Ukutula Conservation Center, Brits

DO NOT SUPPORT animal tourism. This is not ethical- think about it! You’re paying money to a company that is breeding lions and raising them in captivity. The cubs are taken away from their mom so YOU can play with them?! This is inhumane and their way of selling is as a wildlife conservation is a fraud. Please research yourself why walking with lions and playing with cubs isn’t good for the animals. Do not take what they say at face value! I understand it’s very tempting to have the opportunity to pet or play with a cub or walk with a lion “looks cool” and “it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity” but these wild animals deserve to be free. They will never be able to be free after being born in captivity- NEVER. It’s all done so we can take pictures and they can make money. DO NOT CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THIS PLEASE.

I went a few years ago when I didn’t realize what was actually going on. I did however note the sheer volume of lions they were breeding and did some research. Once a lion has interacted with humans it cannot be released into the wild. So what purpose do the adults serve? They are sold into canned hunting and do not get released. So this place is under the guise of being a conservation area but it’s truly just a breeding ground for canned hunting which is absolutely horrific.

We booked a bush walk with the lions and honestly was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Felt safe with the guides there and the lions were very well behaved. If we come back to South Africa I think a stay here would be an amazing!

Always a great, peaceful time at Ukutula. We loved the service from all the friendly staff - absolutely accommodating. The rooms are nice, a little out dated (stove, tv) but nobody goes there to watch tv. The lions roaring all night are an amazing experience and their programs are always fun.

We would not recommend you to visit the Ukutula lodge, because it had a weird vibe and did not persuade us that it serves good purpose. Me and my boyfriend visited the place in November 2022 and stayed for two nights. We booked our stay based on the great reviews and rating on Google, TripAdvisor and Booking. While believing the place is a sort of wildlife rescue station we booked the afternoon programme - playing with cubs, walking with lions...at first glance it seems nothing is wrong about such activities. But if you think further, you realize there is nothing good about this wildlife interaction. I started to feel inconvenient seeing quite small cages in comparison to the overall size of the lodge and when realizing they encourage the lion breeding (therefore there are always small lions to play with) and that they take away the cubs from the big cat mothers. I decided to google a bit if this is considered ethical and found many disturbing articles mentioning Ukutula. We feel guilty that we might have contributed to wrong activities and wish we would know the controversy before. The food, service and accommodation were very nice, however, this does not outweigh the compunction.