Poaching may spread to lions

RECENTLY there were a number of protest marches against lions being bred for canned hunting. Is a person who farms lions for slaughter any different to a cattle or sheep farmer?

What about the farmers who allow hunters in to shoot their kudu and springbok, where do they fit in? At least the lions are killed on home ground while cattle and sheep have the terrifying experience of being crammed onto stock trucks and carted off to the abattoir.

As far as I know lions are not endangered and are likely to stay that way if sufficient animals are bred in captivity for slaughter. Cuddling lion cubs is also an innocuous and much enjoyed tourist attraction.

What is truly despicable are the people who shoot an animal simply for the enjoyment of killing a beautiful creature, not to mention those who require concoctions of lion bones and rhino horn to boost their sexual prowess. Those are the dregs of society against whom you should be holding protest marches.

Remove the lion breeders and in no time poaching of the wild stock will begin and, like the rhino, the lion too will be looking at extinction.

Strelza Schumann, Humewood, Port Elizabeth