LONDON'S LATEST CRAZE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 511, 23 October 1912, Page 3

LONDON'S LATEST CRAZE.

A hundred young men, for the consideration of a fee of 100 guineas per head, are shortly to hunt lions in Shepherd's Bush, says the London Central News, but the hunt is not to be a battle of semi-tame forest kings before crowds of spectators, which has been mistakenly anticipated. On the contrary it will be one in which the hunters run the risk, and the hunted experience nothing worse than a pleasant holiday. Mr Bostock, of the White City "Jungle," explained to a press representative what is intended.

"We are frequently importuned by people of both sexes, who, wjshing for excitement, ask to be allowed to enter the lions' cages," said Mr Bostock. "In some cases, but in very few, these requests are granted under proper safeguards. The lion hunt is to be a much bigger thing, and is the outcome of a'desire expressed by many well-to-do men to whom big game hunting is scarcely possible without great trouble and outlay. "I propose to transform the Stadium and the spare land outside it into a piece of: jungle, with rocks, hills, tall grass, caverns, trees, etc., making it as difficult a piece of country as the keenest of big game hunters will wish for.

"Into this we will turn half-a-dozen lions, and it will be the task of the hunters to catch them alive. I don't wish to disguise the fact that there will be considerable risk to the hunters.

"I intend to give the lions at least a fortnight's freedom, so that they may get thoroughly at home in their surroundings before their re-capture is attempted, and as there will be ample cover for them the hunters will have all the excitement they can wish for before the hunt is ended. "The hunters will be about 100 men who want the experience, and are prepared to pay a high price for it. The fee is 100 guineas. You must understand that it is a private affair, and that the public will not be admitted.

"Each of the hunters will be allowed to bring in a few friends if he desires, and these will be accommodated in a specially-constructed cages at suitable vantage points. These guests, with the staff and myself, will be the only spectators." Mr Bostock went on to explain that the lions were to be captured by means of ropes and nets, while there would be pits here and there into which the animals might burled. Only in case of emergency would the rifle be used, so that the work would require nerve and courage, and ought to produce some exciting scenes for the kinematograph.