LIONS AS HOUSE PETS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20716, 8 November 1930, Page 2 (Supplement)

LIONS AS HOUSE PETS.

MINE MANAGER'S HOBBY. THIRTEEN REARED IN A YEAR. VALUE OF COD LIVER OIL. In Johannesburg there resides u man who prefers lions to dogs as domestic pets. He is Mr. E. F. V. Wells, manager of the Withnnk Colliery, and during the last 12 months he has reared no fewer than 13 lions, some of which have become known throughout South Africa. Rearing lions and other wild animals as pets is Mr. Wells' hobby. What happens is this. Mr. Wells acquires a cub, or a, pair of cubs, at as early an age as they can safely bo taken away from their parents. lie rears them to maturity and then presents them to a zoo or other public institution. Only two cubs kept by Mr. Wells died young, and that was because they did not get enough cod liver oil. It seems curious, but Mr. Wells has found that to keep lions healthy in captivity one must give them cod liver oil with their moat, otherwise they suffer from weakness of the back and hindquarters and get ricketty. Apparently every lion mother keeps cod liver oil or some natural substitute in her medicine chest. Mr. Wells now has two lions and a lynx in his household. The lions are Sheba and Pharoah and are following in the footsteps of their famous predo-

cessors. At present they are very young and very like overgrown kittens. Mrs. Wells is on just as good terms with the animals as her husband. As a matter of fact the lynx lias taken a special fancy to her. He was tame when he arrived a few months ago. The crate was opened and out stepped Kiwi, the lynx, with stately felifte grace. With solemn curiosity he explored the house, and then jumped lightly on to a sideboard, put his head on»one side, and watched the family at dinner. Appaiently Mrs. Wells was the one who took his 'fancy, for that night he followed her to her room and went to sleep on the foot of her bed! He would have made a regular practice of this, but he is rather too bulky to be allowed all the privileges of a cat, so he was banished to a cage outside. The affection that can spring up between animals of different species was

first demonstrated by Mr. Wells' two pots, a lion and a dog, named Samson and Delilah respectively, who Were presented to fhe Johannesburg Zoo and for years attracted attention from all parts of the world. Another instance was that of two lion pots Max and Climax, who were on terms of the greatest friendship with one of Mr. Wells' dogs. When puppies arrived and took the dog's attention away from them there wa3 sucn an uproar every night that the dog had to be made to sleep close against the cage to keep them quiet. Tho beautiful homo of Mr. and Mrs Wells is a most interesting place for animal lovers. There have been kept at one time or anothor a dozen lions, a cheetah, a lynx, bluo crar.es and countless dogs and horses. Thcro is a fino collection of heads on the walls and many interesting animal photographs.