South Africa’s captive big cat industry exploits animals for commercial purposes, often under the guise of conservation. The industry has expanded across the country, unregulated, in the last few decades. It is estimated there are more than 300 facilities that breed and keep an estimated 10,000 lions in captivity, more than 600 tigers, and countless other species such as cheetahs, leopards, caracals and even cross breeds.  

The country is the biggest global exporter of live big cats and their parts from anywhere in the world. It sources animals for the exotic pet industry, for tourist attractions, zoos, private establishments and circuses. It sources big cat parts to be used as trophies, luxury goods items and even for use in traditional medicine. The industry exploits captive big cats and threatens wild populations, by contributing to the demand for live animals and their parts. In addition, the legal trade of big cats and their parts acts as a conduit for the illegal trade.  

The South African Department for Forestry, Fisheries and Environment is working towards the implementation of a voluntary exit from the captive lion breeding industry. However, this will take time and in the interim many thousands of animals continue to be kept in inappropriate keeping conditions for commercial purposes. Understanding the industry is imperative for people to know how to avoid exacerbating the problem and how to support the protection of big cats.  

If you would like to read more about the current status of the voluntary exit, please read: “One step closer to ending the captive lion breeding industry”.

When a cub is born in a captive facility, they are often removed from their mother within a matter of days to allow them to be bottle-fed by visitors under the guise of being abandoned. This also enables the mother to be impregnated again and give birth to another litter as soon as possible. Throughout their infancy, cubs are subjected to being handled and petted by visitors. This prevents them from developing natural behaviours, ensuring they will never be released into the wild – no matter what the facility says.

As the cubs grow older, they may be used in 'walk-with' or selfie opportunities. In order to prevent the development of natural hunting instincts that might harm tourists, sticks are often used against the animals.

When cubs become too big for interaction-based attractions, lions and other big cats become the targets for trophy hunting. Males with attractive manes are the most prized trophies and the lions are released into an enclosure to be shot by a hunter. This is known as ‘canned hunting’ where the animal cannot escape. The practice is largely condemned by conservationists and many animal welfare organisations. Even major hunting groups, such as Safari Club International, the Dallas Safari Club have spoken publicly against the cruel practice. However, it remains popular with trophy hunters targeting captive lions in South Africa.

South Africa exports live big cats to countries around the world for the exotic pet industry such as in the Middle East, for tourist attractions locally, both for licensed and more unscrupulous zoos, to private establishments and circuses. Live animals may even be shipped to other countries just to be killed for their parts in the destination country to evade trade restrictions. Some animals are trophy hunted in South Africa, for the parts to be kept as trophies in places like the US, UK and Europe, or as luxury goods items and even for use in traditional medicine in parts of South East Asia.

Due to an increasing demand for big cats and their parts, there is a convergence in the trade of big cat species, where species are used interchangeably for these nefarious purposes. This means all big cat species are threatened by commercial trade.

In addition to the cruelty and exploitation suffered by lions and other big cats through trophy hunting and the bone trade, serious welfare concerns persist around the conditions the cats are kept in. The bone trade means a profit can be made from the animals regardless of their health, so there is no incentive to keep animals in high standards of welfare. The facilities in which big cats are kept in largely unregulated and inappropriate conditions such as enclosures that are too small, poor nutrition, lack of medical care, result in unnatural behaviours, the spread of zoonotic disease, distress and even physical deformities.

We must take action now to ban the keeping and breeding of big cats in unregulated captive facilities in South Africa. Establishments that allow interaction with big cats are not driven by conservation. Cats that have been handled frequently will not be released into the wild, they will only continue to be exploited in captivity.