POLOKWANE- The condition the lions were in, who are owned by Walter Slippers who runs three operations – a breeding farm, a hunting farm and a coffee shop in Alldays, sparked outrage across various social media platforms a few weeks ago.
They were found severely malnourished with more than one pride suffering. Wentzel confirmed the incident, saying underweight lions were found at the breeding and hunting operations of Ingogo Safaris but said that after inspections by the NSPCA, the lions are doing better.
“The situation has improved and the lions are doing much better with their new diet,” Wentzel told Review. She says the lions haven’t been removed from the property but they will keep an eye on the situation.
Slippers states that they were malnourished and weren’t being fed properly because he had been in hospital after suffering from a heart attack.
Reports stated that Slippers had a chemical reaction to the medication he had been given and as a result, he was hospitalised since 2 November 2015.
He then stayed in rehab until the end of January and said he had only recently been declared fit to farm again.
Slippers had denied the lions were underweight saying the images that were circulated were old and must have been taken in March when he was still in rehab, however, he took responsibility for the state of the lions’ health.
“The NSPCA in conjunction with the Louis Trichardt SPCA will carry out frequent inspections to monitor the situation and to see whether Slippers is following the dietary requirements set out by the veterinarians who were at the scene,” said Wentzel.
After several attempts to contact Slippers, he was unavailable for comment.
