Lion bones masquerade as tiger bones in China.
Wikimedia commons
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.
Shutterstock
While the international conservation community unites against the captive breeding of big cats in South Africa, the government stalls.
Most lion bones in South Africa come from captive-bred lions.
Author supplied
Captive breeding takes place in South Africa and no other country is permitted to export lion bones.
The Parties to CITES (CoP17), rejected a proposal from nine African nations to upgrade the status of lions.
Shutterstock
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
Making tiger trade illegal has had unintended consequences on lions. The problem has escalated over the last few years.