What To Do When Your Friends [Knowingly or Unknowingly] Support Lion Exploitation

Animal activists & advocates are notorious for being passionate, compassionate people. Some of us focus on specific animal-welfare issues whilst others choose to be a voice for as many animals or species of wildlife as possible at any one given time. Some advocates protest, some don't; some sign petitions, some go to rallies instead. Some advocates trespass and break into properties to free animals from slaughter, exploitation, etc. It doesn't matter if you're an animal-welfare vigilante or if you're one of the behind-the-scenes advocates who quietly rallies for wildlife. Every advocate and their efforts matter.

But what about our friends?

Some of us have friends -- near and far -- who choose to participate in various forms of animal exploitation. You may have a friend who wears real fur. Maybe a friend of yours likes visiting the circus to see animals perform tricks. Or, perhaps you have a friend like mine who lives in South Africa and continuously visits facilities like Lion Park and pets lion cubs. Despite telling your friend about the exploitation that occurs in the fur industry, circus' and the cub-petting industry, they continue to participate anyway. So what do you do?

From my own personal experience(s), telling a friend or close loved one flat out that they are contributing to cruelty when they participate in, say, cub petting, doesn't always work out as you may hope it to. Your friend may feel offended that you pointed out something they were doing wrong; they may not feel as though they have done something wrong. Whatever the reasons, not everyone you meet or become close with will automatically see your point of view, nor will they fall in line with your own views.

You may be surprised to know that industries in South Africa such as cub-petitng, canned hunting, etc. are not as notoriously cruel to many South Africans as they are to us around the globe. This isn't totally surprising when you read about the SA govnerment denying the existence of canned hunting, trying to demean the status of lions on the IUCN Red List, or when you learn that most of the profit made from trophy hunting in South Africa flows right back to its greedy government. But many South Africans are in the dark about what is really happening to their wildlife. I have tried to tell my friend on several occasions that visiting Lion Park and petting cubs actually results in animal exploitation; but this warning often falls on deaf ears. Ultimately, news and media frenzies surrounding incidents like Cecil's death will have to be the method through which we raise awareness; yes, even for people in SA.

In the mean-time, here are a few tips you can use when you have a friend who -- knowingly or unknowingly -- participates in such activities.

1. Politely approach them with solid evidence: It's fine to tell someone "petting cubs is lion exploitation," but most people will fluff this off. Approaching your friend with an article on cub-petting packed with credible evidence and saying, "Hey, did you read about this cub-petting stuff happening in South Africa? Isn't it terrible?" isn't accusing them of participating in bad activities; rather, it's giving your friend an opportunity to read and consider what really goes on behind the scenes of those cub-petting activities.

2. Maturely explain your views on lion exploitation: You could bombard your friend with a passionate, drama-filled speech about why you're against lion exploitation and they should be, too; or you can sit them down and maturely explain why you do not support exploitative activities such as cub petting, lion walking, etc. For example, saying to your friend "I feel strongly about these issues because they exploit and abuse lions, a creature everyone loves and would like to save from extinction & harm" goes a longer way than saying "Are you seriously going to keep petting cubs when I've told you a thousand times that it's cruel and exploitative????"

3. Don't try to change them: Alright, so you love lions and want to save them, but maybe your friend isn't as passionate about it as you. What are you going to do, force them to take up the fight for lions? Sometimes people have to see things clearly for themselves and there just isn't anything you can do about it. Don't force change on your friend; be polite and mature when explaining things to them but don't expect them to change to conform to your views. In time, they may come around to the idea of lion exploitation.

4. Encourage your friend to read one article, attend one event, or sign one petition: Your friend may not be as passionate about the lion cause as you are, but you can encourage them to learn more about the activities they participate in by sending them an article over Facebook and saying "Give this a read! Very interesting!" Have them sign a petition by asking, "Will you sign this petition my other friend started a few months back? We need all of the help we can get!" Or, ask them to attend a [peaceful] rally with you. "There's this cool rally I'd like to go to, but I'd rather go with a friend. Would you come?" Encourage your friend to see your side of things in a way that makes them feel included, as opposed to accused.

If all else fails, just remember that change is upon us when it comes to the state of animal welfare around the globe. Cecil's death has sparked a fire of awareness across the planet which has quite literally reached millions of people. The secrets behind many cruel, exploitative practices for wildlife have been exposed, and with documentaries like Blood Lions being watched all over, it's more and more evident that the world is waking up to what is truly happening to Africa's wildlife. You can't turn everyone into an animal advocate, so don't try to change people. Be a kind, inclusive advocate so that, when you're friend finally does read an article/sign a petition/attend a rally, they will ask you for information, stop participating in bad activities and will maybe even being a lion advocate themselves.