Volunteer Travels wants to alert you regarding certain types of projects which other volunteer agencies market with the promise of interacting with lion-, cheetah- and tiger cubs. You risk contributing to serious animal cruelty by going to these projects! Stop interaction with lion cubs, take action with Volunteer Travels

Lions bred in captivity are at enormous risk to be sold to shady activities such as canned hunting, where wealthy hunters can shoot big game by paying huge amounts of money. The animals are often drugged to be an easier target. As a volunteer you get no information regarding this by the responsible personnel at the project, but with increased knowledge about this matter we can hopefully reduce the amount of volunteers supporting these projects.

Volunteer Travels has, in consultation with WSPA and conservation biologists on site, reviewed a number of our former projects that involves interaction with lions. As a result we have made a conscious decision not to support projects where volunteers and tourists can interact with lions.

We have asked questions and reviewed projects where lions are bred and then confined in parks to interact with people. Our questions have made many projects uncomfortable when we want to ensure that our volunteers’ money does not support canned hunting. Many projects promise that the lions will be released back into the wild, but this is a promise that is not fulfilled. For us it goes without saying that we want to raise awareness and we think it’s sad that our competitors do not take this matter as seriously as we do! For those of you who do not know what canned hunting is, we recommend that you follow this link where there is a lot of good information. You will not regard the lion project in the same way after reading about the industry behind canned hunting.

Through our work we hope that consumers around the globe will have an increased knowledge about the types of volunteer projects that you should avoid and what type you should support. By doing so, we believe that consumers will get a clearer picture of the importance of volunteering through the right organization that take these type of questions seriously.

Are you a fan of animals in general and big cats in particular, we can of course arrange a volunteer position on a project where you get to experience lions, cheetahs and other predators, but on the condition of animals!

As a volunteer agency, we are excited to introduce animals and nature projects working with sustainability and conservation. Examples are  Kevin Richard Wildlife Sanctuary and Rhino Breeding Project.

Go on a real volunteer trip with a real volunteer agency, go with Volunteer Travels!