A short list of popular things we will not book, with the reasons, because “we care about animals” is not a reason.
Walking with lions, and cub petting
Lions used for walking and petting are hand-reared, and hand-reared lions cannot be released — they have no hunting skill and no fear of people. The animals in these operations grow out of the tourist-facing phase within a couple of years, and what happens to them afterwards is the part that does not appear in the brochure.
The conservation justification usually offered does not survive contact with the arithmetic. There is no established pathway from a petting facility to a wild population.
Elephant riding
Elephants do not accept riders without a training process designed to break them. This is more associated with Asia than East Africa, but it is asked about and the answer is no.
Baiting predators
Putting out bait to draw a leopard to a vehicle produces a good photograph and a habituated cat that associates people with food. It is prohibited in the national parks and we would not do it where it is not.
Off-road driving where it is prohibited
Cutting across the grass for a better angle is prohibited in most of the Serengeti for good reason — it destroys the ground cover and, at a hunt, it changes the outcome. Where off-road is permitted, as in parts of the Ndutu area, we use it.
Crowding a sighting
There are unwritten rules about how close to get and how long to stay, particularly at a kill or with cubs. A guide who breaks them to get you a better view is not doing you a favour.
Cultural visits arranged through a middleman
If the community is not receiving the fee and the schedule is built around the vehicles rather than their day, it is a performance, and we would rather not run it.
We would rather lose a booking than run one of these, and occasionally we do lose one.
