South Africa has the biggest captive big cat industry in the world and it is largely unregulated.
Once cubs in captivity get too big to be stroked and cuddled by tourists, they’re sold into the canned hunting and Asian bone trade industries.
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A stronger ban on lion trade by CITES would have helped to lessen some of the threats lions face but it would have not have protected the animals from sport hunting.
The lion bone trade in South Africa is on the rise.
AJ Loveridge