12,000 Lions Are Allegedly Being Bred In South Africa To Be Killed By Tourist 'Hunters'
Ashcroft through his book and an accompanying film has detailed how 12,000 lions are being bred in Africa only to be shot dead by tourists. He said the cruel trade represents ¡°one of the worst crimes against nature¡± he¡¯s ever heard of.
Billionaire businessman Lord Michael Ashcroft's new book Unfair Game, reveals the sickening practices carried out at 333 farms in South Africa. Lions in these illegal farms are bred and butchered for their skeletons.
YouTube Screenshot/
Lord Ashcroft on Wildlife
Ashcroft, through his book and an accompanying film, has detailed how 12,000 lions are being bred in Africa only to be shot dead by tourists.
The Daily Mail has published the excerpts of the book where the philanthropist has explained how the abuse of captive-bred lions in South Africa has become an industry.
"I described the hideous phenomenon of ¡®canned hunting¡¯, whereby lions bred in captivity are drugged and released into a relatively small area and then shot by a tourist who has paid many thousands of pounds for the privilege. It is not so much a chase as an utter farce. The photos of people standing triumphantly over these wretched beasts once they are dead are sickening."
This #SociallyUnacceptable practice has to stop.
¡ª Lord Ashcroft (@LordAshcroft) June 16, 2020
? Get my full expos¨¦ on the South African lion industry #UnfairGame here:
Biteback: https://t.co/0Q6hnEBrxX
Amazon: https://t.co/saHb2mqTok
All royalties will be donated to wildlife charities in SA. pic.twitter.com/8wQsCBnCWA
Unfair Game details a covert operation by security services, including ex-British soldiers, to expose the vile industry by using a dealer as an undercover ¡°double agent.¡±
The most serious claim by Lord Ashcroft is that the lions which are born in captivity are raised in such disgusting conditions, that they could spread fatal diseases such as tuberculosis and botulism.
My new @YouTube film - linked to my new book #UnfairGame - that reveals shocking revelations about captive-bred lion farming in South Africa #UnfairGame #SociallyUnacceptable
¡ª Lord Ashcroft (@LordAshcroft) June 14, 2020
WATCH FULL FILM HERE ???https://t.co/smw0em3UZQ pic.twitter.com/oCOXbDj8pV
He said the cruel trade represents ¡°one of the worst crimes against nature¡± he¡¯s ever heard of. His book includes details surrounding the deaths of 54 lions in two days, on one farm, before they were skinned.
"Thousands of lions are bred on farms every year; they are torn away from their mothers when they are just days old, used as pawns in the tourist sector and then either killed in a 'hunt' or simply slaughtered for their bones and other body parts, which are very valuable in Asia's so-called medicine market. In between, they are poorly fed, kept in cramped and unhygienic conditions, beaten if they do not perform for paying customers, and drugged," Ashcroft said in the book.
YouTube/
Lord Ashcroft on Wildlife
The book further goes on to say that, "This sinister system has sprouted up in plain sight in South Africa, inflicting misery on this noblest of beasts on an unimaginable scale."
The revelations come after Ashcroft commissioned two undercover operations namely Operation Simba and Operation Chastise - over two years.
