This is an excerpt from an article written and published online by The Citizen on 14 December, 2022

A task team formed by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) will help captive lion breeders with a strategy to exit the industry.

In a statement released by DFFE Minister Barbara Creecy, the appointment of the eight-member ministerial task team follows recommendations made by a high-level panel (HLP) on the management, breeding, hunting, trade and handling of elephant, lion, leopard and rhino.

Among the recommendations adopted by government are that South Africa no longer breed captive lions, keep them in captivity, or use their derivitates commercially.

The breeding of lions in captivity was officially banned in May last year.

The HLP recommended that existing captive lions be euthanised, and policies be put in place to halt the sale of lion bones from existing stockpiles and euthanised lions, and that hunting and petting captive-bred lions, be halted.