RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - Lying in bed in a grass hut, listening to the roar of white lions 100 feet away, might seem terrifying. For Tracy Barrett, it was confirmation that she’d found her destiny.
Barrett, the Black Hills’ “Lion Lady,” fulfilled a dream earlier this year when she visited the Global White Lion Protection Trust in South Africa. The trust, which estimates that there are less than 300 white lions in the world advocates for and protects the animals, the Rapid City Journal (https://bit.ly/2sqE2JE ) reported.
Barrett’s passion is to bring awareness of the lions’ plight to the Black Hills. A native of Lead who now lives in Rapid City, Barnett has had a love for lions since her mother took her to see “Born Free” when she was 5.
“When Elsa the lion died, I sobbed for two days, and my mother said she’d never take me to another movie again,” Barrett said. “I felt an instant, intense compassion for the lion. . I knew somehow the lions were going to be part of my life.”
Supporting the work of Global White Lion Protection Trust is something Barrett said she was destined for. The path that led her there began with a spiritual quest and years of training under spiritual teachers including Andrew Harvey. Through Harvey, Barrett learned of the Global White Lion Protection Trust and its founder, Linda Tucker.
The trust raises awareness internationally about lions’ benefits to the environment, their value in the culture of many indigenous people, and the threats lions face, especially from international trophy hunters. The trust maintains 4,400 acres of gated, guarded land in the Timbavati region of South Africa, where three separate prides of white lions are protected.
In March, Barrett was part of a small, carefully selected group of visitors who spent two weeks at the trust’s Camp Unicorn.
The journey took Barrett 9,500 miles from Rapid City. “I traveled on 10 planes altogether. I arrived in Houdspirt, South Africa, at a very small airport smaller than the one in Pierre. I landed in a field and walked about 200 yards to a shack. That was the experience of a lifetime,” Barrett said, laughing.
Camp Unicorn was about 30 minutes beyond the airport. Her stay was a far cry from the modern life she left behind. “We were in the desert in the bush. . My first shower was with a (large) tarantula. I had several geckos and frogs swimming with me,” Barrett said, laughing.
Every day, local tribal women sang and danced around a huge fire as they prepared meals for Barrett and the other camp visitors, in spite of 100-plus degree heat. The African people’s kindness and joy impressed Barrett. Just days into her stay, she became seriously ill with heat stroke.
“When I got sick, the African women would come and bless over my body. They said God was blessing me at that time,” Barrett said. “That will never leave me - their singing and dancing. It’s very humbling.”
Throughout their stay, Barrett and other visitors were immersed in education about white lions and the Global White Lion Protection Trust’s work.
Tucker taught visitors about the lions’ mythology and their cultural significance extending back to the Egyptian Sphinx. “Tribal people believe white lions are here to center and balance us and to (help us) reconnect with nature, instead of taking from it and abusing it,” Barrett said.
The Shangaan tribal people, who live near the trust, revere the white lions and believe they came from the stars, Barrett said.
Tucker’s partner, lion ecologist Jason Turner, taught visitors about lion behavior. Turner handles much of the care of lions at the trust.
“The ecosystem of the planet is in dire need. . Lions are the tipping point. If they are removed, nature as we know it will be dismantled,” Barrett said. “Denying the balance of nature will be to our demise.”
Every day, Barrett and the other visitors went on guided scouting expeditions to observe and learn. “At 5:30 every morning, we went out in open Jeeps and within five minutes, the lions would come. They came every day. They’re very aware of when they have an audience,” Barrett said.
“They face the sun every evening when it goes down,” she said. “At 2 a.m., they would begin roaring after their hunt every night. That was like a manifestation of a dream.”
White lions radiate a presence Barrett likens to divinity. “The whiteness of their mane actually glows with the sun. . You have a psychological, emotional and physical reaction to the lions. The only thing I can compare it to is when you have your first child.”
Barrett also visited the nearby White Lion Trust Orphanage and School, which is run by the trust in one of the most poverty-stricken areas of South Africa. The facility cares for and educates more than 200 orphans and local children.
Her trip to Africa was “a heart-awakening experience,” Barrett said. Her goal now is to be a conservationist who educates people and encourages them to be proactive about protecting lions.
“Fifty percent of the trophy hunting that takes place in Africa is by Americans, and that was disturbing to me,” Barrett said. “If you’re traveling, inquire if the airline flies carcasses back to your state. Many airlines are denying that.”
Barrett also cautioned that many animals used for entertainment at circuses, traveling zoos and fairground exhibits are doomed. “Those cubs are destined to live a horrific life. Their only destiny is ’canned hunting.’ They’re raised in small cages and ultimately medicated so people can go in with high-powered rifles and shoot them,” she said.
Barrett hopes to host events in the Black Hills about the Global White Lion Protection Trust. She encourages anyone interested in animal activism and conservation to contact her or the Global White Lion Protection Trust on Facebook, or visit the trust’s website, whitelions.org.
Traveling to Africa to learn about lions was a dream 50 years in the making, Barrett said. She’ll return to Africa in November to take classes about becoming a “lion-hearted leader” and teaching others about lion conservation.
“I knew my life was not going to be ordinary. . I had to find my own courage to follow through with my dreams,” Barrett said. “Life is a great adventure or nothing at all.”
___
Information from: Rapid City Journal, https://www.rapidcityjournal.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.