Creecy's lion breeding task team must be inclusive if it is to succeed
1 September 2022
Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy has recently put out a call for interested and affected parties to join a task team to develop exit strategies for those involved in lion breeding in South Africa.
The connections between some lion breeding facilities and the international trade in lion bone has been exposed by investigative journalists in a number of critically acclaimed documentaries and reports.
It is now common cause that some of these lion farms are being used primarily as breeding facilities to support the trade in lion bone, used primarily as an alternative to tiger bone medicine in China and elsewhere.
Many of the lions being bred at these farms develop genetic and developmental challenges and are either permanently disabled or are unable to reintegrate into the wild.