From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 6 September

Lions facing starvation as Mugabe men seize famous wildlife park

Harare - Five-week-old lion cubs have become the latest victims of President Robert Mugabe's lawless land grab in Zimbabwe. Their rescuers, Brendon and Lana Snook, had only minutes to load the cubs into their car, along with their son, three dogs and a few possessions, when the president's supporters invaded a wildlife sanctuary outside Harare. The family, along with the animals, found refuge with relatives in the capital, but the fate of the cub's parents, another 34 lions and hundreds of other animals remains in the balance after the seizure of the Lion and Cheetah Park. Although not a farm and with no government notices issued for its acquisition, the 1,100-acre property was taken by a retired colonel, K Makavanga, accompanied by a group of Zanu PF militia. The Lion and Cheetah Park, established in 1968 by the Bristow family as a wildlife sanctuary for orphaned animals, is one of Zimbabwe's oldest privately owned sanctuaries. Until its seizure it was home to 46 lions, three cheetahs, small herds of elephants and giraffes, hundreds of impalas and other antelopes as well as jackals, crocodiles and numerous smaller animals. The animals are known internationally for appearing in major films and documentaries filmed in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Kenya. Their credits include Mountains of the Moon, the story of Burton and Speke's search for the source of the Nile, King Solomon's Mines, with Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone, and A Far Off Place, starring Reese Witherspoon. The park also encourages a wider understanding of conservation by subsidising the visits of over 3,000 schoolchildren a month.

Col Makavanga had approached the park's management with the idea of expanding its operations into surrounding farms. He claims that instead of responding to the proposal, Mr Snook, the park manager, incited the workers to attack a passing "war veteran" and other militants then came to his aid. Mr Snook denies this version of events, saying the proposal submitted by Col Makavanga was unworkable and this prompted the colonel and his supporters to invade the park. Mr Snook's version was backed up by staff members who spoke to The Telegraph. Although Col Makavanga has expressed an interest in continuing the operations of the wildlife park, its owner, Viv Bristow, 58, fears for the welfare of the animals. "Running a park of this nature is a complex and costly operation," he said from South Africa, where 10 of his lions are being filmed. You need to understand the physiological needs of a wide range of animals, you must be licensed to use dangerous drugs, and know how to prepare food and care for the animals." Thousands of wild animals on private land have been killed, poached or died of neglect since the land redistribution programme began in 2000. Mr Snook, 40, said a request to move the animals off the land had been denied by Col Makavanga. "If we cannot get them off or get food to them soon, they will begin to die," he said. "More worryingly, once the lions get hungry they will easily find a way out of their enclosures and there is a lot of human settlement adjoining the park." The animals are at present being cared for by the staff of the park despite threats of beatings and having their houses burnt down. "If these war veterans take this place, the animals will be killed or will die and we will lose our jobs," said one of the workers. "All around us are derelict farms that have been destroyed by these people and this park is more difficult to run than a farm."