‘Breathtaking’ Photos Of Leaping Mountain Lions Doubtless Staged In Game Farms

If a wildlife picture appears too good to be true, there’s likelihood that it was staged utilizing a captive animal, a observe outstanding Wyoming wildlife photographers say is unethical and exploitive. 

So-called “game farms” — the place animals akin to mountain lions, grizzlies and wolverines are stored in captivity — are much less widespread than they was. 

There are nonetheless some round, nevertheless, famed wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen stated.

Wyoming has no such services, Wyoming Game and Fish Department spokeswoman Amanda Fry informed Cowboy State Daily.

According to Wyoming statutes, the non-public possession of animals categorised as massive sport or trophy sport is forbidden right here. 

In states the place sport farms are authorized, such operations would possibly cost guests for an opportunity to view or {photograph} wildlife, or present animals for inventory pictures or movies, Mangelsen stated. 

He’s been a vocal opponent of sport farms and captive animal images because the early Nineties. 

He argues that there animals are typically stored in depressing situations, and that photographs of captive wildlife undermine the ethics of true wildlife images. 

“It’s bullshit on top of bullshit on top of bullshit,” he stated.

The Leaping Mountain Lion

One instance of staged wildlife images are photographs of mountain lions leaping throughout rocky gorges. 

The mountain lion is likely to be photographed close-up “stretched out against a clear blue sky,” Mangelsen stated. 

Mountain lions are extremely elusive, so being in simply the appropriate place at simply the appropriate time to seize such a shot can be almost not possible, he stated.  

The pictures are virtually actually staged with a captive mountain lion, he stated. 

Wyoming wildlife photographer Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven agrees. 

“Most ‘amazing’ up-close images you see of a mountain lion jumping in a beautiful rocky setting were taken at a game farm,” he stated. “The handler lets them out of the cage, photographers get ready, and the cougar gets baited to jump.

“Not my cup of tea. Other than the fact that it’s not exactly ethical wildlife photography, I don’t support wildlife being raised or captured for allowing some lazy photographers to get some images.”

Wildlife photographer Savannah Rose said staged images of big cats are rampant.

“Pretty much all the mountain lion and snow leopard photos you see are fraudulent,” she said. 

A Question Of Ethics

Mangelsen and other wildlife photographers told Cowboy State Daily that the ethics of captive wildlife operations are questionable. 

“I’ve never visited one, nor would I ever want to visit one. From what I understand, the practices are awful and most are very unethical,” said wildlife photographer and conservationist Julie Argyle.

Rose said she has serious concerns about how captive animals are treated. 

“Game farm pictures still oversaturate the market with fraudulent scenes of captive animals that sell a false narrative of animal behavior to the public, which is problematic in its own ways,” she said. “But backside line, they’re egregiously abused animals.

“Look into the FOIAs on some of these places, the documents of violations are absolutely horrific.”

“These photos are the dark underbelly of the ‘wildlife’ photography industry,” Rose added.

Wildlife photographer Isabella Smedley stated that services ought to be geared towards educating the general public about wildlife, rescuing animals and, each time potential, rehabilitating animals to be launched again into the wild. 

“I may be wrong, but many of those that offer photographic opportunities of wildlife have very little regulation,” she stated. “As wildlife photographers, we know feeding animals is not ethical, but baiting unfortunately is alive and well in many of the places that offer those opportunities.

“When it involves being profitable, the wildlife is all the time in danger.”

The Animals’ Fate

Mangelsen said one of his biggest concerns is animals being abandoned or killed once they’ve outlived their usefulness. 

“They (game farm operators) might kill the animals themselves. Or sell them off to canned hunting operations in other states,” he said. 

Rose agreed that’s a problem. In states with looser regulations, animals aren’t kept in a manner that meet the standards of accredited zoos. 

Animals are “kept in tiny pens hidden from the public, and they breed them every year to give people the ‘cute baby’ workshops, then kill off whatever animals are no longer of good use as ‘actors’ to them — and part them up and sell the furs like they’re a broken-down car,” she said.

A Thing Of The Past?

Mangelsen said his opposition to game farms sprouted from things he saw at an operation called Animals of Montana.

He recalled instances of predator and prey animals being put into crates and stacked together on the same truck to be moved for remote location photo or films shoots.

“There were natural enemies all stacked together. They were all in the dark, smelling each other,” he said. 

Animals of Montana was shut down in 2020 by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the District Court of Lewis and Clark County upheld FWP’s choice, in keeping with reviews from the time. 

Game Farms are far less common than they were 30 years ago, Daniel Cox, a member of the board of directors for North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA), told Cowboy State Daily.

Cox said he participated in captive animal photography in the 1990s, but no longer does it, and doesn’t approve of it. 

He noted that “Tom Mangelsen was very instrumental in bringing attention to this vile industry.”

NANPA’s official policy opposes promoting game farms or using images taken on game farms. 

Rose said she thinks there are still too many game farms. 

“The only reason they might be perceived as a ‘thing of the past’ is because they constantly get shut down for absolutely abhorrent animal welfare violations,” she said. 

A person with inside knowledge of captive animal operations, who spoke to Cowboy State Daily on the condition of anonymity, said that the industry is waning. 

For instance, the demand for live animal actors has gone down because filmmakers increasingly use computer-generated images for scenes involving wild animals, the source said.

Also, the source said the operation they’re most familiar with follows strict licensing standards regarding animal welfare.

Mark Heinz will be reached at [email protected].