This comes after a group of starving and malnourished lions were recently discovered by inspectors from the Department of Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Destea) in collaboration with those from the National Council of SPCAs on a Free State farm. The unnamed lion farm stands accused of not only depriving the big cats of water and food but the enclosures in which they were housed were deemed too small for the big cats. Director for Four Paws South Africa, Fiona Miles, says whilst the Minister of Forestry and Fisheries and Environmental Affairs, Barbara Creecy, has announced plans are afoot to ban the breeding the lions in captivity, interim plans need to be introduced urgently.

Miles recommends that “authorities revoke licences and sentence people contravening existing legislation. This is absolutely necessary to set the precedent that animal abuse and exploitation of this kind won’t be tolerated”. The global animal welfare organisations says it will continue to make a case for the protection of lions until legislation banning breeding for trophy hunting is introduced.

Information on the current status of the starving lions and any remedial action that has been introduced for this Free State lion farm is yet to be announced.

A further thirteen lion carcasses were discovered in a locked freezer container with meat rotting on the floor. Minister Creecy announced that government would ban the breeding of lions in captivity in May 2021, following a study by a special government-appointed panel into the controversial practice.

Wildlife groups estimate that approximately 3500 lions are living in the wild in South Africa and up to 12 000 captive lions living on game farms. There are an estimated 600 lions, both captive-bred and wild, killed in Africa annually. The report also found that the practice is elitist and does not benefit all communities. It was also determined that there is a thin line between trophy hunting and poaching.

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