I never would have expected I would pat a lion on its belly and live to tell about it. Yet in the middle of Zimbabwe there is a place where you can do just that. It is called Antelope Park, but it has nothing to do with antelopes and everything to do with lions.
Patting a lion's belly in Antelope Park
The idea of the park is to reinforce a rapidly dying lion population. Africa’s lions are the continent’s most swiftly decreasing population, due to illegal hunting, inbreeding, and diseases such as feline AIDs. A group called Alert has created the park to work on getting more lions in the wild and reduce inbreeding by mixing up the population.
In the park, lion cubs are nursed from birth by volunteers. The lions think that humans (if they “act a certain way”) are part of their pride. The way to get funding is have crazy tourists pay to go on walks with the lions, acting in “that certain way.” It works out well for everyone, as long as everyone behaves.
Walking with a lion in Antelope Park
There are four main stages in the lions’ development – the first being the young cub stage (up to about 2 years old), in which the lions go on walks with humans. They are fed mainly by humans but are also taken on night hunting safaris where they learn how to stalk prey. After nearly two years, the lions graduate to a small-ish game reserve where they hunt on their own and have drastically reduced human contact, if any. After this, in stage three, they move onto a large reserve and competition for game is introduced, bringing in animals such as hyenas, and there is no further human contact. The fourth and final stage is introduction to the wild. The offspring of these lions will not walk with humans and are completely wild, but they may be mixed with the offspring of other prides to encourage genetic diversity. Countries all over Africa have expressed interest in the program, with the possibility of receiving some lions.
Our lions were 17 months old and nearing the end of their walking career, which means they were intimidatingly large. When we walked up to the gate, armed only with flimsy sticks, we looked at them as they paced back and forth menacingly. We were taught how to act – namely, confident, which is a bit tough when your legs feel like jelly and your heart is in your throat. We were told that if any of the lions were to give us “the look,” and we would know what that meant if we saw it, we were to stand our ground, point our little stick at it and firmly say “No.” Uh huh. OK I’m feeling really confident now!
They also instructed us to avoid patting the lions on the front half of the body (such as the head, especially) and to always approach the lions from behind, lest they think we were playing with them. The last thing you wanted them to do was to start playing with you.
David looking a bit like his lion
When the gates opened, both lions charged out and one went straight for me. It solidly bumped my leg in a “friendly pat,” just how a housecat would rub against your leg… only this thing was HUGE and a little rub nearly knocked me over. I nearly passed out, all the while trying to remind myself to look confident… hahahhhaaaa… After an instant, a surge of adrenaline went through me and I was completely exhilarated. Our lion-walk leader commented that I couldn’t seem to wipe the grin off my face throughout the entire time with the lions. Maybe I missed a calling somewhere? Who knew? I thought I was a dog person.
As we walked around in our little “pride,” the lions would play with each other, flop down in the shade and chill out (which seemed to be their favourite activity), and sometimes start stalking animals in the area. It was one hell of a way to safari – every single animal’s eyes were on us. As opposed to safari-ing with BiRT, where we saw loads of bums as they ran away, here we saw everyone’s face as potential prey stared at the lions, trying to figure out what they were going to do. It was like being a celebrity in a game park. We were with the big shots!
One of our lions playfully stalks zebras
Stalking giraffes. Ever feel like you're being watched?
The park manager was our guide, and this woman had some balls. She would put her hands in the lion’s mouth to show us his teeth, she pulled back the skin on the paw to demonstrate his claws, and even “played” with them occasionally which to me seemed like something only an insane person would do. “Here, let me wave my hat around like a mouse and see if the lion goes for it, ha ha.” I made sure to stand next to her most of the time, just in case anything gave me “the look” and I wasn’t paying attention. These lions, let’s be clear, are not tamed.
Check out those pearly whites
Our insane guide thought it was fun to wave her hat around, like a toy, for the lion. (crazzzyyy)
Finally, we returned them to their pen and retreated to the posh camp area. We had just come out of several days’ driving and a climbing stint at Matopos, in the bush, and hadn’t showered in ages. It was a bit of a shock to walk into the ladies’ toilets in all of my grimy glory to see women blow drying their hair and applying makeup. I wasn’t the most popular girl given some of the looks I got, especially when I decided to put off the shower in preference of a large meal. You know you’re used to being dirty (or you’re just plain hungry) when you can put off a shower after a week without, in the name of food.
