FREQUENTLY QUESTIONS

The white powder is called a Predator Supplement. It provides all the necessary vitamins and minerals predators need. It replaces any organs, intestines or insects that animals usually consume in the wild. We do however feed them tasty guts whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Since moving towards sanctuary status, males and females at the park have been sterilized. If a rescued animal should give birth, females are left in their enclosure to give birth and raise the offspring on their terms. A female will be relocated if she is in danger from other predators or if the offspring will be raised for release into the wild. Minimum human contact is preferred for this purpose.

We leave the offspring to be raised by the mother and try to interfere as little as possible. We will only remove the offspring if they are faced with a life-threatening situation such as possible illness, the mother not producing enough milk, infanticide occurs, or the female abandons the offspring.

Our enclosures either work on a two or three-camp system. The big predators such as the lions and tigers will have an enclosure of 1.5 hectares or bigger, whereas the smaller predators will have slightly smaller enclosures. The small camps work with sliding gates and are used for several purposes including feeding (to allow visitors a better view), quarantine of a sick animal, treatment of injuries, or separating a female and her young to protect the young from any other predators.

Beef is the main source of meat, but for some smaller animals who prefer to hunt birds, we provide chicken. Both beef and chicken are donated by farms in the areas of Limpopo and Gauteng. In the case of our bat-eared foxes who enjoy termites and other insects, we try to supplement their diet with mealworms and roaches. They also have solar LED lights in their enclosure to attract delicious insects at night.

We adapt portion size depending on the animal’s needs and current condition. Overall, our predators consume over 4 tons of meat a month.

Animals with a slower metabolism, such as lions, are fed twice a week, whereas animals with a faster metabolism are fed up to four times a week.

We do not hunt on the reserve to provide meat for our predators, but they are occasionally fed meat from an animal that died of natural causes or an animal that had to be put down because of injury.

We do not have a resident vet, but we do make use of amazing wildlife vets in the surrounding area.

Thankfully, we have never seen a fight between a lion and a tiger, but history shows that the tiger always walks away as the victor. In Roman times it was common to match up a tiger and a lion in a fight and historic artwork depicts the tiger as the winner. This was also common practice in India. Tigers generally weigh more than lions, tend to be more aggressive and more agile, giving them an advantage over lions.

There are different mutations in genes that cause different conditions that may appear visually similar. A recessive gene from both parents with the mutation need to be inherited for the gene to be expressed in the offspring. Albinism occurs when cells cannot produce melanin resulting in no colouration of the skin, hair, eyes or nails. These animals appear white with pink noses, pads and eyes. The pink is due to the colour of the blood vessels near the surface of the skin. White lions do not have albinism but leucism. Leucism is caused by a less severe mutation of the gene that produces pigment or melanin, resulting in only partial loss of pigmentation in the coat and in some cases other parts such as the eyes and nose. White tigers also have leucism. In their case the genes inhibit the red and orange pigments from being expressed resulting in a cream-coloured coat and blue-grey eyes. The gene that codes for the brown or black pigment remains unaffected resulting in the dark coloured stripes.

We have private tours for smaller groups of 6 - 20 people. Please contact us for more information on rates and available times.

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We do not define the predator park as a zoo as we do not purchase and keep animals for the entertainment of humans. We see the park as a sanctuary for all animals that were rescued and that cannot be released back into the wild. We would like their stories to inspire people to take action and fight for conservation, protecting these animals and their habitats.

Mabalingwe is a reserve with over 200 privately owned homes, a caravan park, lodges and other recreational facilities. Animals such as lions pose a great threat to tourists and staff members alike as Mabalingwe was not developed with large free-roaming predators in mind. Although we do have free-roaming leopards and smaller predators on the reserve, the animals in the predator park possess the human imprint, making them more dangerous as they have no fear for humans and see them as their first source of food. Other predators cannot hunt for themselves as they were never taught by members of their own species and rehabilitation is not always successful. In the case of tigers, they are not indigenous to South Africa and if released into the wild they will pose a great threat to other native wildlife species.

Although some of the animals were domesticated, they still remain wild animals and, in some cases, only allow the owner who raised them to touch them. Once it is feeding time, no matter who you are, food is top priority, and anyone can be seriously injured when attempting to interfere. We have a saying: “Whatever goes through the fence, does not come back out”.

Yes, Boschpoort Predators will provide donors with a tax deductible receipt certificate which will display our PBO number. The money generated from these donations will only be used for animal care and allocation of funds will be made publicly available.