To fuel South Africa’s lion hunting trade, cubs are taken away from mums after 3 days instead of 2 years
Walter Palmer, left, after killing Cecil in Zimbabwe earlier in 2015. (Photo: viaweb)
Washington: More than 20,000 lions are to be bred in captivity by 2020 to fuel South Africa’s sick trophy hunting trade. The animals are taken from their mums after just three days — instead of the two years they would spend with them naturally — and are “so inbred they would not stand a chance in the wild”.
They are raised on farms masquerading as sanctuaries before hunters from around the world fly in and pay up to £30,000 to kill them, New York Post said. American dentist Walter Palmer sparked global outrage in June when he paid around £33,000 to a professional hunter to help him kill Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.
But despite the fury following Cecil’s death conservationists insist the “canned hunting” trade — where the animals are bred to be killed and have little room to escape — has doubled in the past five years.
Prospective hunters are given the chance to go on a three-day trek where they are guaranteed to take home a predator of their choice. Some farms have up to 14 categories of lion from females costing as little as £10,000 to kill, to males with dark manes costing up to £30,000.
( Source : agencies )
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