Lion Whisperer

[Liberal_in_LA]

Kevin Richardson, also known as the Lion Whisperer, piggybacks on the back of a lion in their enclosure at the Kingdom of the White Lion park in Broederstroom, near Johannesburg South Africa on Oct. 11. A new film opening in the United States on Friday about a rare white lion who escapes becoming a trophy on a wall is a rare happy ending in a country where more than 1,000 lions are killed legally each year.



Lions raised in captivity in South Africa are set loose in enclosed areas where hunters, many from the United States, gun them down. The toll: about 1,000 lions each year.

Kevin Richardson hopes a new movie "White Lion," which opens in a few U.S. cities on Friday, will give people second-thoughts about participating in such hunts.

"I just can't understand how anyone would want to shoot a lion that is clearly confined to a finite space with absolutely no hope in hell of ever escaping the so-called hunter," said Richardson, a self-taught "Lion Whisperer" and first-time film producer. "Canned lion hunting, in my opinion, is likened to fishing with dynamite in a pond and then calling yourself a fisherman."



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/10/14/international/i103502D53.DTL#ixzz12MckzlwT

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/10/14/international/i103502D53.DTL

[joeybee12]

1. I love those big cats...

Hell, I love all cats.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Put a saddle on it and domesticate it.

Or leave it alone!





:thumbsdown:

[G_j]

3. K&R

[OnyxCollie]

4. What a beautiful animal. nt

[tabatha]

5. Next up, should be a movie about rhino killing

There has been a huge uptake in illegal killings of rhino for their horns - and the most distressing thing about it, is that it has mostly been done by Afrikaners, some of whom were vets.

"This list is not over, many more arrests are imminent, helicopter pilots, vets, P.H., Farm workers, game farm managers, and even mining company staff under investigation. the mind boggles.
kevin bewick
anti poaching intelligence group"

http://www.rhinoconservation.org/2010/10/07/two-more-suspects-named-in-south-africas-rhino-crime-syndicate-investigation/#comments

http://www.rhinoconservation.org/2010/10/11/national-prosecuting-authority-says-explosive-evidence-expected-in-rhino-horn-syndicate-trial/#more-6593

I do not understand the mentally of those who kill animals for profit. One of the main players owned 7 farms.

[joeybee12]

6. I don't know if i could watch that...they kill the animal, take the horn...

then leave the rest...disgutingly bloodied, to rot...inhuman.

[chaska]

7. Future man-steak.

[1monster]

8. My word! It's Aslan!

What an incredibly beautiful animal.

[grace0418]

14. That is EXACTLY what I thought. I devoured those books as a child and since then

one of my greatest wishes is to be able to cuddle with lions and tigers without fear of being mauled. Obviously that will never happen but I can dream. If there is a heaven...

[1monster]

15. Although I was (and still am) and avid reader, I never even heard of Narnia until

I was close to thirty and my stepson was watching either Disney or HBO and saw an animated version of THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE. I bought the series for him and read them all myself. Then years later, when my son was old enough to read it by himself, I bought him the set too. I liked all of them, but THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE remains my favorite.

[grace0418]

16. I had mono when I was about 10 or 11 and was in bed for a couple of weeks.

I read the whole series twice. I remember my sister asking if I thought they were religious and I didn't think so at all. Joke was on me, C.S. Lewis was primarily a religious writer and naturally as an adult I see the religious bent. But at the time they were just wonderful stories. I even like the names Edmund and Lucy because of those books.

[1monster]

17. Reading them as an adult, the Christian symbology, but I just ignored it and

enjoyed it as the fantasy it is.

[grace0418]

18. I did the same when I reread them a few years back. Really wonderful stories.

And I love the talking animals.

[Blue Owl]

9. Can we do a test and see if Karl Rove is a lion whisperer?

I mean, what's the worst that could happen?

:evilgrin:

[Chulanowa]

11. I don't want to see a lion with explosive diarrhea n/t

[grace0418]

19. Feed him a whole bunch of bbq first and don't let him wash up. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

10. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Liberal_in_LA.

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. you are welcome!

[TwilightGardener]

12. I will now fear a news story about this guy and an "unfortunate incident"

related to lions some day in the future. But I do appreciate his work.

[petronius]

20. Yep - then they can show this movie as a double-feature with Grizzly Man

I'm sort of torn here: I think it's very likely that publicity like this increases support for the idea of conservation, especially among people with little experience of the outdoors, but I don't like how it blurs the meaning of what nature really is, what is actually supposed to be conserved. I also wonder how many people are going to see that picture and then head off next summer to Yellowstone or Yosemite and try to get a similar pose with a bear or bison or something...

[TwilightGardener]

21. Yep, I remember that guy going on and on about Mr. Chocolate the Bear...

until Mr. Chocolate ate him and his girlfriend. Lots of people think they have special connections or communication skills with animals. Most of them don't.

[xchrom]

13. So beautiful. And I can't talk about the unspeakable cruelty of canned hunts. Nt

[AtomicKitten]

22. OMG he's a handsome boy.

:loveya: