Poison Poaching

[Lisbeth]

Their Predator Park!

[okie]

Hmmm..... yeah ..... emotional .....

That's a helluva lot of money down the holes

[Flutterby]

Dumbleton Mokoena added 20 new photos.
9 hrs
BEWARE ANIMAL LOVERS:
On May the 26th our group launched an appeal asking the public to wait until an investigation was done, before donating funds to the Jugomaro Predator Park in South Africa, after the self-filmed video of owner Justin Fernandes, sobbing for the tragic poisoning and death of three of his lions and one tiger, went viral.
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Now, as we expected, streams of money in support are flowing into his and his family bank account. It is good for them, because they constantly need money, used to keep the animals in good health and pay the heavy bills of their private zoo. In this sense the family is very committed and has also been object of sporadic accusations of illegally hunting the nearby wildlife because, you know, the the big cats have to eat.
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The family had also been accused of illegally keeping an arsenal of weapons and explosives but, hey, South Africa is a dangerous place, you have to defend yourself!
We feel very sorry for the animals who got killed, it appears by poachers. We are concerned about the remaining cats who are still in the Fernandes’ care and are sneakily loved every day with that hypocrite relationship that makes them involuntary toys for their owners and a source of entertainment as pets and props to raise money in a place that has the conservation value of a circus.
Nobody can deny that Siberian tigers should not live in Africa in first place and surely they should not swim in cement pools or go to the kitchen and eat cheese from the fridge or lick milk from the kitchen top counter. But this is so funny, so let’s do it!
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Tigers, being an alien species in South Africa as well as jaguars, are not sufficiently covered by the local law; this does not mean that anybody can do everything with a captive tiger, including breeding it, keeping it as it was a puppy, filming it and spreading the false impression that getting in possession of a cub is simple and acceptable as well as growing it in your house as it was a dog.
Why is it fun to do this? Because we are naturally not at ease with animals that would feed on us and we live with relief and pleasure a peaceful and manageable interaction with these magnificent, majestic, intimidating, iconic creatures, where the big predator is not only a friend but our “baby”. This is so exciting and gives us a kick, it is a bust for our ego, a power-shower which so many people cannot resist to.
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The truth is, being, as humans, a possible prey, we fear big predators and we misunderstand them completely when they are in the wild. We are very ignorant. Human-predator conflict is a global issue which affects the survival of a number of species including lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cougars, mountain lions but also lynxes, coyotes, jackals, fox and wolves and many others. These animals are of primary importance in their eco-systems and victims of a global war. We need real education programs to learn how to understand and respect them, not videos of playboys tickling Siberian Tiger tummies in Africa. The harm this fraudulent messages do is of huge proportions.
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The Fernandes say they do save animals. We think that it is completely negligent and hypocrite to take on the responsibility of saving an animal and then rely purely on the funding and support by others and on the exploitative use of the animals you claim to have saved.
Is this love? Are Siberian tiger and Timber Wolves (usually living in Alaska) happy to live a life of confinement in inadequate cages and in African environment/ weather/ temperatures?
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When a zoo goes bankrupt, normally public help is required to mitigate the emergency but then, the animals are safely removed and relocated to respectable places. Why is this family keeping all the animals, actually getting more and more, all cubs and pups and then crying for continuous support, shifting the responsibility to maintain the good health of their own animals towards others?
Too many individuals and organizations are utilizing animals to make money.
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This family says they had rescued their animals but there are videos of their tiger delivering a cub and we think that, although we all love animals, if you find an animal in need you should follow the right procedure and relocate it in a respectable place, you don’t just decide to open your private exotic zoo with no knowledge and money. That would be a recipe for disaster not only for yourself and your animals but for the conservation of their species.
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We think it is more appropriate to rather donate to any accredited conservation facility or sanctuary near you and, for this choice, to ask precise questions (and get answers) from your local SPCA and DEA or from accredited organizations; we need to avoid financing any facility which promotes and allows big predators-human interaction.
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Wild animals are not pets. They should never, for their safety or for safety of others, be housed in facilities and be used for closed human interaction. We need to avoid people living off the welfare of others, falsely claiming the funds are to protect animals.
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These places are a failed, immoral, shameful model of business with zero conservation value.

[Richprins]

It is this sort of bitchfight that has been bedeviling NGO conservation for decades!

[Lisbeth]

I perfectly agree with the above Not RP's post, the one on top of that.

[Lisbeth]

Using the word (two words) "bitch fight" do you insinuate that only women are fighting for the animal rights?

RP, do you like animals or do you you regard them as "things"

[Richprins]

I don't care if they are women, and I don't know what your question is. If the law is being broken, fine. If not, then STFU.
Job-creators and taxpayers have enough problems with the economy, crime, thieving government etc. These days you get attacked by pseudo-conservationist facebook warriors who have never suffered a day in their lives too!

FFS!

[Flutterby]

Everyone calm down!

[Dzombo]

Job-creators and taxpayers have enough problems with the economy, crime, thieving government etc. These days you get attacked by pseudo-conservationist facebook warriors who have never suffered a day in their lives too!

A contentious issue!

I personally have no problem with zoos, or these interactive petting establishments. Provided that the animals are well looked after.
A lot of these PCFW love to jump on the bandwagon and say how evil all these places are and the animals in question are better off running free in the wild. Yet they have absolutely no clue about the about the shocking state of conservation and nature preservation. Not only in SA, but the rest of the world.

Not everyone goes to a game reserve. And in many cases, these petting zoos etc are an important way of establishing awareness to the public.

On a personal note (may have told this story before)
SeaWorld and the Orcas in particular has been in the firing line from these PCWF in the past few years. There is a vociferous brigade of them who point out all the wrong doings of the organisation and want all the animals held by SeaWorld to be returned to the wild to "live out their natural lives" and the place to be shut down.
2 years ago we went to Orlando on holiday. The SO and I debated whether we should go to SeaWorld or not. In the end I relented, and off we went.
Orcas are impressive creatures. And should they be doing tricks in a swimming pool? No, they should not. However my 8 y o daughter was absolutely fascinated by them She spent hours and hours watching them through the glass.
And she has since developed an absolute love of Cetaceans.
To the point where on a recent trip to Iceland, on her request, we did a wale watching trip at sea.

So in raising awareness and a love of nature. Perhaps there is a purpose to animals in captivity
My 2c

[Flutterby]

A good point Dzombo. As you say, if the animals are well-looked after and there are no ulterior motives then I also don't have a problem with it.