South Africa's Lion Bone Trade Mirrors Societal Exploitation

In the rolling plains of South Africa’s Free State Province, behind electrified fences and beneath the African sun, a dark industry thrives – a commerce that trades not in prosperity for the people but in the very essence of a continent’s majestic wildlife. The bones of South Africa’s captive lions, more numerous than their wild kin, are exported by the thousands to the East, where they are ground into powders and brewed into potions, fueling the age-old myths of distant lands.

This trade, sanctioned by law and bolstered by greed, is a stark reminder of who benefits from Africa’s riches and who is left with the scraps. About 300 lion farms in South Africa breed 10,000 lions in captivity compared to a mere 3,500 in the wild. This stinks unbridled capitalism and greed! They have turned the kings and queens of the jungle into helpless subjects of greed.  

Between April 2016 and April 2019, over 3,300 skeletons and carcasses from South Africa's captive lions—almost mirroring the number of wild lions that still roam the country—were legally exported to Vietnam, Laos, China and other destinations across East and Southeast Asia. This grim trade highlights a disturbing parallel, where the bones of these majestic creatures, bred in captivity and stripped of their dignity, are shipped across continents to fuel ancient myths and modern profits, while their wild counterparts face an uncertain future.

It costs $5,000 to feed and tend to these lions, in a country where more than half the people (55%) live in poverty. No wonder South Africa is the most unequal country in the world. That’s why this lion bones trade is a mirror reflecting the deeper, more insidious truth of exploitation in South Africa. Those who profit are few, their wealth built on the carcasses of lions, while the majority of South Africans remain spectators to the spectacle of their natural heritage being bartered away. For every lion skeleton shipped to Vietnam, Laos, and beyond, a piece of South Africa’s soul is lost, sacrificed on the altar of quick profits.

The lion bone trade didn’t spring from nothing. It grew in the shadow of another market, one that once thrived on the bones of tigers. Traditional Chinese medicine decreed that tiger bones held the power to heal arthritis, ease rheumatism, and boost libido. These claims, lacking any foundation in science, fueled a relentless poaching frenzy, driving tiger populations from a robust hundred thousand in the early 1900s to a mere 4,500 today. In 2007, as China imposed stricter regulations on the tiger bone trade, lion bones quietly stepped into the void, becoming the new currency in this tragic marketplace of myth and exploitation.

The hunters and traders turned their gaze to Africa. South Africa’s captive lions became the next best thing, their bones marketed as an alternative to the tigers’ in the traditional medicine of China and Southeast Asia. What started as a means to protect tigers from extinction only shifted the burden to lions, perpetuating a cycle of exploitation that seems impossible to break.

These lion farms, spread across the vastness of South Africa, are not sanctuaries but prisons, where animals are bred, fed, and fattened not for the wild but for the whims of distant markets. The conditions are deplorable – disease-ridden enclosures, undernourished animals, and an ever-present stench of decay. It’s not uncommon to find dead lions stashed away in freezers, their remains waiting to be shipped across oceans as trophies or trinkets.

In 2019, the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) fought back, securing a court ruling that temporarily halted the export of lion bones. It was a small victory in a much larger war, one where the lines between legal and illegal are blurred, where the hunters often operate under the guise of legality, masking their true intentions with forged documents and fake addresses. The truth is as murky as the waters in which these traders swim.

And yet, despite the horrors exposed, the lion bone trade persists. It thrives in the shadows, protected by those who stand to gain from its continuance, while the rest of South Africa grapples with the aftermath. The government, under pressure, has vowed to shut down the industry, recognizing the damage it has done to the country’s image as a haven for wildlife. But for many, this promise rings hollow, too little too late for the lions that have already been sacrificed.

This now shadowy trade is a symbol of something far greater – a testament to how Africa’s wealth is often squandered for the benefit of a select few. The bones of lions, once powerful and free, are reduced to mere commodities in a market that has little regard for the long-term well-being of the continent or its people.

But there is another path, one where the lions roam free in their natural habitat, drawing people from all corners of the globe to witness their majesty. A future where South Africa’s wildlife is preserved not in the form of skeletons packed in crates but in the memories of those who come to see them in the wild. This is the promise of inclusive conservation, where the benefits are shared by all, not just the privileged few.

Such a shift requires a new vision, one that recognizes the true value of South Africa’s natural heritage. It calls for an end to the exploitation that has defined the lion bone trade and a commitment to a future where the lives of these magnificent creatures are valued more than their bones. Only then can South Africa begin to heal from the wounds inflicted by this trade and chart a course towards a more equitable and sustainable future.
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