The demand for traditional medicine is fuelling big cat farms in South Africa and Asia where lion and tiger cubs are born into a life of captivity.

South Africa is one of the few countries in Africa that allows the intensive captive breeding and keeping of lions and other big cats for commercial purposes.

The trade in lion bones is supplementing the demand for tiger bones and creating a bigger problem for tiger conservation. With fewer than 4,000 tigers left in the wild, every conservation effort to protect these predators in their natural habitat needs global support.

Thousands of unsuspecting tourists and volunteers visit South Africa to touch or ‘rehabilitate’ lions, tigers, cheetahs and other big cats and are unaware that their money contributes to the fraudulent and exploitative use of these animals.

Changing wildlife tourism is an important part of the campaign to end the global wildlife trade. Forever.

Each year, millions of wild animals are captured from their natural habitats or born into captivity, just to become pets.

Cruelty and suffering is unavoidable in the breeding, sale and ownership of these wild animals.

South Africa is the largest exporter of live wild animals in Africa to Asia. Exotic big cat species such as tigers and jaguars are not covered by the South African legislation.