Big Cats - Yzerfontein - West Coast Farmstall

As you go down the R27, you will see the R315 turn off to Yzerfontein. A few meters down the road is the West Coast Farmstall. The entrance has wooden sculptures of lions, and for good reason. There they have two white lions (male and female), two brown lions (male and female), two black leopards, and two white tigers (Siberian and Bengal). The big cats have only been in Yzerfontien for three years, but they come from a breeding farm that has been operational since the 1980's. They do not breed them for hunting -- just so you know before I have environmentalists start putting tofu and decapitated radishes in my bed.

White lions are the product of a recessive gene found in the more-common brown lion. They are not a different species, just like red-heads aren't a different species (no matter what 4Chan says). They are found in nature, but because they do not have sufficient camouflage, they cannot hunt. Some cubs are born white but then turn brown as they mature. That's is why only adult white lions are more expensive. They are bred in captivity and can only live in captivity. There is a pack of white lions in the wild but they are fed by humans because they cannot catch their own food. There is only one species of lion in Africa; however another bloodline exists. It is Barbary blood lion that comes from Rome -- in other words, the lions they used in the arenas to fight gladiators. You can determine the presence of this bloodline by checking whether the mane continues down the lion's belly and reaches all the way to their groin. A normal lion's mane only covers their head and neck. The Barbary bloodline also gives the male lion a much darker mane.
 
This brings me to a point that weighs heavy on my mind: the breeding of wild cats in captivity. If it wasn't done I would not have gotten to see them at all. With their habitat becoming more and more encroached upon, their numbers dwindle at a frightening pace. Sadly, wild cats raised in captivity,especially born in captivity, cannot be reintegrated in the wild as far as I know. Which means that even if they go extinct in the wild and we have thousands of them in captivity, they are bound to live like that forever. Sadly, in our world today, they are only allowed to live because they have a financial value. The commercial mindset justifies this by asking why they should be kept if they do not make any money. After all, they are expensive to feed, to keep healthy and keep contained. Space and manpower to do this cost money, so the animals have to earn their keep. They had no choice in being part of the human system of existence, but now that they are what are we to do? Do we keep them to please human curiosity and its hunger for wonders? Perhaps having these animals on display has a value for conservation. If all we see of these animals are images on a screen then it is very easy to detach ourselves fro the problems they face. However, seeing them in front of you; their full majesty contained behind wire fences, should be enough to make a sensitive heart take action and do what little they can to help. If one person out of a hundred who sees these beautiful animals does something to help, then at least some good will come from this.

Let me say this, I have nothing against those who breed and display these animals, as long as they take good care of them and keep them healthy and happy. At least they are keeping these animals from going extinct and educating many people about them. Also, for those of us who cannot afford to go to the larger and more expensive game reserves, these places might be our only opportunity to see these animals. I hope we never have to tell our grandchildren about these places as though they are lost relics of history. 

As most of you know, the Siberian tiger is the biggest cat in the world, and there are only about 350 adult Siberian Tigers in the wild.