Emoya, a cat sanctuary in South Africa is home for Serabie, a rescued lioness from a hunting operation. Serabie is a big cat that simply enjoys a game thought to be strictly for dogs. She has a rare and rather interesting hobby that her other two pride brothers, Tau and Raka, do not share with her. All it takes is for the keeper to throw a pile of sticks over the fence for Serabie to get going with her full cat instincts at a game of “fetch”. She will enthusiastically chase after all the sticks, pouncing around like a little puppy trying to catch the sticks, almost annoying her brothers with her exaggerated level of excitement playing this ironic dog game. Serabie even attempts to climb a tree that clearly cannot support her weight in order to get that one stick that got caught in the branches. Though she returns from her climb empty handed, her spirit still brings joy to anyone viewing this great big cat putting all her lioness work aside to enjoy a game of fetch.

Serabie’s playfulness does bring to mind all the mysteries of animal behavior and their cognitive thinking ways that we as humans have not yet figured out. Furthermore, knowing that particular lion species are currently considered endangered, all efforts must go into supporting and allowing these animals to survive and thrive all over the world.