Posted by Adam Cruise of Conservation Action Trust in Cat Watch on August 5, 2015

In the first full research report of its kind, the trophy hunting industry in South Africa has been exposed as the main source of Asia’s rapidly expanding lion bone trade. The implications are that thousands of lions are being raised in South Africa to shot in cages, stoking a market for lion bone medicine that ultimately threatens the last 2,300 wild lions in the country.

African range lions have declined alarmingly over the last several decades due to rampant poaching, trophy hunting and habitat loss.

However, the report, which is jointly compiled by WildCru, the same Oxford University Research Unit studying Cecil the Lion before he was shot, and Traffic, an international wildlife monitoring trade network administered by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), has noted that things could be getting worse for lions.

In 2008 Asian traders began taking an interest in Africa’s lions when the decline in tigers became acute. Tiger wine, made using powdered bones, is a much sought-after elixir in Asia. It allegedly cures a variety of ills and increases strength and wellbeing. With the demise of tigers, lion bones are now filling the gap with a sharp increase in lion products in the markets of Vietnam, China and especially Laos.

The South African Department of Environment (DEA) has raised concerns that the demand for lion bones could potentially threaten South Africa’s 2,300 wild lions.

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