Volunteer Testimonials   |  Lion Sanctuary Project Photos  |   Download Lion Sanctuary Volunteer Guide

You can expect to be busy from 08:30 to 17:00 from Monday to Friday, with a 1-hour lunch break at around noon. You will have the weekends off to explore Cape Town.

General volunteer activities will include but not be limited to the following:

• Monitoring visitors to the sanctuary to ensure our animals well-being
• Food preparation for the lions, tigers, chimpanzees and the smaller animals
• Cleaning the grounds and facilities
• Cleaning lion and tiger camps
• Clearing alien vegetation
• Assisting with tour groups
• Clearing fence lines and general fence maintenance
• Fence construction
• Firebreak maintenance (and fire fighting in the summer!).

A local taxi service is available for trips out in your spare time. There is a 9pm curfew at the volunteer camp, so you will need to be back by then if you do pop out for a meal, drinks or shopping.

Volunteer Testimonials   |  Lion Sanctuary Project Photos  |   Download Lion Sanctuary Volunteer Guide

Every weekend (Friday to Sunday night), you will stay at Ashanti Lodge, one of Cape Town’s best backpackers. During the week (Monday to Thursday night) you will stay in basic shared accommodation at the Lion Sanctuary not far from the lion and chimpanzee enclosures. The rooms are equipped with single beds, a small wardrobe and a small drawer unit.

Here are some useful things to know about the volunteer camp:

• Your rooms are very close to the lions and chimpanzees so you will hear the occasional roar at night.
• Each bed has a pillow, pillow cases and sheets. You will need to bring your own sleeping bag, and blankets are available for the colder winter nights.
• A housekeeper will clean the kitchen and lounge area once a week, but you will be expected to keep your own areas tidy and clean up your dishes from day to day.
• There is no Wi-Fi at the sanctuary, but a shopping trip to a large mall is provided every Monday to enable you to stock up on food, spend time at an internet cafe, and drop off any laundry.
• There is no safe at the camp, but there is one in the main office if you want to store any valuables.

Budgeting: Depending on your appetite and lifestyle, we suggest that you allow about £60 / U$100 per week for food, entertainment and other personal daily needs. If you like to eat out a lot or enjoy more than a few drinks you should allow for this too.

Volunteer Testimonials   |  Lion Sanctuary Project Photos  |   Download Lion Sanctuary Volunteer Guide

The Lion Sanctuary Project is located near Paarl, about a 40 minute drive from Cape Town in South Africa.

We have arrival dates for this project every Friday throughout the year.

• You should aim to arrive in Cape Town on or before your chosen Friday arrival date
• You can arrive at any time of day and one of our team will be there to welcome you with a big ‘Via Volunteers’ sign when you land at Cape Town International Airport
• We will then escort you to your pre-project accommodation, one of Cape Town's best backpackers close to the city centre
• On Monday morning we will transfer you to Drakenstein Lion Park and introduce you to the team.

It’s easy to add extra nights to your stay, so if you find a cheaper flight that arrives earlier than the normal Friday arrival dates just let us know. You can also add extra nights after your placement for the same reason.

Volunteer Testimonials   |  Lion Sanctuary Project Photos  |   Download Lion Sanctuary Volunteer Guide

Canned Lion Hunting explained

Every year thousands of people visit facilities where they can interact with lion cubs. Every day, a captive bred lion is killed in a canned hunt. A canned hunt is one where a captive bred animal is shot in an enclosed area. Trophy hunters pay huge sums of money to shoot these defenceless animals. The animals are often drugged, and have no avenue of escape, providing for an easy shot at close range.

The truth is that these lions are the product of factory farming. The cubs are taken from their mothers so that they can produce another litter in six months' time, as opposed to the two years it would take if she had the opportunity to raise her own offspring.

These factory farmed cubs are often kept in unsuitable cages with little regard for their social requirements. For a fee you can play with them and have your photograph taken with them. Some of these facilities even attract volunteers with a seemingly plausible 'conservation' cover story. These volunteers spend time feeding the cubs and playing with them, completely unaware of the real fate awaiting these lions.

What happens to these human imprinted animals when they have outgrown their usefulness?

• Because they are human imprinted and have been deprived of growing up in a natural social group they cannot be rehabilitated or sold to game reserves.

Do these lion cubs benefit from this forced interaction?

• No.

What possible enjoyment can they derive from being pawed, picked up and being posed with all day long, day after day, until they have grown too big?

• None.

Are these animals part of breeding programmes that will save lions from extinction?

• No, definitely not.

These inbred, human imprinted and psychologically damaged animals have absolutely no conservation value.

• They cannot be rehabilitated into the wild.
• They cannot be used to supplement dwindling wild populations.
• They can be used as cannon fodder in the canned hunting industry.
• Every reputable animal welfare organization in the world considers the practice of using lion cubs for human playthings as cruelty.
• Lion cubs are by their very nature not gentle animals.
• Lion cubs used for petting opportunities are normally trained not to scratch or bite.
• How do you think a naturally boisterous animal is trained not to behave naturally?
• These cubs are sometimes even drugged.

What about your safety?

• Every year many people are badly injured while interacting with wild animals in petting parks.

If you are presented with the opportunity of playing with a lion cub, first ask:

• Where are the cub's mothers?
• Why aren't they being raised by their mother?
• Where do the cubs come from? (Often, operators rent lion cubs from bigger breeding farms)
• What happens to them when they grow too big?
• If they are rehabilitated, where have they been rehabilitated and is there supporting documentation?
• Once they have been rehabilitated, do they have the opportunity to live out their natural lives, or is their rehabilitation just to facilitate their death at the hands of hunters?
• If they are sold to game reserves, which game reserves (by name)?
• If they are part of a breeding programme, for what purpose?
• What happens to surplus animals?

The operators of facilities with lion cubs often have all the answers, but if you start asking these questions you will at some point be faced with a hostile response.

If you are are given an opportunity to play with a lion cub, we urge you to practice responsible tourism and respond with a resounding NO!