According to a scientific report about to be released by the South African Institute of International Affairs, The Economics of Captive Predator Breeding in South Africa, the burgeoning lion bone trade, canned lion hunting, cub petting and “voluntourism” are doing escalating damage to the image of South Africa as a tourism destination.

In South Africa an estimated 8,000 lions are bred and kept in captivity for commercial purposes in more than 350 facilities. This is far more than the country’s wild population, estimated at 3,500 individuals.

The South African Predators Association (Sapa) is fighting tooth and nail to reopen the controversial lion bone industry in the country.

Evidence is emerging of the growing threat to wild lion populations of targeted poaching for lion body parts – teeth and claws.

In 2019, a Gauteng Division of the High Court judge found an application by breeders to renew the lion bone export quota to be “unlawful and constitutionally invalid”. He said it failed to consider the welfare of captive lions raised and killed for their bones. Lion breeders have been simmering with anger ever since.