They are considered real lion factories. Here thousands of specimens are bred in captivity for use by the tourism industry. Shocking new photos reveal what lies behind herd of lions being caressed and photographed by unsuspecting tourists in South Africa
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himThey are considered real lion factories. Here thousands of specimens are bred in captivity for use by the tourism industry. Shocking new photos reveal what lies behind the breeding of lions being caressed and photographed by unsuspecting tourists in South Africa.
A life of suffering. Up to 12.000 animals live on African farms, destined to become tourist attractions.
According to HRI, hundreds of lions were left almost completely hairless due to bad conditions in which they live, in poor and overcrowded enclosures. Photographs taken in South Africa show severely neglected predators.
The images were provided by an anonymous source and reveal seriously ill, mange-covered lions at a captive breeding facility in South Africa. A cross-section of the industry that raises about 12.000 lions in about 200 "farms" across the country.
South African farms are part of a system that activists refer to as a "cuddle scam" because they offer lion cubs as tourist attractions, with which visitors from all over the world take selfies, oblivious to the pain behind their vacation photos.
After investigating the structure of the Pienika Farm, officers from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals found 108 neglected lions, as well as caracals, tigers and leopards living in conditions terrible.
For example, in the wild, lion cubs stay with their mothers for 18 months and females rest for at least 15-24 months between litter and litter but that's not the case at all. Cubs born in captivity come taken away from their mothers when they are a few days or even hours after birth, used as objects.
The mother is forced into an exhausting and continuous cycle of reproduction locked in enclosures, sometimes without food, hygiene or the ability to express her natural behavior.
Audrey Delsink, Wildlife Director of Humane Society International Africa, explained:
“Lion cubs are snatched from their mothers within days of life, to be raised by paying volunteers from countries around the world such as the UK, who are misled into believing they are orphans. The little ones are exploited throughout their lives, first as props paid for by tourists looking for selfies, while they caress or feed the animals, then later as part of the safari ”.
South Africa is a popular tourist destination visited by around 10,3 million foreigners each year. Most of them unknowingly contribute to the suffering of these animals.
With fewer than 3.000 wild lions, South Africa has more captive lions than in the wild. And their fate is still uncertain. While the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will be able to show that the neglect was so severe that it warranted the confiscation of all lions, there are no reliable facilities in South Africa that can immediately accommodate such a large number.
READ also:
- Thousands of lions bred to be hunted or to become "medicines". The shock investigation from South Africa
- The shocking images of tigers, bears and lions abandoned at the zoo closed for two months
- This zoo has amputated the claws of a lioness to play with children
Francesca Mancuso
Gallery
