Love Lions Alive NPC provides sanctuary for big cats unable to live unsupported in the wild, based in the Free State, South Africa. Founded by Thandi (Andi) Rive in 2015, featured in The Lion Queen on the Discovery Channel, Love Lions Alive Sanctuary offers a place of safety, dignity and reprieve to big cats in need, in the most natural environment possible. Our big cats live in large natural enclosures with minimum human interaction.
We are a registered Non Profit Company NPC 2017/242037/08, Non Profit Organisation NPO 263-911, Public Beneficiary Organisation PBO 930061786, Sanctuary 19/A31270 with a TOPS Permit R84/710720001089 and rely on donations to do the work we do. We are able to provide donors with a Section 18A PBO Tax Certificate, valid in South Africa, on request.
Direct Deposits – To make a donation by Direct Deposit please pay into our Bank Account Name: Love Lions Alive Sanctuary, Bank Account Number 4092510855, Branch Name Harrismith, Branch Code 632005, Swift address ABSAZAJJ, Reference: Your name/Cat name (if sponsoring a particular cat, if not then your name only). You may need our registered address 29 Hamilton street, Harrismith, Free State, 9880, South Africa and our bank address ABSA Building, 45 Struart Street, Harrismith, 9880, South Africa. Thank you for your support, we cannot do the work we do without it.
Legacy/Will Gifting – You can include a gift in your Will to support our work, dedicated to bringing back Nature. For more information please contact Andi.
“I will give a safe haven to any big cat already existing in captivity whose quality of life can be improved by coming to LLA, but I cannot watch new big cats being created to live behind fences.”
About Love Lions Alive Sanctuary NPC
Love Lions Alive Sanctuary opened on Appin Farm, in the Free State, South Africa, in 2015, where we still operate from today. We provide sanctuary for captive bred big cats that cannot be reintroduced to the wild, safe for the rest of their lives. We currently care for 25 big cats at LLA Free State, and another four off-site.
Our complete devotion is to each big cat and its needs.
We initially only provided sanctuary for captive bred lions, hence our name Love Lions Alive. Some of our lions have been saved from canned lion hunting, the controversial practice of hunting lions in enclosed, fenced areas, where the animals have little to no chance of escaping. These hunting operations typically occur on private reserves or breeding farms, and the lions are often raised in captivity or bred specifically for this purpose. In canned lion hunting, the hunter is guaranteed a kill, making it a highly criticised and unethical activity.
In March 2020, as the country was going into COVID lockdown, we were asked to take in two jaguars and two pumas from the Bloemfontein zoo, challenging our previous stance of only being open to indigenous South African cats. We accepted.
In March 2021 we were called on to take in two tigers from a suburban home in Gauteng, another departure from our original mission. The end result is that we now accept any captive born big cats in South Africa that are in need of sanctuary, regardless of whether they are indigenous or exotic.
Our mission is to give all big cats born into captivity the best quality of life, in the most natural environment possible. Our cats have been rescued from a variety of backgrounds, from zoos to private owners and even mistaken identity.
We build habitats to provide high ground with views over the fences so that the cats look out over large vistas. We build around boulders and trees to provide natural shade and shelter. We include low lying hiding spots for privacy. We build drinking rock pools as naturally as possible and dam up rain water pools for the water loving cats to play in.
Ethics
We are committed to providing our big cats with as natural life as possible. The big cats at our sanctuary were captive bred, came to us as rescue animals and are unable to be released into the wild. We provide lifelong care for them.
- We treat the big cats at LLAS with the respect and dignity they deserve.
- We do not breed lions. We are 100% opposed to the breeding of lions in captivity.
- We do not sell lions.
- We do not offer lion interactions be it playing, petting, touching or walking with lions. If we take in rescue cubs, they are kept away from the public.
- We do not import exotic cats into South Africa. We rescue and care for exotic cats who have been bred in South Africa by zoos and private owners.
LLA founder, Thandi (Andi) Rive, guides our personal tours, sharing our cats individual stories with you, imparting her extensive experience and knowledge. These tours are arranged for dates and times suitable to us both.
We don’t charge for these tours but do ask that you make a donation of your choice to the sanctuary.
A Lion’s Value
Our aim is to create awareness that lions are more valuable alive than dead. We Love Lions Alive and have created a safe haven for big cats. There are more than 8 000 lions in South Africa that need a safe home, free from breeding, cub petting and the possibility of a future as a trophy on someones wall.
There is a huge market in South Africa for dead lions. Many lion farms are breeding and selling lions for the canned hunting industry, or body parts for traditional medicine. In order to fully utilise these lions, subsidiary business have sprung up around this primary business. These usually involve utilising the immature lions by offering them up for tourist interactions. This begins with tourists being able to pay to bottle feed the baby cubs. Tourists can then pay to play, or have photos taken with the older cubs, or walk with young lions.
All of these tourist opportunities are simply ways for the breeder to make money out of the lions prior to them being of an adequate age and size to either be culled for body parts or sold for hunting. This is something Love Lions Alive is completely against.
We do not believe that there should be any more lions born in captivity. Lions are wild animals and deserve to live in the wild.
When one of our cats die, they are buried in our lion graveyard which is situated in a beautiful, safe place, ensuring their bodies rest in safety and dignity.
Our lions all come from compromised situations where they lived in sub-standard environments. We’ve provided them with a new life, in a new, healthy environment, cared for by our team with the generous support of our donors and volunteers.