Myth Busting – Blood Lions

Does Bovine Tuberculosis pose a threat to South Africa’s wild lion population?

Supporters of South Africa’s captive lion industry often claim that Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) is a major threat to South Africa’s wild lion population, especially lions in the Kruger National Park (KNP). Wildlife Ranching South Africa (WRSA) have even alleged that an estimated 80% of Kruger’s lions are infected by bTB, risking a population-wide collapse.

Some captive industry associations have even claimed that captive-bred lions present the perfect solution to counter the deaths of wild lions from bTB. But first, it’s necessary to understand if Kruger’s lion population is indeed in danger from bTB based on available scientific evidence.

Disease has been considered a long-term threat to free-roaming wild lion populations, especially bTB in Kruger and Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. Bovine TB spreads across lion populations through infected prey species, particularly buffalo and kudu, according to a PhD study in 2015.

In 2017, the prevalence of bTB infection in lions was an estimated 54% in the southern region of KNP. Research from 2023 suggests that while bTB can impact an individual lion’s health, mortality, and an animal’s ability to hunt and reproduce, it is difficult to determine the impact at a population level. In particular, since extensive ecosystems, such as Kruger, are also affected by drought, long-term environmental changes, and other diseases, there are other factors that impact lion mortality.

A 2015 and 2017 study on the prevalence of bTB in Kruger lions confirms that more research is needed on the impact of bTB on a population level. SANParks ecologist Dr Sam Ferreira and lion biologist Dr Paul Funston concluded in their 2010 paper that the Kruger lion population is stable and the effects of bTB are minimal, particularly on a population level.

In response to a Parliamentary Question in December 2024, the former Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, stated that “there are currently no visible effects of bTB on the viability of the KNP’s lion population. Prey biomass rather than bTB strongly influences lion survival in the KNP.”

He continues, “while previous forecasts predicted slight long-term declines in the KNP lion population due to TB, these predictions did not hold. Lions displayed resilience, with stable numbers even during droughts, shifting prey preferences to buffalo and kudu.”

In 2024, the Ministerial Task Team states in their final report that “the prevailing view amongst carnivore specialists, in terms of the suitability and necessity of using captive-bred lions for conservation purposes, is that the lack of a safe and suitable habitat for rewilding and population restoration purposes and the adequate availability of wild lions, makes the use of captive-bred lions redundant.”

Former Minister George added in his response to the parliamentary question in December 2024, “there is no need to introduce lions (especially captive-bred lions) into the KNP as the lion population is stable and lions currently occupy most of the available habitat in the KNP.”

The bottom line is that scientists have established that while bTB does impact lions in the Kruger, the effect of the disease does not impact the species at a population level, as many in the commercial captive industry have claimed.

The Kruger lion population is not at risk of dying out, and captive-bred lions would not need to be used to supplement the population. Even IF we had to supplement the Kruger lion population, the availability of South African wild lions is ample and hence there would be absolutely no need to use captive-bred lions, as identified by the Ministerial Task Team.

The captive industry’s claims should not be taken at face value, as these purely suit their narrative, and require careful scientific and public scrutiny.

Is ‘Canned’ Hunting Actually Illegal in South Africa?

Captive predator industry proponents regularly use the narrative that ‘canned’ hunting is illegal in South Africa, but the reality is not what they would like the public to believe.

To quote from a recent media article by Trevor Oertel, “if the Minister [Dion George] wasn’t so emotionally hamstrung by the false animal rights rhetoric of ‘canned hunting’, an immoral practice he of all people should know is illegal in South Africa, we should be celebrating and congratulating ourselves on a conservation success story.”

So let’s interrogate the term ‘canned’ hunting further to see whether or not the industry’s claims are true that ‘canned’ hunting is indeed illegal in South Africa.

What is ‘canned’ hunting?

‘Canned’ hunting is a colloquial term that was used for the first time in 1997 by Roger Cook in The Cook Report documentary “Making a Killing”, which exposed South Africa’s unethical practices of the hunting of captive-bred lions for their trophies.

Although the term became widely used in the years following the documentary, it was never officially defined in policy or legislation. The South African Predator Association (SAPA) subsequently made an attempt to explain The True Meaning of Canned Hunting, but by the end readers are still not fully informed what the term actually means.

Their blog presents one possible definition: “the slaying of a drugged or overly-domesticated lion or a lion lured by food to the killing zone in a featureless, cramped enclosure”. It is important to note, however, that this description has never been formally adopted by the wider wildlife industry, animal welfare sector, conservationists or legislators.

For most people, ‘canned’ hunting simply means the hunting of lions that are bred and raised in captivity and ultimately hunted for their trophy in fenced camps that negate the chance to escape. Other captive-bred big cats, such as leopards, tigers and even caracals and servals, are also killed in such captive hunts.

Art work by Martin Aveling

Does our legislation define ‘canned’ hunting?

Our nature conservation legislation, both the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act of 2004 (NEMBA) and the Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) Regulations of 2007, do not mention nor define the term ‘canned’ hunting.

In the absence of an official and legal definition, ‘canned’ hunting remains a term that has a different meaning to different people. This is not merely a question of semantics – the term literally has no official description.

Our legislation does, however, refer to a ‘put and take animal’ which means a live specimen of a captive-bred listed large predator that is released for the purpose of hunting the animal within a period of 24 months after its release from a captive environment.

However, the then South African Predator Breeders Association (SAPBA) (now SAPA) took the former Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism to court, challenging the definition for a ‘put and take animal’ that set the 24 months minimum release time before a captive-bred lion hunt could take place. SABPA also challenged Section 24 of TOPS (see section below) and the Minister amended the TOPS Regulations in January 2008 deleting lion from the definition for ‘listed large predators’ pending the court application.

In 2010, our Supreme Court of Appeal found TOPS Section 24 invalid if lion was to be included again. The judge stated that there was no scientific evidence showing that captive-bred lions required 24 months to become self-sustaining the wild.

The then Minister left captive-bred lions off the ‘listed large predators’ definition to avoid further litigation.

What provisions does our national legislation make to protect captive-bred lions?

Under NEMBA, lions are listed as ‘vulnerable’, which means that a permit is required under NEMBA if a person intends to carry out any restricted activity involving the species, including being in the possession of, breeding, trading, hunting, transporting, or exporting lions from South Africa.

The TOPS Regulations deal with circumstances under which hunting is prohibited (Section 24) and prohibited methods of hunting (Section 26). For example, Section 26 stipulates that a TOPS listed species may not be hunted if the following methods are utilised, including by means of poison, traps, snares, dogs, darting, an automatic weapon or shotgun. Prohibited hunting methods also include luring the animal with bait, sounds, or smell, by using spotlights, motorised vehicles, or aircraft, under the influence of tranquilising, narcotic, or immobilising agents, and trapped against a fence or in a small enclosure, where the animal does not have a fair chance to escape the hunter. Regulation 24 does not prohibit the hunting of captive-bred lions.

Some of these descriptions are still rather vague and can be interpreted in different ways. Like what is a small enclosure? Does a wild animal need to touch the fence to be considered trapped? What does it mean to give an animal a fair chance to escape the hunter, which is directly correlated to factors like size of an enclosure, the type of vegetation present and its terrain? Can you chase a lion in a vehicle and jump out to make the kill? Unfortunately, none of these terms are properly clarified in our legislation.

What legislative provisions do our provinces make to protect captive-bred lions?

As nature conservation is a concurrent competence and thus falls under both provincial and national legislation in South Africa, the implementation of national legislation may be supported by provincial regulations and policies. This means that all nine provinces can, for example, set their own minimum requirements for captive lion hunts within the broader TOPS guidelines.

Most provinces, except Limpopo, have some policies in place to regulate the captive lion industry. KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Western Cape have more stringent regulations compared to all other provinces, with the Northern Cape being the strictest, not allowing any commercial breeding, keeping, hunting or trading of lions.

The hunting of captive-bred lions is allowed in the Free State, North West and Limpopo with the time period between the release of a captive-bred lion into a hunting camp and the hunt taking place being three months, 96 hours and 24 hours, respectively. The other six provinces either don’t support or prohibit the hunting of captive-bred lions.

The minimum size of a hunting camp is 1,000 ha in all three provinces. In the Free State, breeding and hunting cannot take place at the same property and hence most captive lion hunts occur in the North West and Limpopo. A large proportion of lions are bred in the Free State, transported to the North West and Limpopo, where they are released into an enclosure to be killed.

How many captive-bred lions are killed for their trophies?

From the late 1990s, South Africa started exporting hunting trophies from captive-bred lions. Initial export numbers were relatively low with fewer than 100 trophies per year. From 2006, the export volumes increased significantly and peaked in 2015 with 1,061 lion trophies.

Until 2016, about 60% of these captive-bred lion trophies were exported to the USA, when the US Fish and Wildlife Services imposed a ban on the import of trophies from captive-bred lions to the USA.

Since 2016, South Africa still exports on average 430 hunting trophies from the captive-bred lion population every year to countries such as Germany, Spain, Scandinavian countries, and some new destinations like China, Russia and Eastern European countries. Smaller numbers are still entering the USA – between 2016-2021 a total of 528 captive-bred lion trophies.

South Africa’s declared quantities of hunting trophy exports from the captive lion population for the period of 1999−2021 (data from CITES Trade Database).

Source: Ministerial Task Team final report, 2024.

Is the ‘canned’ hunting is illegal narrative a smokescreen to hide ethically contentious hunting practices?

If we are using the SAPA description of ‘canned’ hunting as “the slaying of a drugged or overly-domesticated lion or a lion lured by food to the killing zone in a featureless, cramped enclosure”, then yes that way of killing is illegal. The hunting of a drugged lion, baited by food and/or in a cramped enclosure are indeed prohibited under the TOPS Regulations.

However, ‘canned’ hunting has become widely used as a general term synonymous with the hunting of captive-bred lions, which is currently legal in three of South Africa’s nine provinces.

Unless we have an agreed upon definition of ‘canned’ hunting that has been promulgated in our nature conservation legislation, unsubstantiated claims that ‘canned’ hunting is illegal in South Africa are false, as the term has no statutory meaning. If a term has no legal definition, it can be neither legal nor illegal.

The industry’s claims that ‘canned’ hunting is illegal serve more as a smokescreen behind which they hide ethically contentious hunting practices to normalise and legitimise the hunting of captive-bred lions.

Hence, we shouldn’t be questioning whether or not ‘canned’ hunting is illegal, we should subject the current legal captive-bred lion hunting practices to more scrutiny. These legal hunting practices and the subsequent welfare impacts on the individual animal are far from ideal, while at the same time conservation benefits remain questionable.

We should therefore challenge the conditions under which legal captive-bred lion hunts are carried out in terms of the prohibited hunting methods as listed in Section 26 of TOPS.

This video shows a legal captive lion hunt, where the lion appears to be:

followed by and shot from a vehicle judging by the way the camera is panning, which would be illegal.
trapped against three sides of the fence (clearly visible in the video) in the hunting camp, which, depending on the interpretation of trapped, could be considered as illegal.
killed in a small camp judging by the distance to three sides of the fence, which would be illegal.
killed without a fair chance to escape, depending on the interpretation of fair chance, which could be considered as illegal.

The fact that industry proponents are quick to use unsubstantiated claims, like “‘canned’ hunting is illegal in South Africa” seems a conscious attempt to muddy the waters and distract the conversation from the real issues involved in legal captive hunts. Issues with regards to the lack of clarity around some of the terms, as is shown above, as well as the enforcement of TOPS Regulation 26 of prohibited hunting methods that remains unclear.

MYTH: Paying to interact with lions is acceptable as the money goes to conservation

Cancel Captivity Blood Lions Blood Lions Youth For Lions Lion bone trade Tiger bones Predators in captivity Canned hunting Animal welfare Panthera leo Lions in captivity Cub petting Walking with lions Petting lion cubs Predator park Lion farm Lion park Commercial captive lion industry Tiger cub petting Captive predators Ban canned hunting Tigers in captivity Cheetahs in captivity Cute lion cubs Hand-feeding lion cubs Volunteer with lions Hand raise lion cubs Illegal wildlife trade Illegal lion bone trade Born To Live Wild Lion bone quota South Africa #CancelCaptivity #ThinkBeforeYouGo

There is no evidence that money raised through interactive captive wildlife activities is donated to the conservation of the species in the wild.

Furthermore, not one credible conservation organisation would be willing to raise funds in such an unethical manner.

The reality is that the lions and other big cats kept in captive facilities offering hands-on interactions are part of a vicious cycle of abuse and exploitation that serves no conservation value.

Don’t be part of the problem #CancelCaptivity

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MYTH: Interacting with ‘ambassador animals’ helps conserve the species in the wild

Blood Lions #cancelcaptivity Myths Blood Lions Youth For Lions Lion bone trade Tiger bones Predators in captivity Canned hunting Animal welfare Panthera leo Lions in captivity Cub petting Walking with lions Petting lion cubs Predator park Lion farm Lion park Commercial captive lion industry Tiger cub petting Captive predators Ban canned hunting Tigers in captivity Cheetahs in captivity Cute lion cubs Hand-feeding lion cubs Volunteer with lions Hand raise lion cubs Illegal wildlife trade Illegal lion bone trade Born To Live Wild Lion bone quota South Africa #CancelCaptivity #ThinkBeforeYouGo

Education should never take preference over the welfare of an animal.

There is no doubt that raising awareness around species conservation issues and educating the public on these topics is hugely important.

However, this should NEVER be done to the detriment of the well-being of individual animals through intense “pay and play” programmes with ambassador animals.

The world is changing, and we need to be more innovative in our educational and awareness raising techniques.

Don’t be part of the problem #CancelCaptivity

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MYTH: Cub petting is okay because the cubs are orphans

Cancel Captivity Myth Blood Lions Blood Lions Youth For Lions Lion bone trade Tiger bones Predators in captivity Canned hunting Animal welfare Panthera leo Lions in captivity Cub petting Walking with lions Petting lion cubs Predator park Lion farm Lion park Commercial captive lion industry Tiger cub petting Captive predators Ban canned hunting Tigers in captivity Cheetahs in captivity Cute lion cubs Hand-feeding lion cubs Volunteer with lions Hand raise lion cubs Illegal wildlife trade Illegal lion bone trade Born To Live Wild Lion bone quota South Africa #CancelCaptivity #ThinkBeforeYouGo

This is another extremely common myth linked to the captive lion industry, but is very often not the case.

Many captive wildlife facilities will claim that their cubs were orphaned, rejected by their mothers, or that their mothers didn’t produce enough milk to feed them.

The reality is that these cubs were born in captivity and forcefully removed from their mothers within days of birth, so that they can be bottle-fed by paying volunteers and petted by visitors for commercial gain.

Don’t be part of the problem. #CancelCaptivity

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MYTH: Interacting with captive cheetahs is perfectly safe

Blood Lions Youth For Lions Lion bone trade Tiger bones Predators in captivity Canned hunting Animal welfare Panthera leo Lions in captivity Cub petting Walking with lions Petting lion cubs Predator park Lion farm Lion park Commercial captive lion industry Tiger cub petting Captive predators Ban canned hunting Tigers in captivity Cheetahs in captivity Cute lion cubs Hand-feeding lion cubs Volunteer with lions Hand raise lion cubs Illegal wildlife trade Illegal lion bone trade Born To Live Wild Lion bone quota South Africa #CancelCaptivity #ThinkBeforeYouGo

In the last 15 years, we have recorded 52 incidents of captive cheetahs, lions and tigers attacking a total of 58 people, of which 18 people died as a consequence of the attack.

Fourteen of these attacks involved captive cheetahs and one person perished as a result of their injuries.

These are just the ones that were reported in the media or on social media… many more attacks likely to go unreported.

It is time for South Africa to #CancelCaptivity

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MYTH: Captive bred lions are as wild as the lions in reserves

Blood Lions Cancel Captivity #cancelcaptivityBlood Lions Youth For Lions Lion bone trade Tiger bones Predators in captivity Canned hunting Animal welfare Panthera leo Lions in captivity Cub petting Walking with lions Petting lion cubs Predator park Lion farm Lion park Commercial captive lion industry Tiger cub petting Captive predators Ban canned hunting Tigers in captivity Cheetahs in captivity Cute lion cubs Hand-feeding lion cubs Volunteer with lions Hand raise lion cubs Illegal wildlife trade Illegal lion bone trade Born To Live Wild Lion bone quota South Africa #CancelCaptivity #ThinkBeforeYouGo

Although the wild instinct of captive-bred lions may well remain, they are human-habituated animals and are ill-equipped to survive in wild areas.

Captive bred lions have never learned to hunt for themselves and/or deal with other predators and dangerous wild animal species.

Physically captive-bred lions are also weaker due to a lack of exercise throughout their lives.

This is another reason why captive-bred lions cannot be released into the wild.

It is time for South Africa to #CancelCaptivity

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MYTH: Captive-bred lions are genetically pure

The genetics of captive-bred lions are often compromised.

The prevailing view amongst carnivore specialists and conservationists is that captive-bred lions do not contribute to the conservation of the species, especially since inbreeding is prevalent in captivity which has a negative effect on genetic integrity and provenance.

Lion ecologists agree that releasing compromised genes into a healthy wild population is extremely risky.

This is another reason why captive-bred lions cannot be released into the wild.

South Africa – it is time to #CancelCaptivity

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MYTH: Captive-bred lions can be released into the wild

This is one of the most common myths linked to the captive lion breeding industry.

As much as a wild animal is never fully tame, captive-bred lions are human-imprinted and therefore lose their fear for humans.

This could therefore pose a significant risk for human-wildlife conflict when introduced into wild spaces.

This is just one reason why captive-bred lions cannot be released into the wild.

South Africa – it is time to #CancelCaptivity

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MYTH: Breeding lions in captivity will save the species in the wild

A common myth linked to the captive lion breeding industry is that it has the ability to supplement and save the wild species. This is not the case.

The IUCN assessment in 2016 showed that lion populations across the continent had indeed declined by 43% over a 20-year period (or 3 lion generations).

The reasons for this decline include habitat degradation and fragmentation, reductions in prey animals, human-lion conflict, and, importantly, the trade in lion products (particularly bones).

However, lions breed very successfully in the wild, and lion ecologists agree that we don’t need to spend resources on captive breeding for reintroduction without proven success records.

What we need to do is to create more safe space for lions to thrive in functional wild ecosystems.

South Africa – it is time to #CancelCaptivity

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