exploitation

Black Jaguar White Tiger - “Fact” or "Fiction?"

Black Jaguar White Tiger’s “Facts” More Influenced by Edward Bernays’ “Order out of Chaos” Theory Than By The Truth

The title really does make sense. And, as this post will be a long one, we can afford to offer readers some background as to what inspired it.

Billed by himself as “America’s No1 Publicist” Edward Bernays is widely regarded as a pioneer in the fields of public relations and propaganda, and his influence continues on in today’s ever-growing digital world where good propaganda, and a chic public relations manager can create an entirely false public identity for a person or group. Often, such efforts of “rebranding” an already known entity take place directly in front of the public eye, but dazzled by slick graphics, and “feel-good” stories, that the public will either not recognize the fact that they’re being lied to, or they’ll choose to embrace an idealistic promise over the reality they already hold in their hand. Even if they understand the falsehoods for what they are, fear of ostracism will cause them to abjure from taking a stand about it.

Such are the psychological and sociological natures of humanity on which Bernays constructed his immensely successful public relations career. Bernays believed vehemently (and correctly) that the “masses” of humanity were easily swayed, and could be manipulated into believing anything if the idea was presented to them in the correct way. You can listen to Bernays himself explain how he successfully altered the fashion of an era in order to sell Lucky Strike cigarettes to women here.

Bernays just as correctly observed that:

“Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power…”

However, in a darker, disturbing manner, Bernays also believed that because humanity in general was so easily manipulated, and that those who carried out that manipulation held ruling power, it was the duty of those capable of manipulating the public to do so for the greater good.

Bernays stated in his books, and publications that:

“Intelligent men must realize that propaganda is the modern instrument by which they can fight for productive ends and help to bring order out of chaos.”

Bernays argued that the “masses” would inevitably succumb to manipulation anyway, and that “good” propagandists could therefore compete with “evil” propagandists without incurring any moral cost for it. He thoroughly believed that lying to the public for the right reasons in order to counter those lying to the public for what he perceived to be the wrong reasons negated the fact that you were lying to the public at all. His designs for public manipulation were so well thought out and successful that Minister of Propaganda for the Third Reich, Joseph Goebbels used them as the blueprint for his campaigns.

This ideology, although hugely problematic on a moral level, is one that is currently being embraced by the vast majority of media constructs, and in every facet of society.

Conservation is no exception. All of the organizations and people addressed by CWW have embraced the activity of lying to the public, their fans, and supporters, in order to further what they perceive to be the “greater good” of their own endeavors.

Kevin Richardson supports the captive lion breeding, cub petting, and canned hunting industries monetarily through the purchase of lions from within it, rationalizing this activity by insisting that the lions he bought will have good lives, and that the movie he made using them will “spread awareness”. Richardson supports the use of captive wild animals in for-hire activities, such as TV productions, movies, ad campaigns, staged photography of “wildlife” and other commercial venues, rationalizing that these for-profit ventures “raise awareness” about conservation. He also actively tries to minimize his participation in these industries by suggesting those who criticize him are quibbling over his methods, and dividing the conservation arena.

Dean Schneider supports the captive lion breeding, cub petting, and canned hunting industries by funding through the purchase of lions from within it, rationalizing this activity by insisting that the lions he bought have been “rescued” from terrible lives. He is currently, avidly manipulating the public, and his ever-growing fan base, to believe that holding lions in large enclosures which also contain prey species, allows those captive lions to “live wild” and is no different from the existence of wild lions, despite that they’re actually in captivity.

And then there’s Black Jaguar White Tiger, who provides an entirely different, but synonymous sort of lies to the public.

Anyone who has followed CWW will recall the repeated claims by Black Jaguar White Tiger founder Eduardo Serio that it’s his responsibility to “save #planetstupid” from its own mechanizations via BJWT’s social media presence. Again, and again on the BJWT Instagram, Serio has ranted about how he, and his foundation, are responsible for wresting the control of #planetstupid away from the “dark side of humanity” who don’t understand anything. Serio’s superiority over the rest of humanity, and his assertion that he intends to bring the world into alignment with his own beliefs, which he regularly posits are the only beliefs that can save #planetstupid serve to provide the objective viewer with clear evidence as to his utter, and complete, narcissism.

The very wellspring of Black Jaguar White Tiger was a personal social media account documenting the daily life of a pet black jaguar, as she was raised in the well-appointed, second-residence, Acapulco mansion of Hollywood socialite, Eduardo Serio. In 2013, a black jaguar cub was introduced to followers of Serio’s personal Instagram page–many of whom were well-connected actors, actresses, models, fashion designers, and entrepreneurs, as his “daughter” Cielo. The black jaguar was followed in short order with a tiger cub, Tierris, and, after voicing the fact that his family would be complete with a female lion, the magical appearance of a female lion cub, Karma, all of them “adopted” by their “Papa Bear”.

It was from this private Instagram page, that BJWT was born. Eventually, Serio announced the development of the Black Jaguar White Tiger Foundation, hosting his friends to play with the various big cat cubs he magically came into possession of on a constant basis. Four years later, BJWT is arguably the “best known” animal-related Instagram account in existence, and still regularly hosts celebrities playing with cubs. The BJWT Instagram feed is filled with guests handling cubs, volunteers handling cubs, and Eduardo Serio and his personal friends handling cubs and larger cats.

Originally visiting BJWT for two days, once a year was listed as a sponsorship reward for anyone willing to shell out $1,000 USD a month in monthly donations. Only after groups like CWW began pointing out that this was simply a fancy pay-to-play scheme was that reward removed from the BJWT website. To this day, BJWT fans claim the screenshots like those shown below have been faked by “haters” to make Serio look bad, and they claim that Serio never “sold” visits to BJWT in exchange for money.

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The animals at BJWT have come from various sources, cubs (in many cases early on) were purchased within Mexico’s rampant big cat breeding industries. In other cases, Serio has obtained former pets (sometimes by forcing owners who had licenses and did not want to give them up, to hand them over anyway, according to a few sources) or, according to yet other sources, Serio arranged with various zoos to receive cubs from them. This isn’t something Serio made any attempt to hide. He’s posted photos of Maztu’s father, still living in a zoo-like facility where tourists pay to take photos with him (Serio defends this breeding and petting facility claiming that they take great care of the cats they use) and Maztu’s cousin (whose father is the brother of Matzu’s father) was “rescued” by BJWT after being bred at the same facility where Maztu’s father lives (which begs the question of why he needed to be “rescued, since Serio says that facility is great, despite the breeding and letting the public handle animals). Serio’s friendships within the government to assure that any animals confiscated are funneled to BJWT, or, at least according to our government contacts, that he gets “first dibs” on them, at which point he might pick and choose who to rescue. He has also used these government connections, again, according to CWW’s Mexican contacts, who are widespread within the Mexican conservation industry, to force the closure of facilities, or stop the construction of new facilities which he feels would threaten BJWT’s position as the best known facility in Mexico.

Serio doesn’t try to hide any of these facts. Instead, he simply rebrands, and redefines them, and their accompanying implications in ways that ascribe a sense of righteous beneficence to the actions, with himself and BJWT as the heroes of the story.

Celebrated, and world renown big cat organizations, are to be eschewed, according to Serio. He publicly scorns any established standard of care and ethical creed, like the GFAS, which is admired by others, informing his followers that such establishments are what have destroyed the planet to start with. But behind the scenes, Serio changed BJWT’s name on its Mexican registration to Gran Santuario Mexicano Jaguar Negro Tigre Blanco simply so that he could insist that BJWT is a “registered sanctuary”.

Celebrated, and world renown big cat organizations, are to be eschewed, according to Serio. He publicly scorns any established standard of care and ethical creed, like the GFAS, which is admired by others, informing his followers that such establishments are what have destroyed the planet to start with. But behind the scenes, Serio changed BJWT’s name on its Mexican registration to Gran Santuario Mexicano Jaguar Negro Tigre Blanco simply so that he could insist that BJWT is a “registered sanctuary”.

One of the few things overtly indicating the cheap, abusive underpinnings of BJWT and its founder, Eduardo Serio, has always been Serio’s flare for hyper-dramatized posts, on both the BJWT social media accounts. His habit of grandstanding and his gleeful hate-filled rhetoric that spans the gamut of themes.

From publicly accusing women who thwart him in some way of being whores simply because they thwarted him in some way

Slander Black Jaguar White Tiger
Translation of Serio's caption:O remember our lion Hope? As it turns out, this cheap woman Erika Ortigoza ran a superficial mediocre and small zoo, so mediocre that it was forced to close and become a veterinary clinic only because all the people co…

Translation of Serio's caption:O remember our lion Hope? As it turns out, this cheap woman Erika Ortigoza ran a superficial mediocre and small zoo, so mediocre that it was forced to close and become a veterinary clinic only because all the people complained. When we started, Erica had relations with Jorge Maksabedian, in charge of permits and give money scholarships to zoos on behalf of the government. Well, that idiot, following the instructions from his lover, Erika, he withheld our permission already authorized and had to transfer Hope to that clinic, but Erika is so mediocre that I just lost Hope and returned her to the owners of the restaurant where it had been confiscated from a cement cage and bars instead of be in a pack with us. I cried and cried and the years passed and I waited to say the whereabouts of Hope. She was saying that we didn’t have permission, what she did not say, is that we already had it authorized but had been held by his Lover whom literally, he had relationships for in exchange of scholarships. The new administration arrived and they ran Jorge Maksabedian and sometime later, to Erika. They cleaned the house.

To suggesting that certain groups of people should either be executed, or forced to kill themselves, Serio’s history of sectarian and intolerant public rants on the BJWT social media pages have, indeed, been the stuff of legend.

Until now.

In recent months, material has been quietly disappearing from the BJWT social media sites. Beginning with the brutal, and abusive posts concerning the young woman who entrusted him with her Savannah cats (whom he has been attacking in court repeatedly for years now, like the egomaniacal cretin he is) and continuing to posts that publicly attacked the ethical conservationists involved in trying to avoid BJWT obtaining custody of six Colombian circus lions (which BJWT had already promised to take, and then abandoned after Serio was not able to gain the permits required to import them) Serio’s more outrageous attacks have now been deleted from BJWT’s pages.

In many cases (such as those involving the Colombian lions) the posts contained photoshopped images of confidential letters sent to the Columbian government, which had been passed on (illegally) to Serio, lying about what the people Serio was attacking had done.

The letter which Serio photoshopped and falsified, then attributed to I.C.A.R.U.S. Inc.

The letter which Serio photoshopped and falsified, then attributed to I.C.A.R.U.S. Inc.

The actual letter that was sent to the Colombian government by I.C.A.R.U.S. Inc.

The actual letter that was sent to the Colombian government by I.C.A.R.U.S. Inc.

In other cases Serio’s captions were simply disgusting rants declaring his superiority (for his connections to a corrupt Colombian government, no less) in a fashion more suited to a drunk frat boy than a professional entity.

Never mind that the "2 years" cited by Serio involved BJWT abandoning the lions. Only after he started a second fundraiser (no one knows where the funds from his first fundraiser ended up) did it become clear that BJWT had already raised money for t…

Never mind that the "2 years" cited by Serio involved BJWT abandoning the lions. Only after he started a second fundraiser (no one knows where the funds from his first fundraiser ended up) did it become clear that BJWT had already raised money for these lions and then abandoned them.

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If posts of this nature remain, the captions have now been deleted, leaving only the photos behind, without explanation.

The posts remain on BJWT's Instagram account, but now have no captions.

The posts remain on BJWT's Instagram account, but now have no captions.

From stating that Erika Ortigoza slept around to get what she wanted, to an unexplained photo of her.

From stating that Erika Ortigoza slept around to get what she wanted, to an unexplained photo of her.

Then BJWT’s newest website overhaul was recently announced, giving some context to the disappearance of Serio’s more childish, and lying photoshopped posts. In just the short time since Serio announced that BJWT would be working with Greathergood, a company that specializes in Public Relations, Greathergood has, apparently done its best to “clean up” BJWT’s immature, and distasteful edges in hopes of making the foundation look more legitimate.

The new BJWT website contains donate buttons on every page, sometimes in more than one place, and newsletter buttons everywhere else. Photo credit BJWT

The new BJWT website contains donate buttons on every page, sometimes in more than one place, and newsletter buttons everywhere else. Photo credit BJWT

The announcement of a revamped BJWT website was not a surprise to CWW or others who have spoken out about the pseudo-sanctuary. It was obvious that Serio was no longer the only person making social media posts. BJWT’s Instagram description had changed from announcing that they were making #planetstupid fall in love animals one post at a time to a description nobly claiming that BJWT is “Changing the world by rescuing Animals, educating humans, and reforming laws.”

Photo credit BJWT. The message of intent on the BJWT has also been rewritten in a more appealing and less condescending manner.

Photo credit BJWT. The message of intent on the BJWT has also been rewritten in a more appealing and less condescending manner.

Captions on social media posts began containing proper grammar, and though still lacking in information, and a knowledge about conservation, blurbs were longer, with a noted focus on bettering the Foundation, bettering enclosures. Posts had begun appearing which actually discussed–for the first time in four years–the widespread abuse of captive wild animals, with accompanying dialogue encouraging fans to help BJWT stop it–by supporting BJWT, of course. Directly counter to Serio’s longstanding criticism of “political correctness” BJWT had become just that, precisely caring enough to look caring, but superficial enough not to offer any hard information, or facts.

The demarcation between the “Serio is in solely charge of BJWT’s public image” and “A Public Relations Rep is in charge of BJWT’s public image” had already been sharply drawn. A new website with new content was just the next logical step in the process.

Only, this is Black Jaguar White Tiger, built from the ground up on lies, misinformation and misrepresentation, and controlled entirely by Eduardo Serio. So of course, the new website does not actually provide fans with any “new” information, nor does it provide them with anymore clarity about BJWT’s actions, or goals. It simply conveys the misnomers and talk-arounds in a less-grating and more professional manner. For BJWT fans, and those of the public not educated to know any better, the new BJWT website is flashy, and well-written.

To the eye of a professional conservationist, however, the lack of big cat, conservation, ecological, medical, and scientific understanding is painfully obvious. For those of us with all of the above, the new BJWT looks like what it is: a shiny illusion created by lay-folk.

The various areas of the new website contain snazzy tabs leading to pages which, at best, contain either inanely superficial, but “clean and pleasant” versions of what on the old BJWT website contained, or likewise inanely superficial blurbs about subjects that have never been addressed in BJWT’s four year history. Each new page provides bright red donate buttons.

Clicking "Stop the cruelty" takes you to the donation page. Photo credit BJWT

Clicking "Stop the cruelty" takes you to the donation page. Photo credit BJWT

Clicking "Support BJWT" takes you to the donation page. Photo credit BJWT

Clicking "Support BJWT" takes you to the donation page. Photo credit BJWT

The upper corner always contains a bright orange Donate button. Photo credit BJWT

The upper corner always contains a bright orange Donate button. Photo credit BJWT

Some pages contain multiple vectors which take viewers directly to the donation page. Here you can see the standard Donate button in the upper right corner, but the "Support BJWT" also takes you directly to the donation page. Photo credit BJWT

Some pages contain multiple vectors which take viewers directly to the donation page. Here you can see the standard Donate button in the upper right corner, but the "Support BJWT" also takes you directly to the donation page. Photo credit BJWT

But at worst, these pages of the new BJWT website contain blatantly displayed contradictions, incorrect information, unfounded claims, or entirely pointless facts that serve no purpose but to look important. The much ado about “legal reform” for example. Simply knowing people involved in making laws doesn’t mean you’re actually involved with influencing or working toward reform. Our Mexican contacts keep us abreast of issues, and while there are several laws in process that would potentially benefit captive big cats, they remain in process and Serio has not participated in any part of their creation or furtherance.

Clicking "Pledge BJWT" takes you directly to the donation page, as does the Donate button. Photo credit, BJWT

Clicking "Pledge BJWT" takes you directly to the donation page, as does the Donate button. Photo credit, BJWT

Clicking on the BJWT Legal Reform takes you to the page shown in the image above this one, where the only "option" is to click "Pledge BJWT" which takes you directly to the donation page, rather than discussing any laws currently being lobbied. Phot…

Clicking on the BJWT Legal Reform takes you to the page shown in the image above this one, where the only "option" is to click "Pledge BJWT" which takes you directly to the donation page, rather than discussing any laws currently being lobbied. Photo credit, BJWT

Then there’s Serio’s repeated lie about being a registered sanctuary. Notice that while the question “Are we a licensed sanctuary” is listed as “Absolutely” the continuance specifies that BJWT is licensed as a PIMVS. Under SEMARNAT’s definition, a PIMVS facility is described as: “PIMVS are considered to be intensive breeding sites, nurseries, botanical gardens or similar that manage wildlife in a confined manner for purposes of controlled reproduction of species or populations for commercial use (LGVS Regulation, Art. 2) You can read SEMARNAT’s breakdown here.

Photo credit BJWT. The new BJWT website continues to mislead viewers and fans into thinking they possess a sanctuary license, something that doesn't exist.

Photo credit BJWT. The new BJWT website continues to mislead viewers and fans into thinking they possess a sanctuary license, something that doesn't exist.

The actual registration BJWT holds as a PIMVS.

The actual registration BJWT holds as a PIMVS.

Serio has repeatedly posted his PIMVS registration to “prove” BJWt is a registered sanctuary, but the truth is that BJWT is registered as a PIMVS (not a sanctuary) under the name Gran Santuario Mexicano Jaguar Negro Tigre Blanco.

And in combination with that continued lie, is the perpetuated misinformation that the Mexican Foundation, “Gran Santuario Mexicano Jaguar Negro Tigre Blanco” which fans see all over social media is registered in the US as a nonprofit.

The facilities viewers see in Eduardo Serio’s social media posts is not registered in the US as a nonprofit.

Photo credit BJWT. Note the date specified here. BJWT threatened legal action against the author of an article published before January 11 2016 which stated that BJWT was not a 501c3. Serio attempted to smear the name of the author, calling them a l…

Photo credit BJWT. Note the date specified here. BJWT threatened legal action against the author of an article published before January 11 2016 which stated that BJWT was not a 501c3. Serio attempted to smear the name of the author, calling them a liar, and stating he would sue, when in fact the information in the article was 100% correct. At the time of publication, BJWT was not a 501c3.

Serio proudly proclaims that BJWT holds a nonprofit status in the US, but notice the name on in the BJWT answer, and the name on the 990 listed below. The name listed on the US 501c3 documentation is not Gran Santuario Mexicano Jaguar Negro Tigre Blanco, the name on the Mexican PIMVS registration. Serio’s “licensed sanctuary” Gran Santuario Mexicano Jaguar Negro Tigre Blanco is not recognized as a nonprofit in the US. The US nonprofit is an entirely separate entity, registered under the name Black Jaguar White Tiger Foundation, located in Woodland Hills CA. Serio intentionally lies to his fans, telling them that the BJWT they watch on his social media posts, which has “rescued” so many animals is a registered US nonprofit.

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Another issue where the new BJWT just provides the same lies Serio has been telling since BJWT is founded, is in regard to habitats and space. For example, this screenshot from the new BJWT website describes the customized habitats (for new viewers, the image shown here is not the area the blurb is actually describing. The area shown below is at Stage 1, where Serio does most of his interaction filming) Still, it looks beautiful and sounds great. Only it’s not true.

Stage 1, rather than Stage 2 which is being described. Photo credit BJWT

Stage 1, rather than Stage 2 which is being described. Photo credit BJWT

Below is a photos Serio himself posted on the BJWT Instagram page intending to prove that PETA was lying about BJWT in their article criticizing the pseudo-sanctuary. Although he likely felt better for making the post, Serio inadvertently proved his own billing on the new BJWT website was a lie. In the below photo, around 70 enclosures are visible. However, there are only two swimming pools. There have only ever been two pools located at Stage 2, and both contain tigers, the “Blue Pride” being one of them. We’ve circled the two pools (one slightly large than the other, the second partial hidden by shadow but still visible) This arial image–which Serio considered valid and correct, and used himself to “prove” how wonderful BJWT is–allows any viewer to look for the 70 custom pools he’s supposedly put in every habitat. Serio has even pointed out lions within it, offering perspective on size. Clearly there is not a “custom swimming pool” inside each habitat.

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Again, recent Instagram posts made by Serio discussing overhauls of habitats clearly show the two pools which can be seen above, both containing tigers.

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When the BJWT website attempts to impress readers with the amount of land in BJWT’s possession, again, they fall woefully short, and instead put their ignorance and lack of comprehension on full display.

Photo credit BJWT

Photo credit BJWT

On one area of the new BJWT website it states BJWT has 130 acres, but in another area, it lists 120 acres leaving 10 acres that’s either unaccounted for, or falsely claimed. While mistakes can happen, an entity that bills itself as the “best Sanctuary on Planet Earth” should be able to accurately state how many acres they own.

Photo credit BJWT

Photo credit BJWT

More troubling than the discrepancy of 10 acres, however, is the statistics provided by these points of information.

As per the new BJWT website, they have 700 animals living onsite.

Photo Credit BJWT

Photo Credit BJWT

And as per Serio’s most recent boast about big cat numbers, 400 of those animals are big cats.

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Out of the total acreage listed as belonging to BJWT–we’ll be generous and call it 130 acres–only 30 acres have been built on. Those 30 acres contain 70 habitats which house, let’s be generous, and say 350 animals, leaving 50 cats at Stage 1. For simplicity, let’s divide the acreage evenly by the number of habitats.

30 ÷ 70 = 0.42.

So, if all the habitats were the same size, each one would only contain 0.42 acres of space. But let’s be even more generous, and round that up to 0.5, a full half acre. 0.5 of an acre is 21,780 square feet of space.

Again, let’s be generous, and round up to 22,000 square feet of space. Trust us, BJWT needs the generosity because to give readers some perspective, a standard American Football field is 57,600 square feet.

So even with our generous, repeated rounding up of the numbers, and the removal of 50 big cats from Serio’s claim that he’s rescued 400, once you break down the numbers BJWT houses an average of 5 adult big cats on less than half a football field of space.

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Now, it’s clear from Serio’s own arial view of BJWT’s habitats that some are larger than others, so that means some of them are larger than 0.5 acres. But that also means that a great many of them are smaller than 0.5 acres, too. And as can be seen in the image provided by Serio, some of those habitats are considerably smaller than the rest. Half or more, in fact, of the visible enclosures are very small.

By comparison, The Wild Animal Sanctuary located in Colorado (which Serio disdains) houses a similar number of big cats and other carnivores in habitats varying in size from 5 full acres to 25 acres. Serio boasts of having 120-130 acres of land, assuring fans that BJWT has only built on 30 so far to house their 350-400 big cats, while TWAS (which Serio derides as not caring about big cats) encompasses 789 acres at their Keensburg educational facility which houses around 400 carnivore and is open to the public.

The TWAS Refuge facility which is not open to the public, contains an additional 9,684 acres, of habitats ranging from 100 to 1,000 acres in size where rescued animals live in as natural conditions as possible.

The TWAS educational facility houses state of the art medical and surgical buildings, specialized housing, and opportunities for teaching and observation by the public (all without any human/animal interaction) and has set the highest standard for big cat care in the USA.

Readers might recall some of Serio’s rants against TWAS and its founder Pat Craig from December of 2017 when he publicly attacked the conservationists who petitioned the Colombian government on behalf of former circus lions which had been living in cages for almost 6 years, hoping to have the lions sent to TWAS (which offered to fully fund rescue and transport of the cats to their new home) The Colombian government chose to send the lions to BJWT in Mexico instead because, they stated after the fact, they already had some paperwork partially filled out for BJWT to receive the lions from more than a year prior when Serio tired to take possession of them, but failed to do so.

After the Colombian government chose to give the beleaguered lions to Serio (one of which magically arrived pregnant through unknown causes) they also passed on to Serio all the private information and documents of those who petitioned them in regard to moving the lions to TWAS. It’s still unclear why the Colombian government would pass on information to a private Mexican citizen, but, you know, corruption, and all that.

The life those who petitioned the Colombian government wanted the former Colombian circus lions to have at TWAS:

Photo credit The Wild Animal Sanctuary

Photo credit The Wild Animal Sanctuary

Photo credit The Wild Animal Sanctuary

Photo credit The Wild Animal Sanctuary

Photo credit The Wild Animal Sanctuary

Photo credit The Wild Animal Sanctuary

Photo credit The Wild Animal Sanctuary

Photo credit The Wild Animal Sanctuary

And the life the former Colombian circus lions got at BJWT:

Note the reference to fighting.

Note the reference to fighting.

The lioness above clearly feels defensive and threatened, her cubs surrounded by strange lions which are not family members and which if they could gain access to her and her offspring would immediately kill the cubs. Serio openly admits that the lioness has been fighting the opposing pride of lions housed just feet away from her and her cubs with no visual barrier. Imagine living in constant fear that a challenging pride was going to kill your cubs.

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And here are others of the Colombian lions, again, fighting the other lions around them “all day long” through the border fences of their habitat. Rather than understanding the extreme social and emotional stress caused by theses conditions, Serio happily informs his fans that these lions have simply that “Their Lion Spirit got back into their bodies after arriving to our Sacred Grounds.”

Again, fighting is referenced.

Again, fighting is referenced.

There are other, numerous issues with the new BJWT website, not the least of which is the continuation of using interactions to sell volunteer slots and donation slots. Serio’s original, highly dramatic “Sacred Ground” rhetoric is still present, though quietly shelved in a less visible area of the website. In its place are Volunteer guidelines, carefully worded so as to put emphasis on the safety of the animals and volunteers.

Photo credit BJWT

Photo credit BJWT

And yet, even these revamp “rules of engagement” are accompanied by blatantly contradicting media. Despite that the “rules” for volunteering state that “All volunteers are required to wear the BJWT Volunteer uniform while at the Foundation” that “Accessories will are not worn at any time.” and that “Colored nail polish is prohibited.” The accompanying photos clearly show volunteers wearing all manner of clothing, none of it a uniform of any sort, handling cubs while wearing jewelry, and wearing colored nail polish.

Photo Credit BJWT

Photo Credit BJWT

Photo credit BJWT

Photo credit BJWT

Photo credit BJWT

Photo credit BJWT

Cell phones are supposedly prohibited on the “Sacred Grounds” of BJWT, yet volunteers happily pose with them against enclosure fences.

Photo credit BJWT

Photo credit BJWT

“YOU CAN NOT TOUCH THE ANIMALS THROUGH THE FENCE.” is stated in all caps definitively, and yet... Serio turns around and posts photos of volunteers petting Bradshaw (renown amongst BJWT fans for being “huge” no less)

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Photo credit BJWT

Photo credit BJWT

The recent injury sustained by a woman who got close enough for a jaguar (less than half the size of Bradshaw) to snag her arm through a fence similar to the one seen above with just one claw showcases how quickly a captive big cat can act, and how devastating even glancing contact can be for the human involved.

Photo credit Adam Wilkerson

Photo credit Adam Wilkerson

The list of issues with BJWT goes on. But as long as the public continues to submit to Serio’s propaganda and manipulation of them, nothing will change. After four years of lies and manipulation, it’s long overdue for the public to start waking up and asking questions, rather than blindly swallowing whatever false information, and self-serving lies Serio spoon feeds them in order to further his own ends.

CWW is often accused by those we discuss as having some sort of personal agenda, and/or we’re challenged by them, or their fans, as to what we’re doing that’s “better” than whatever the person in question is doing. These statements about us are designed to create the impression that CWW has set out to vilify the entities we discuss, thus creating some sort of conflict in an “us versus them” context.

This is categorically incorrect.

What CWW wants to encourage the public to do is to look beyond the propaganda, and PR lingo and objectively view the actuality of the person they’re supporting. Humanity’s general inability to set aside personal preference for objective assessment has played a huge role in creating the debacle that our world is currently facing. It’s more comfortable to look at someone playing with lions, or bottle feeding (even incorrectly) adorable cubs and believe that what you’re seeing is special, that it represents hope, and affection. It’s far less comfortable to look at such things and admit that the lions were raised with daily interaction to behave in a certain way, and that the video clip you’re viewing is one created specifically to show you exactly what’s visible, or to admit that the cubs being bottle fed are simply the most recent in a line of cubs being bottle fed that stretches back years, just the most recent cubs in a list of cubs being bottle fed.

We also understand that CWW itself is–and should be–subject to being viewed with the same detached objectivity with which we want readers to view the exploiters we discuss on a daily basis. This is why we strive to provide our readers with citations and media to verify everything we write, and all the information we disseminate. Why, many times, we provide multiple citations to entirely separate sources which all confirm the same facts we’ve utilized in an article.

We don’t want readers to simply embrace our word as fact. Doing so erroneously relegates the information we publish as nothing more than our own “propaganda” by presuming that what we’ve said is simply our own opinion, rather than an issuance of categorized, cited and documented facts intended to encourage readers to go and do their own research on a person or organization.

To create in readers the desire to know more, to develop their own breadth of education, grasp and understanding of captive wildlife, wild wildlife, and the conservation of both, is the underlying desire of CWW.

Don’t stop at our pages and articles, don’t receive them as a result or conclusion.

Use the information found through CWW as a starting point, as the catalyst for change in your own awareness. Use the tools for research, for analytical reasoning and impartial assessment that we have offered in regard to the various exploiters we discuss, to go out and commit to your own investigations of those parties.

*Headline photo credit to Black Jaguar White Tiger *Other photo credits as noted.