Don't Kill the Tshukudu Game Lodge Cub

If you picked a cat up and it scratched you, some people might think it extreme if you hauled it off to the vet and euthanised its fluffy behind.

But that’s exactly what might happen to a lion cub that bit a Singaporean woman who was holding it up for some happy holiday snaps at the Tshukudu Game Lodge in Hoedespruit.

According to the Mail & Guardian article, she “was apparently posing with a one-year-old cub when it bit her, leaving her with four deep cuts of between 4cm and 8cm on the left side of her face, and lacerations on her left arm and leg, where the lion clawed her.” It goes on to tell us her husband thwacked the poor cub with his camera.

“Tshukudu lodge manager Eric Gander said on Monday night that a decision would be taken about the lion cub’s future after an investigation into the incident.”… Cue dramatic music.

This closing sentence to the article betrays the obvious possibility that the cub will be put to sleep.

The lion can’t talk, so we’ll never know if she was squeezing it too hard or wearing some kind of catnip-infused perfume (‘Feline’ by Britney… or ‘Pussy’ by Ron Jeremy). Maybe it was the lion’s revenge for all the domestic animals Asians apparently gobble.

We’ll never know unless we call in a cat whisperer… and do you know how much they charge?

People have wondered what the hell she was doing holding the thing so close to her face! I’ve read comment-thread-rants about the ‘canned’ lion hunting industry – where they drug ‘em and let Yanks bust a cap – and that this is an extension of such atrocity.

But most people simply believe the lion was acting on instinct, be it a reaction to a perceived threat or misguided playfulness, and that it shouldn't be punished for being what it is.

If you think this is outrageous and that the cub shouldn’t get whacked, why not do something about it. At the very least get your voice heard by the people making this decision.

You can send an email to Tshukudu Game Lodge to: bookings@tshukudulodge.co.za – this email was strangely absent from their website, but I found it on their Facebook page.

Or you can write on their FB wall. The link is here.

Please share this if you give a shit.