January 11, 2006
By Lucille Davie
VINCE leans his head comfortably up against the rump of his companion, fast asleep, chilling with his friends.
There is nothing unusual in this, except that Vince is a spotted hyena and his friends are adolescent lions. And in the wild hyenas and lions are not generally buddies.
Vince, named after Vincent van Gogh, lost an ear and its tail as a cub. Removed from the litter, it grew up with the lions.
Visitors can handle the lion cubs
The place is the 208ha Lion Park in Honeydew, home to some 100 lions and assorted other animals like black leopards, cheetah, wild dogs and several species of antelope.
The lions are bred and trained for sale, filming and educational purposes. The park was established in 1966 by Chipperfields Circus, with retired lions. It was bought by the present owners in 1999, and since then an active breeding programme has bolstered lion numbers.
Some of the park's film clients include the BBC, the Discovery Channel and top car manufacturers.
Only 26 kilometres north-west of the city, the park is perfect for a family visit - you are allowed entry to the cub enclosure to handle the cute cats; you can feed the two giraffes by stepping up on to a platform to get nose-to-nose with them; and, best of all, you can get up close to the kings and queens of the jungle in one of four enclosures.
Visitors can also drive through the park, viewing the springbok, blesbok, zebra, ostrich, gemsbok and impala from their cars, drive past the wild dog and cheetah enclosures and then into the four lion enclosures, getting eyeball-to-eyeball with these impressive cats - from the safety of your car, of course.
There is also a tent camp in the park, where campers can fall asleep to the roar of lions and the nervous laughing of hyenas.
Mandy Devenny, the park's marketing spokesperson, says it sells and exchanges lions with other game parks, in an ongoing programme of gene pool exchange.
The park has several pure white lions; management is at pains to point out that they are not albino lions but rather lions carrying a recessive gene that controls their pigmentation.
Open seven days a week, the Lion Park is reached via Hans Strijdom Drive and the R512. Entrance is R65 for adults and R45 for children, with special rates for schoolchildren in groups. Day and night game drives are available.
There is a restaurant, as well as picnic areas, a curio shop, a children's playground and conference facilities. Get all the details on the Lion Park website.
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