Rent a Lion

When you rent a lion from a lion talent agency for your next shoot, you’ll see why this being is truly awe‑inspiring and named “the king of the jungle”; mainly because of their ability to dominate their environment. What you should know before you hire a lion is that lions are apex predators, being at the top of their habitats’ food chain. And, while hyenas and wild dogs will sometimes eat lion cubs, no animal hunts mature lions.

This big cat is native to Africa and India. Aesthetically, it has a muscular, broad-chested body with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck and round ears. The tail of all lions ends in a dark, hairy tuft.

Whether you rent a lion for your productions or simply admire one in the wild, you’ll notice that its fur varies in colour from light buff to silvery grey, yellowish red and dark brown. The colours of the underparts are generally lighter. Adult male lions are famous for their prominent mane that grows downwards and backwards, covering most of the head, neck, shoulders and chest. The mane is typically brownish and tinged with yellow, rust and black hairs.

The white lion is a rare morph (it is not albino; it has normal pigmentation in the eyes and skin). White lions have occasionally been encountered in parks, but their gene pool has decreased since they were removed from the wild in the 1970s. Nevertheless, seventeen births were recorded in five prides between 2007 and 2015, which is amazing news for the species as well as those looking to hire a lion for their next project.

The lion inhabits grasslands, savannas and shrublands (less jungle-like than we say)! It is usually more diurnal than other wild cats, but when persecuted, it adapts to being active at night and at twilight. Therefore, if you want to rent a lion for your next shoot, you might want to work to its schedule!

In the 19th and 20th centuries, several lion type specimens were described and proposed as subspecies. About a dozen were recognised until 2017, at which time the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group revised lion taxonomy and recognised only two subspecies based on the results of several phylogeographic studies on lion evolution.

Anyone who rents a lion for video or photo shoots or works with them knows that lions are a social species, forming groups called prides. The lion is the only member of the cat family that displays obvious sexual dimorphism; males are bigger and have broader heads. Generally, their adult size and weight vary across the global range and habitats. Of the living felid species, the lion is rivalled only by the tiger in length, weight and height at the shoulder. Head and body lengths vary between 160–184 cm for females and 184–208 cm for males. Weights vary between 110–143 kg for females and 160-225 kg for males. Consider this when you rent a lion because these are truly massive animals.

Before you hire a lion, though, know that unfortunately, lions have been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996 because populations in African countries have declined by about 43% since the early 1990s. Lion populations are untenable outside designated protected areas. That being said, there are conservation efforts on improving the situation whilst zoos are engaging in research, preserving biodiversity (genetic and species) that may be threatened or at times even extinct in the wild.

Many directors today would rent a lion to capture their timeless image on screen, but this appeal isn’t new. Lions have been kept in menageries since the time of the Roman Empire and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoological gardens across the world since the late 18th century. Cultural depictions of lions were prominent in Ancient Egypt, and depictions have occurred in virtually all ancient and medieval cultures in the lion’s historic and current range.

Lions in modern times remain one of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture. This is why someone would consider renting a lion from a lion talent agency for a movie. It’s also a popular mascot or symbol for businesses such as motor vehicle manufacturers, government entities, sports and other use cases in which people hire a lion.

It has been extensively depicted as king of the beasts in sculptures and paintings, on national flags and in contemporary films and cartoons, from the Leonardo Lion of King Leonardo and His Short Subjects series (1960-1963), to Born Free (1966), to the Disney animated feature film The Lion King (1994). Interestingly, Roar (1981) features numerous untrained lions, three of which were credited as actors. The lions did as they pleased on set, so they also share writing and directing credits! We absolutely LOVE this. When renting a lion for your production, make sure it feels comfortable on set.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios have used a lion as their logo since 1924, and lions’ symbolism continues in fantasy literature: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz features the Cowardly Lion, who is particularly ashamed of his cowardice because of his cultural role as the “king of the beasts”. Aslan the “Greatest Lion” is the central figure in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia Series, and the lion is also the symbol for Gryffindor house, the house of bravery, in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

As with all of the animals we work with, we are incredibly careful about the work we do with them and how we do it. When you rent a lion for your shoot, please keep in mind that lions are particularly endangered and protected. However, having the opportunity to hire, film and photograph a lion is truly wonderful, and we’d be lying if we said we didn’t love it.

As a talent agency for lions and other animal actors, we cannot think of a better animal for a picture, whether stills or moving image, and we relish the opportunity to work on your media project with the magnificent lion.

We supply professional animal location handlers across the UK to ensure you get all the shots you require. These handlers also act as overseers to ensure the wild animal is not disturbed. We do all this so that when you rent a lion, you can be sure that the crew will always be safe and no welfare regulations will be breached.

It isn’t just the animals that are well trained; our team, including our handlers, are also highly experienced and fully qualified experts in the field.

Your handler will take full control of any animals on set and ensure the entire shoot runs properly. They will also fully manage the welfare of all the animals, both on and off set; the safety and welfare of the animals is their prime concern. All of our handling is strictly force-free, and only positive, reward-based practices are deployed at our lion talent agency. You’ll never rent a lion from us that has been poorly treated. This way, you can have total confidence that when you hire a lion from The Animal Talent Ltd, everything is taken care of legally, professionally and ethically.

The Performing Animals Licence is no longer relevant (it was scrapped in 2019) and has been replaced with the Animal Activity Licence, which we hold.

Filming with the lions at our animal talent agency is covered by a £10 million Public Liability Insurance policy.

If any species of animal listed under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act are required, special measures will need to be put into place for the shoot. When renting a lion or any dangerous wild animal in general, consider that what is precisely appropriate will vary from species to species, but may include sectioned-off areas where only trained handlers are allowed. In the event of large and dangerous carnivores, a specifically built green screen studio can also be supplied.

Lions are legislated for under the DWAA 1976, and thus, we follow strict legislation and guidance regarding our work with them. For further information about this, please contact the experienced animal agents at our lion talent agency, who will be able to assist.