The award-winning documentary feature film Blood Lions launched worldwide for public viewing on YouTube to share its message far and wide!
South Africa (01 June 2023) – The award-winning South African documentary Blood Lions which highlights the caged lion trade – from cub petting, canned hunting and the lion bone industry – has officially gone live on YouTube so even more people can access the eye-opening information. This is incredible news because it gives people the information they need to make informed choices when travelling to South Africa and engaging with our wildlife.
The film, which premiered in 2015, blows the lid off misleading claims made by the predator breeding and canned hunting industries in South Africa.
This public launch forms part of a global, collaborative campaign to create awareness around South Africa’s captive predator breeding, “canned” hunting, live trade and lion bone industries, as well as the various spin-off activities such as cub petting, walking with lions and voluntourism.
Since premiering in 2015, the documentary has been distributed worldwide to more than 180 countries and territories. It has been subtitled into six different languages, all of which are now available on the YouTube channel.
The documentary along with relentless awareness campaigns and petitioning the government, led to change in 2021 when Minister Creecy of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment made a groundbreaking statement in May 2021. She shared that South Africa would be making a change to the commercial captive lion breeding industry.
In her statement, she announced that “The [High-Level] panel recommends that South Africa does not captive breed lions, keep lions in captivity, or use captive lions or their derivatives commercially. I have requested the department action this accordingly and ensure that the necessary consultation for implementation is conducted.”
“Immediately following the extremely positive (albeit outraged!) global response to the release of BLOOD LIONS®, the Blood Lions Campaign was launched as a “call to action” to continue to raise awareness around the horrors of the captive lion breeding industry, with the ultimate aim of bringing an end to it.
We were aware it would take time, but firmly believed that with the commitment of our small but dedicated team, reinforced by the incredible support of our followers, benefactors and partners worldwide, we could make an impact and affect meaningful change. This is indeed happening, with our government’s acknowledgement that the industry has no conservation value, has discredited South Africa’s conservation and tourism reputations, and that it should be phased out. We remain committed to our objectives, and to supporting this process of policy change and its implementation,” states Pippa Hankinson, Director and Producer
About the film:
The film exposes the practices of the captive lion breeding industry in South Africa, reveals the commercial tourism trade and the human-manipulated life cycles of the lions, and also shows how thousands are bred for the sole purpose of being killed in “canned” or captive hunting operations and/or for the bone trade to Asia.
Blood Lions follows acclaimed environmental journalist and safari operator, Ian Michler, and American hunter, Rick Swazey, on their journey to uncover the realities of the multi-million dollar predator breeding and canned lion hunting industries in South Africa.
The film also exposes how thousands of unsuspecting tourists and volunteers visiting South Africa are mostly unaware that their money contributes to the fraudulent and exploitative use of these animals.
Cubs born in captivity in South Africa are often ripped away from their mothers within days of birth. The breeders claim they are orphaned and will one day be rewilded. However, this is untrue, as the practice is simply to bring the mothers back into oestrus (to become fertile) again more quickly, leading to intense breeding cycles where they can give birth to up to four times more litters of cubs than lionesses in the wild.
Many of the cubs are introduced into petting enclosures at 3-4 weeks of age, to provide paying tourists with selfie opportunities, while international paying volunteers hand-rear and bottle-feed these so-called “orphaned and abandoned” cubs.
As the animals grow, they are often sold to facilities to be used for other interactive tourist activities, such as ‘walking with lions’, and many may also be abused in the advertising and film industry. Most of these activities are offered under the guise of conservation with emotional stories that the cubs were abandoned, orphaned, or that the mother didn’t have enough milk.
You can view the trailer below, please note, some viewers may find the content upsetting.
The public launch of Blood Lions comes at a critical time for lions, when a Ministerial Task Team appointed by Environment Minister Barbara Creecy is working towards identifying voluntary exit options and pathways for lion owners from the captive lion industry. This panel of experts will also be required to oversee the implementation and monitoring of this voluntary phase-out.
“The Ministry should be given support during the closing down process as this needs to happen sooner rather than later. With each passing year, South Africa’s conservation and tourism reputation remains stained while thousands of lions and other predators continue to suffer. In the meantime, with Blood Lions now launching worldwide for public viewing, the film will continue to play a vital role in spreading awareness about the horrors of the captive breeding and canned hunting industries”, says Ian Michler, Director
If you have not yet been able to watch it, now you can. You can find the documentary here. It is available in English, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.
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