Wild animals are not meant to be caged! And even though humans know this, for some reason, we continue to do it anyway.
Zoos and marine parks are popular in every corner of the world, and there’s something so inviting about taking a photo with a wild animal. Travellers to South East Asia commonly go on elephant riding ‘treks’ and pose with sedated tigers for the perfect photo.
And the unfortunate truth is that some animals have it better than others. While some live in well-funded and well-maintained zoo facilities with professional care, others end up in grim habitats.
One lion cub in Russia was born into captivity and pulled away from his mother when he was just a couple months old. He was put on display and used for photos with tourists eager to pet a baby lion, unaware of what was going on behind the scenes.
Just as any of us would do in a dire situation like that, he tried to escape.
He’s literally wild, so I don’t know what they expected. But his handlers caught him and wanted to ensure it wouldn’t happen again.
And they took some extreme measures to do so.
They broke his legs and spine, making it nearly impossible for him to move, let alone escape. But tourists were none the wiser and continued to pay for a picture with the baby cub, so it made no difference to his heartless “care takers”.
He suffered other abuse regularly, and when he was finally rescued, he was found in critical condition, covered in dirt and scars.
His story went viral and even made it back to Vladimir Putin. The president urged authorities to look into how something so atrocious could have occurred, and wanted the keepers to be punished for how they treated the baby lion.
Karen Dallakyan has saved many other wild animals throughout his career. So Simba was in good hands.
After a year of dedicated love and care from his rescuers, and a number of major surgeries, he is living his best life and able to be a playful, happy lion!
Unfortunately, Simba isn’t the first, or even the last cub to sustain abuse like this. This story is just one example of how terribly animals in captivity can be treated.
When you choose to participate in animal tourism, just make sure it’s ethical!
It’s incredible that Simba was able to be rescued, but there are still many animals out there who haven’t been as lucky. If tourists stop spending money on experiences that involve petting animals, the demand for them to be held in captivity will be much lower.
In 2007, a law was passed in Texas called Simba’s Law.
“Texas HB-88 (Simba’s Law) amended the Government Code to require the Division of Emergency Management to “assist political subdivisions in developing plans for the humane evacuation, transport, and temporary sheltering of service animals and household pets in a disaster.”
Dr. Dallakyan has an Instagram page where you can follow Simba’s progress and journey back to full health. As well as many of the vet’s other amazing rescue animals!
We need more heroes and change-makers like this in the world.
