A damning report on South Africa’s lion bone trade has called for the end of the trade, a forensic investigation into the affairs of lion breeders and a restriction on the keeping and breeding of lions and tigers.

Canned lion hunting and the subsequent captive lion breeding across South Africa, believed to fuel the notorious industr, has for a number of years been a blemish on Brand SA's safari and wildlife appeal. 

he growing appetite for 'conservation holidays' has shone a light on the dark – and poorly regulated – industry of lion farming, where felines are destined not to be 'released into the wild' - but to be shot by trophy hunters and their bones exported to Asia for use in traditional medicine.

A British safari boss is charging callous trophy hunters thousands of pounds to kill lions that have been bred in captivity, The Mail can reveal.

A South Africa without lions – one of the iconic Big Five species – is unimaginable. But we could soon face a world without these magnificent African ambassadors, as the breeding of lions for commercial purposes continues to flourish, said FOUR PAWS.

A new report by global NGO, World Animal Protection, provides a damning indictment on the captive predator breeding industry.

Many big cat cubs that are exhibited and petted at wildlife facilities end up being killed as a result of canned hunting.

 Lion farms in South Africa pose a major health risk to thousands of captive lions, as well as the public at large according to a study published by World Animal Protection and Blood Lions.

In 2019, animal welfare inspectors visited Pienika Farm, a captive-lion facility in the North West province of South Africa.

The South African government made a landmark decision in May 2021 to end the country’s controversial captive lion industry.

In the wake of the bow-hunting of Mopane the lion, we searched for some literature and expert commentary on the sustainability of the trophy hunting of free-roaming lions in Africa, particularly around Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.

South Africa has taken steps to end its multimillion-dollar lion-breeding industry, which supplies cubs for tourism, lions for trophy hunts, and bones for traditional medicine.

Are fenced lions happy? This is not as far-fetched a question as one might think.

I knew lions were hunted for sport in South Africa. I had seen the pictures on social media which always caused such outrage. A magnificent animal lying lifeless at the feet of a smiling human holding a rifle.