Funeral for poisoned big cats

AFTER POISONING: THREE HAND-REARED LIONS AND A TIGER ARE KILLED

Vaalwater park, where a tiger and three lions were poisoned, holds service for ‘family members’, who had all been bottle-raised.

Sanctuary founder tries to perform CPR on big cat found struggling to breathe.

Security measures will be tightened up at Jugomaro Predator Park in the Vaalwater area of Limpopo after four of its big cats were poisoned over the weekend.

Park founder Justin Fernandes was woken by his dogs barking wildly in the early hours of Friday morning.

He went outside and found the lion and tiger cages were open.

Then he saw one of the lions biting the gate at the entrance to the farm and thought that it had a sore tooth, until he had a closer look and saw that its eyes were dilated and it was battling to breathe.

While trying to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the lion, he saw another two lions vomiting.

The South African Police Service (Saps) in Limpopo were immediately called to the scene and they found some meat laced with a strong poison called Temik, more commonly known as “Two Step”.

One teaspoon of the substance, which is said to be more poisonous than arsenic, is said to be enough to kill an adult rhino.

Fernandes confirmed that a white lion, two other lions and a tiger had died.

He said he suspected they had been poisoned because of the high price paid on the black market for lions’ legs and heads, which are used in the preparation of traditional medicine.

“We are now going to install a heavy camera system and a lot of security guards will be coming onto the farm,” said Fernandes.

“We are getting a lot of calls from people who want to sponsor and donate, but we cannot confirm their identities yet as we are still deciding which will offer the best package for the farm.”

The Limpopo Saps condemned the incident, referring to it as “the resurfacing of incidents of illegal poaching of protected species.”

Limpopo Saps spokesperson Moatshe Ngoepe said: “The police investigation, including the forensic ones, will determine the exact cause of death of these animals.”

The investigation is ongoing, but no arrests have yet been made.

The park hosted a memorial service for the lions and the tiger yesterday morning, which members of the surrounding community attended.

The animals were buried on the farm afterwards. They had all been bottle-raised by the family from birth, Fernandes reportedly said.

The four animals that died were all bottle-raised by our family from birth.

Justin Fernandes Jugomaro Predator Park owner