The captive-bred lion industry was created in South Africa to take the pressure off wild populations. While the impact of lion farming on wild populations in South Africa is considered to be minimal, the report nevertheless notes that the role of farms in stimulating illegal poaching from wild populations is currently unclear and warrants further investigation.
There are currently 20,000-25,000 wild African lions (Panthera leo) on the planet. Their numbers declined by around 43 per cent between 1993 and 2014 due to habitat loss, extensive prey base depletion and indiscriminate retaliatory or pre-emptive killing due to human-wildlife conflict.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List lists the African lion as ‘Vulnerable’. Lion populations are expected to decline by 50 per cent across West, Central and East Africa over the next two decades.
But in four countries located in the southern part of the continent — Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe — the lion population is stable or increasing, with the animals being listed as ‘Least Concern’ in South Africa.
Ironically though, there are more lions being currently kept in private captive facilities for commercial purposes in South Africa than exist in the wild.
South Africa’s captive lion industry has been the subject of much controversy, with critics citing unethical practices, negative animal welfare, human health risks and the unregulated nature of the industry as concerns.
On April 3 this year, South Africa’s Environment Minister Barbara Creecy announced in a press conference in Cape Town that the country would end the captive breeding of lions for a variety of reasons including trophy hunting and usage of bones as substitute for tigers in traditional Chinese medicine.
But on the ground, malpractices continue to occur, according to Under the lion’s paw: lion farming in South Africa and the illegal international bone trade published on August 8 in Nature Conservation.
What actually happens
South Africa currently has 7,838 captive African lions housed across 342 facilities.
The current research was conducted in the country’s North West Province, on its border with Botswana.
The province is a hotspot for South Africa’s commercial captive lion breeding industry, with its 90 facilities holding around a third of South Africa’s total captive large felid population.
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Approximately 80 per cent of lion hunting in South Africa is thought to occur in the North West and Free State Provinces.
External field researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with anonymous sources from two closed-access lion facilities located in the North West Province between August and October 2022.
The sources were employed at the facilities to transport and collect lions and tigers for trophy hunting and to skin and prepare the bones of hunted animals.
The researchers found that the skin, paws and skull of captive lions killed in ‘trophy hunts’ were kept as trophies by the hunters. The lions’ bones were cleaned and prepared for “Asian bone buyers”.
This is in direct contravention of the 2019 South African High Court decision that lion bone export quotas were unlawful and constitutionally invalid due to insufficient consideration of the welfare of captive-bred lions.
“In some cases, entire lion carcasses were reportedly left intact and were packed into cardboard boxes ready for shipment and for “Asian bone buyers to collect”. This was reportedly done to certify authenticity (that it was a lion carcass) and ensure tracking devices had not been inserted into the bones,” the study read.
It also noted that corruption amongst wildlife enforcement officials and a lack of resources and proper record-keeping makes it difficult for authorities to manage the industry and ensure facilities comply with the law.
For instance, the two facilities profiled in the research used various tools and tactics, such as security cameras, patrols and messaging apps to avoid detection during inspections, the sources told the researchers.
Other shocking details emerged from the interviews.
The lions were shot in enclosures measuring less than a hectare (illegal due to non-compliance with provincial regulations which stipulate a required minimum area of 1,000 ha).
Some lions transported from breeding to hunting facilities were drugged and hunted within an hour of release, which would be in violation of the provincial legal minimum release period of 96 hours.
Moreover, the hunting of sedated lions is illegal in South Africa as it is in contravention of the country’s Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) Regulations of 2007.
The captive lions at the facilities were denied clean water and enclosures, which had inadequate fencing; they received minimal veterinary treatment, lack of enrichment or shelter and were often deliberately starved during the season when they were not many trophy hunters visiting. This was done to save costs.
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Workers in the premises of the facilities reportedly earned minimum wages, had limited subsistence allowances, and did not wear protective gear when slaughtering and preparing the bodies of hunted animals.
These workers are also threatened with dire consequences if they speak out about everything going on at the facilities.
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The research also revealed that due to the latest decision by the South African government of phasing out ‘blood lions’, facilities are now turning tigers and ‘ligers’, hybrids born to male lions and female tigers. This could have repercussions for wild tiger populations in Asia (including India), they warned.
“Given the difficulty in distinguishing lion bones from tigers (Williams et al. 2015; Dalton et al. 2020), there is a particular risk posed by having other large felids on farms in South Africa when their bones could be used as substitutes for lion bones and this situation could have detrimental compounding effects on already vulnerable populations of species, such as tiger, across their range (Nicholson et al. 2023).”
The researchers recommend “a comprehensive, well-managed plan” to ensure that the South African government’s publicly stated goal of ending the captive lion industry is successful.
They add that the industry should be fully audited, with all facilities officially registered, a moratorium on the breeding of lions issued and suitable plans put in place to prevent the stockpiling of lion bones
“This decision should be mandatory and made in lock step across provinces through the streamlining of all provincial and national-level legislation pertaining to the industry. The decision should also be extended to other felid species that could potentially be used as substitutes for the illegal international bone trade,” according to the researchers.
