The lions whose fate is sealed from birth as they're bred just for huntingThousands of big cats are being slaughtered every year in the barbaric ‘canned hunting’ tradeBetween
8,000 and
12,000 lions are currently being held in some
300 captive centres across South Africa and are being bred purely for the bullet.
Conservationists say they are exploited at every stage of their lives — with innocent tourists unwittingly fuelling the practice.
Click to enlarge:Head of policy at international animal charity Born Free Foundation, Dr Mark Jones, told Metro.co.uk: ‘Africa’s lions are facing an unprecedented crisis.
‘There are now almost three times more in captivity than there are in the wild.
‘These animals have a short and traumatic life in what is an incredibly cruel and cynical industry.’
Trophy hunting is the shooting of certain animals for pleasure, usually big game such as rhinos, elephants, lions, pumas and bears.
The trophy is any part of the animal — such as head or skin — that the marksman keeps as a souvenir.
Canned hunting involves an animal, usually a lion, being confined to a fenced area from which it cannot escape.
Tourist marksmen, some from the UK, will enter the enclosure and be free to use guns, even bows and arrows, to kill the victim.
The death is rarely a precisely-executed slaughter and lions can
take hours to die because the so-called hunters are inexperienced and take repeated shots.
Conservationists say visitors who cuddle lions while on holiday in South Africa or volunteer at centres are being duped into helping the trade.
The practice has expanded rapidly within the last three decades.
Born Free said that cubs were removed from their mothers within weeks of their birthThey are hand-reared and passed around tourists who have been ‘duped’ into thinking they are orphans who will be released into the wild.
Older cats will be used for tourism activities such as ‘walking with lions.’
Female lions will be ‘recycled’ into the breeding programme while the male lions are shot.
Dr Jones continued: ‘The males will be reared until they have grown a big mane, which usually happens when they are about two years old.
‘These lions are then sold off to hunting facilities. People can buy a package. You can even choose a lion that you want to hunt from a brochure.
A tame lion will not try to hide from people so, in a canned hunt, you are pretty much guaranteed a trophyThe remains of the dead lion will then be harvested and the bones legally exported to the Asian markets, where they are made into medicines or soups.
Experts say this is a growing trend, which is being actively encouraged by the South African government, which recently lobbied for exemptions to current wildlife trafficking laws.
Hunting became popular during colonial times and the populations have never recovered.
The most recent assessments by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature suggest that as few as 20,000 wild lions remain across Africa – just 8% of their historic level.
They are listed as globally vulnerable to extinction and scientists predict they will vanish from traditional areas within the next few decades. Despite this, lion hunting is on the rise and Britain does not have a ban on importing trophies.
In the last decade, the UK was the destination of some
2,242 such items – including heads, feet, tails, tusks and horns.
Among these were 80 lions, with 48 declared as ‘captive bred’, meaning they are likely to have come from canned hunts in South Africa.
In May, the former environment secretary Michael Gove said he wanted to explore a ban on trophies but his successor, Theresa Villiers, has yet to comment.
Supporters of the canned hunting trade claim that tourism can be used to enhance the economy.
But experts say captive breeding contributes nothing to conservation, the money raised is relatively small and does not go back into the communities.
Campaigners have also rejected claims that canned hunting stops wild trophy hunting, pointing out that they are targeting different markets.
According to pressure group Blood Lions, the canned experience can be completed over the course of a weekend for between £5,000 and £16,000.
In contrast, an average ‘traditional’ trophy hunt costs around £62,000 and requires a three-week commitment of stalking animals across the savanna.
Conservationists want canned hunting banned on ethical grounds whereas traditional operators believe it damages the reputation of wild hunting because it is not a fair chase.
That has led to an unlikely union putting pressure on the South African government to phase out the legal trade.
Dr Jones said: ‘Ultimately, stopping it will come down to public pressure public opinion. We like to think that that one day soon this activity will be consigned to history because wildlife is in real trouble.’
He added: ‘We would urge tourists not to visit captive facilities that are advertising opportunities for close contact with lions or other wildlife. If you are offered the chance to walk with cubs or lions, it is highly likely that it is a breeding facility.
‘A real conservation facility would not let you handle the animals, so do your research.
‘Canned hunting will continue while people are making money from tourists.’
‘This is all about cash before conservation and it’s a really cruel industry.’
Link to Heartbreaking Photos:https://metro.co.uk/2019/08/17/the-lion ... -10508444/