An article published in the Times Live revealed that at least five South African farmers had been accused in an inter-border lion smuggling case in order to benefit their hunting businesses. Wildlife smuggling and the trade in exotic animals happens in Southeast Asia, Thailand and Laos according to reports, but this was a blood-curdling tale of farmers receiving lion cubs that had been stolen from Bostwanan lionesses after having shot the suckling mothers. The Problem Animal Control Group is in place to deal with predators causing problems in Botswana, but have instead contacted South African farmers who, for a price, can benefit from this undercover dealing. The mother lioness is shot and her body buried, while her cubs are smuggled into a life of captivity until they are earmarked for a hunt in which they will be shot 48 hours after being released into the veld for the first time in their stunted lives. The buried mother? Well, she’s dug up and taken apart to sell to Vietnam because ill-informed (or determinedly ignorant) people are not only after her cubs, they’re after her skin, claws and bones too.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 00:11:54 +0000
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