This is an excerpt from an article and campaign written by Rachel Bale and published online by National Geographic on 17 August, 2021

Criminal networks in Somaliland smuggle cubs out of Africa to wealthy buyers abroad. Now the breakaway African state is fighting back.

Fewer than 7,000 adult cheetahs are left in the wild, according to recent estimates, most in southern and eastern Africa. International commercial trade of cheetahs has been banned since 1975. Even so, from 2010 through 2019, more than 3,600 live cheetahs were for sale or sold illegally worldwide, with only about 10 percent intercepted by law enforcement, says Patricia Tricorache, a researcher with Colorado State University who’s been tracking the cheetah trade for 15 years. Taking cheetahs from the wild has been illegal in Somaliland since 1969.

Habitat loss and retaliatory killings by herders when cats prey on their livestock are the biggest threats to the cheetah’s survival, compounded by the illegal trade in cubs. Babies, often still nursing and dependent, are snatched from the wild while their mothers are hunting or when a lactating mother is tracked back to her den. On foot and by camel, car, and boat, traffickers move the cubs through the Horn of Africa and across the narrow Gulf of Aden to Yemen, a journey of 200 miles or more that can take weeks. Cubs that survive are sold as pets in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Kuwait, and other Gulf countries.

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This is an excerpt from an article written by Tyler Leigh Vivier and published online by Good Things Guy on 16 August, 2021

Blood Lions shared an advert that shows what things will look like when the captive-bred lion industry starts to fade; take a look!

South Africa (16 August 2021) – Since Minister Creecy of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE) made the groundbreaking announcement to reassess the laws surrounding the captive-bred lion industry in South Africa, the conversation has gone quiet.

The last we reported, the Draft Gazette was open for public comment. That has since closed, and Blood Lions hopes to keep the conversation going.

As part of their World Lion Day celebration, Blood Lions shared the advert, which shows what things will look like when the captive-bred lion industry starts to fade.

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This is an excerpt from an article written by Philani Nombembe and published online by TimesLive on 14 August, 2021

Authorities have recovered lion teeth and claws from a suspected illegal wildlife trader.

The Vietnamese man was arrested during raids in Bela-Bela and Pretoria after a four-month probe by analysts and wildlife investigators. The suspect was also arrested for illegal possession of a firearm.

A joint team comprised of the Green Scorpions from the department of environment, forestry and fisheries (Deff), the Limpopo department of economic development, environment and tourism, the Gauteng department of agriculture and rural development and SANParks conducted the raid on Thursday.

In a statement on Saturday, Deff said search and seizure warrants were “executed simultaneously at a Vietnamese-owned farm near Bela-Bela in Limpopo and at two storage units in Pretoria”.

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This is an excerpt from an article published online by News24 on 14 August, 2021

SAPS have arrested a Vietnamese man and seized about 60 kilograms of lion claws, teeth and other items following a four-month probe into wildlife trafficking, the government said on Saturday.

The man was arrested on Thursday “in connection with the illegal trade in wildlife and illegal possession of a firearm” in northern Limpopo province, the location of a number of wildlife parks, the environment ministry said.

Police also raided a Vietnamese-owned farm near the tourist site of Bela-Bela in Limpopo and two storage units in the capital Pretoria, a statement from the ministry said.

They seized 4.2 kilograms of lions’ teeth, 680 grams of lion claws and more than 60 kilos “of processed animal products believed to be lion gelatine” as well as an illegal firearm.

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This is an excerpt from an article published online by Wildside Magazine on 10 August, 2021

“On World Lion Day, the international community celebrates our iconic lions and raises awareness on the plight of these majestic animals in the wild, as well as their captive counterparts.

 World Lion Day 2021 holds a more positive connotation as we are celebrating the beginning of the end of the commercial captive lion industry in South Africa. Here, over the last couple of decades, a commercial captive lion industry was allowed to grow to a size of 400+ facilities holding anything between 8,000 and 12,000 lions, along with hundreds of other indigenous and exotic big cat species.

However, following the High-Level Panel majority recommendations to halt and reverse the domestication of our iconic lions, Minister Barbara Creecy announced on the 2 May 2021 that South Africa would no longer breed captive lions, keep lions in captivity, or use captive lions or their derivatives commercially.

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This is an excerpt from an article written by Anton Crone and published online by Getaway on 18 July, 2021

On July 18th Da Nang Customs Department said it had seized a container holding more than 138 kg of rhino horn and more than 3.1 tons of animal bones on the banned list from South Africa. The contraband was imported through Tien Sa port (Da Nang) and was declared as wood.

The Customs Department said on the morning of July 17, it had coordinated with the Anti-smuggling and Investigation Department, the Environmental Police Department (C05) – Ministry of Industry and Trade and other authorities to search a container transported from South Africa to Vietnam on suspicion that imported goods were not properly declared.

The interdisciplinary force discovered more than 138KG of animal horns and 3.1 tons of animal bones suspected to be on the list of wild fauna species that is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). These are suspected to be lion bones which are used in the manufacture of illicit tiger bone wine.

The increase in demand for tiger bone wine, supposedly because of a mistaken belief that drinking it boosts virility and sexual prowess, has drawn attention to the plight of Asian tigers which have been bred and harvested to manufacture the wine. The demand has led to the use of lion bone instead of tiger bones and opened up an avenue for captive lion breeders in South Africa to harvest and trade in lion bones.

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This is an excerpt from an article written by Nica Richards and published online by The Citizen on 07 July, 2021

The victim from Belgium was encouraged by the facility to keep quiet about the incident.

An recent incident at a captive wildlife facility in South Africa has once again thrown the questionable industry into the spotlight. 

A young woman volunteer from Belgium was left traumatised after she was attacked by a captive cheetah at the facility last month, Blood Lions said in a statement on Wednesday. 

The victim, Amandine Lequime, was said to have been filming the outside of the cheetah’s enclosure while her colleague was on feeding duty.

As soon as the enclosure gate was opened, a cheetah jumped on Lequime’s back, aiming for her throat. 

Recalling the incident, she said when she fell to the ground, the cheetah “continued to bite and claw my arms and legs until the facility manager succeeded in getting the cheetah away from me”.

Lequime ended up in hospital and received treatment and stitches for several deep bite marks and cuts. She now has muscle damage.

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This is an excerpt from an article written by David Henning and published online by Getaway on 07 July, 2021

A Belgian volunteer at a captive predator facility was attacked by a cheetah during feeding. Amandine Lequime was filming outside of the cheetah’s enclosure while her colleague was on feeding duty last month, when the cheetah proceeded to jump on her back, aiming for her throat. She recently came forward with her experience in a media statement from Blood Lions.

The name and location of the facility has not been released.

In a comment, Amandine said: “I lost my balance and fell to the ground, where the cheetah continued to bite and claw my arms and legs until the facility manager succeeded in getting the cheetah away from me. I ended up in hospital for treatment of several deep bite marks and cuts that caused muscle damage and required stitches”.

She subsequently discovered that the same cheetah had attacked the manager two years earlier, causing serious neck and leg injuries.

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This is an excerpt from an article written by David Henning and published online by Getaway on 30 June, 2021

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has gazetted a draft policy on 28 June in another step towards putting an end to the captive breeding of lions.

This document is based on the recent High-Level Panel report and its recommendations and is now open for public comment until 27 July. 

The recent government gazette on the “Draft Policy on the Conservation and Use of Elephant, Lion, Leopard and Rhinocerous” included reviews and policy interventions on matters of management, breeding, hunting and handling of elephant lion, leopard and rhino.

Of significance is the proposal of three main policy interventions, one being to halt the domestication of lions and the commercial exploitation of captive lions, and put an end to captive lion facilities. This will affect the trophy hunting industry, with the gazette reading that “trophy hunting is under increasing scrutiny and all activities related to it.”

The publication of the draft will be well received, pointing to developments in the initial announcement made by Environmental Minister, Barbara Creecy on 3 May. The draft proposes three main policy interventions, one being to halt the domestication of lions and the commercial exploitation of captive lions, and establish a process to close captive lion facilities.

This is an excerpt from an article written by Tyler Leigh Vivier and published online by Good Things Guy on 29 June, 2021

A draft gazette is open for public comment; this is a significant step in the process for implementation to end the captive lion breeding industry in South Africa.

South Africa (29 June 2021) – Blood Lions recently celebrated the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s (DFFE) decision to end captive lion breeding in South Africa. The process is now on its next step.

The Blood Lions team have released a statement and are asking for members of the public to please join in by commenting on the draft Policy Position Gazette.

‘Minister Creecy of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has now released a draft Policy Position Gazette on the conservation and ecologically sustainable use of elephant, lion, leopard and rhinoceros. This document is based on the recent High-Level Panel report and its recommendations and is now open for public comment for the next 30 days.