A video of NBA player Joel Embiid cuddling with a lion baby has gone viral, but the story behind it will break any animal lover’s heart.
Embiid was in South Africa this week for the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders charity game, and during his leisure, he visited a facility that houses large beasts like lions and cheetahs.
What the Philadelphia 76ers didn’t realize is that these tourist traps in South Africa hide something even more dangerous.
“When people go to these facilities, they’re told the whole time that it’s for lion conservation — but it’s not,” Susan Bass, Big Cat Rescue’s public relations manager, told The Dodo. “When the cubs reach adulthood, they are sold to a canned hunting facility to become a hunting trophy for someone.”
In South Africa, canned hunting operations are prevalent; for tens of thousands of dollars, a hunter may enter a vast cage with a semi-tame lion and shoot him without having to hunt him down.
The lions are supplied by cub-petting establishments, which send the cubs to be slaughtered in canned hunts when they are no longer useful to the tourist attractions.
It begins when newborn cubs are ripped from their moms when they are just a few days old. The moms are repeatedly bred, only to have their offspring taken away and murdered later.
The cubs are passed around to paying customers for pictures while they are still small and easy to manage. However, just because they’re lovely and cuddly doesn’t mean they’re harmless.
The youngster chose to bite down on Embiid’s arm during his visit.
“I’m delighted he gave him a little nip,” Bass added, “because the people seeing this video will understand these are deadly creatures.” “Even at an early age, they may scratch, injure, or bite you.”
Unfortunately, like past popular wild animal-celebrity interactions, Bass is concerned that the video may lead people to believe that paying to touch wild animals is OK, therefore supporting a business that kills them.
“I’m sure Joel had no idea,” Bass replied, “but that’s the point.” “These [lion] breeders will prey on naive or innocent persons who are unaware of the true nature of the institution.” Then, when someone prominent mentions it on social media, it makes everyone else want to go.”
Multiple news agencies ran humorous pieces after the video was released, dramatizing the bite as a “lion attack,” while CBS Sports voiced concern that the player’s arm might need to be “surgically reattached before the season starts.”
“It bothers me that media accounts express concern for the player but not for the lion,” Bass added. “No one is questioning, ‘Where is this lion cub’s mother?’ ‘Why is he being detained for photographs?’
