NOT "natural" to begin with. Furthermore, people who feel that way (who probably don't spay their pets and contribute to pet overpopulation and mass euthanization, which certainly isn't "natural") are not taking into account the cost of housing and caring for all the excess lions that would produce, nor who or where would house them, and are apparently unaware that the fate of most captive lions is the cruelty of the canned lion industry. As Kevin clearly states numerous times, he is against lion farming and is working to increase and protect wild habitat so wild lions can happily "be natural". ^_~

The Kevin Richardson Foundation's mission is to do just that.

preventing Breeding at the Sanctuary Kevin on giving Sanctuary lionesses contraceptives an #AskMeg with more about problems with breeding { 2019 : all lionesses now spayed }

Smithsonian Predator Roadtrip - Sanctuary using contraceptives how the contraceptives work If breeding captive lions helped wild ones, Kevin would be doing it. why better to spay lionesses than neuter lions

RELEASING Some people wonder why they can't just be released into the wild. Well, there are numerous reasons, but the most important one is that: There is nowhere wild to put them. If there was suitable habitat, wild lions could easily populate it. Breeding farms claim they are breeding to repopulate the wild, yet only extremely rarely (if truthfully at all) do any of those lions end up released. Read more about what actually happens to captive-bred lions in the Cub Petting and Canned Lion topics.

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Captive lions are also habituated to people, which makes it dangerous to release them. They hold no fear of humans, and a great increase in lion-human conflicts, resulting in deaths on both sides, would be the consequence. There is also the gene pool to consider. Breeders are highly unregulated. Lineages, like we do for horses, are not kept for lions. So, there is no telling what is actually in captive lion populations. They are often inbred for traits that would not serve wild lions and would introduce mutations that could cause wild populations to deteriorate faster. Given their close proximity to other captive animals, captive lions could also be carriers of diseases that could wipe out a wild population if introduced into it.

One must ask: If it really was as easy as just releasing them, why are there four times as many crammed in captivity than in the wild in South Africa? Why aren't they in the wild right now??

Because: There is nowhere to put them.

Captive-lion breeders breed and kill for profit. Conservationists fight to restore and protect habitat so that wild lions will be able to thrive.

Have you read the Foundation's Status of Lions? It has information on all these subjects.

Kevin mentions there is nowhere for captive lions to be released why don't breed, tail flicking, why don't release into wild more on reality of keeping captive lions their entire lives

Instagram: lies and reality 2019 not enough habitat A new feature film Kevin worked on might help you understand what breeding farm lions face. ~ Mia and the White Lion in the US in April 2019

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Be a steward of the Earth.

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gstk83@catlover.com

[I make the printable images to be around 8x11 inches to fill a sheet of regular letter-size paper when printed. Coloring pages may be printed from here and made copies of for non-profit, free-of-charge use only. Plant seeds! ^_^]