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The lion bone trade is a relatively new revenue stream for the breeders and farmers and has come about as lion bones are now being used as an alternative to tiger bones in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
Hundreds of lions are killed annually for the burgeoning lion bone trade. As has been the case with various other wildlife species, a legal trade promotes demand and a parallel illegal market. This in turn puts pressure on wild lion populations.
Lions and other predators are being exported to private collectors, mostly in the Middle and Far East. These collectors are keeping the animals under appalling conditions, often confined to small spaces within the boundaries of major cities.
As the demand for lion bone increases, so will the intensive breeding practices. In time, lions may well end up being bred under agricultural conditions.
Although ‘tiger bone wine’ has been used in TCM for at least 1 000 years or more, there are no known medicinal properties.
Often under the guise of scientific and/or research purposes, predators are also being sold to private and public zoos around the world, many of which are in a poor state.
By supporting these facilities and activities, either as a day visitor, volunteer or hunter you are not contributing to conservation. Instead, you are party to spreading the misinformation and the horrors some of the world’s most iconic wild species are facing.
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