Kajal Bagwandeen shares 7 tips on how travellers can stop animal exploitation

Animal protection organisations Humane Society International/Africa and FOUR PAWS South Africa are urging travellers, travel guides and tour operators to fight lion exploitation by refusing to participate in or promote human-lion interactions, such as cub bottle-feeding or petting, walking with lions or canned trophy hunting. 

"Three Days To Go" actress Kajal Bagwandeen has also been vocal about the issue. 

The TV personality shared pictures and revealed the tragic stories of some rescued big cats, whose home is now Lionsrock Big Cat Sanctuary in the Free State. 

View this post on Instagram

Meet some of the Rescues at @lionsrock_sanctuary: Bakari was orginally born in a German zoo, where his very own purpose was to take pictures with visitors during a christmas dinner. After the event was over, he wasn't needed any longer. Pisa & Motan were recently rescued from the horrendous Rafah Zoo in Gaza. Both cats had never felt the earth beneath their feet before arriving at the sanctuary. Sasha is a three legged Cheetah who’s mother was killed by a poacher. She lost her leg in a fight against a wildebeest. All arrived in very poor condition but given the care, freedom & species specific habitat they deserve, have blossomed into what you see now. Captive breeding is the reason these beautiful cats will never be able to experience the wild as nature intended. Photos courtesy of @fourpawsza #bigcatrescue #lionsrocksanctuary #fourpaws #ethicalsanctuary #humanesocietyinternational #wildlife #snugglescam #animalwelfare #raiseawareness 🐆🐅🦁

A post shared by Kajal Bagwandeen(@kajalbagwandeen) on Oct 5, 2019 at 11:37pm PDT

Bagwandeen said in an Instagram post this past weekend: “Meet some of the Rescues at @lionsrock_sanctuary.

“Bakari was originally born in a German zoo, where his very own purpose was to take pictures with visitors during a Christmas dinner. After the event was over, he wasn't needed any longer.

“Pisa and Motan were recently rescued from the horrendous Rafah Zoo in Gaza. Both cats had never felt the earth beneath their feet before arriving at the sanctuary.

“Sasha is a three-legged Cheetah whose mother was killed by a poacher. She lost her leg in a fight against a wildebeest.

“All arrived in very poor condition but given the care, freedom and species-specific habitat they deserve, have blossomed into what you see now.

“Captive breeding is the reason these beautiful cats will never be able to experience the wild as nature intended,” she posted. 

The fashionista, in another video featuring a tiger rescued from a circus in Germany, shared some tips on how travellers can stop supporting establishments that exploit animals. 

View this post on Instagram

How can we help? Don’t support any kind of animal interaction facilities • Refuse to participate in activities like cub bottle feeding, cub petting, walking with lions, all of which feed into the canned lion trophy hunting industry. • Support ethical sanctuaries. • Choose to view wildlife in their natural habitat at Game Reserves. • Sign the #LionLongevityOath against the #SnuggleScam (link in bio) • Ask Questions & inform Ourselves. • Raise Awareness • Support #GreenMondaySA & reduce our meat consumption to help farm animals. Together, we can all make a difference to the lives of others. FYI: This handsome guy & his brothers were rescued from a circus in Germany. #bigcatrescue #fourpaws #rescue #animalwelfare #humanesocietyinternational #worldanimalday #kindess #wildlife #nature

A post shared by Kajal Bagwandeen(@kajalbagwandeen) on Oct 5, 2019 at 11:38pm PDT

Here are some of the tips she shared: 

• Don’t support any kind of animal interaction facilities.

• Refuse to participate in activities like cub bottle feeding, cub petting, walking with lions, all of which feed into the canned lion trophy hunting industry.

• Support ethical sanctuaries.

• Choose to view wildlife in their natural habitat at Game Reserves.

• Sign the # LionLongevityOath against the # SnuggleScam 

• Ask as many questions as you want and raise awareness.

• Support #GreenMondaySA and reduce meat consumption to help farm animals.