Big cat farming in South Africa: the need for international action
“South Africa is intensively breeding tigers and lions for a commercial trade in live animals and their body parts. There is also a significant commercial trade in leopard parts through hunting trophies and trade in live jaguars and their parts from captive sources. The trade is primarily to Asian countries where there is a strong demand for big cat parts to be used as luxury items or for traditional medicines.”
The abuses are on-going, as the implementation of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) HLP Report (May 2021) is awaited. Among many proposals, the DFFE proposed to enhance the conservation of lions in the wild by halting their commercially driven domestication/exploitation. However, the other big cat species commercially exploited (as highlighted within the Four Paws “Year of the Tiger?” report) are yet to be acknowledged by the DFFE and included within their implementation plans for phasing out such exploitation.
Four Paws “Year of the Tiger?” report, January 2022
Further Reading
“Burning bright but fading fast: Tigers illegally exported from SA as lambs for slaughter,” Daily Maverick, 1 February 2022
“Tiger Breeding in South Africa,” IWB, 24 April 2018