South Africa plans to end controversial captive lion industr

South Africa plans to end controversial captive lion industry
Nichole Sobecki
© Photograph by Nichole Sobecki
An enclosure housing the 26 lions found to have been afflicted with mange and suffering from neglect during the NSPCA's April 2019 visit at Pienika Farm in Lichtenburg, South Africa, seen here on July 20, 2019. Allegations were made this past April 2019 that the animals in the care of Pienika Farm, a captive-breeding facility in South Africa, were being severely neglected. Pienika Farm is owned by Jan Steinman, who is listed online as a council member of the South African Predator Association (SAPA). The organization favors captive breeding and asserts that hunting is “legitimate and ecologically responsible.” When NSPCA inspectors visited the facility they saw 27 lions afflicted with mange, a skin disease caused by parasitic mites. The NSPCA inspectors reported that the animals were held in filthy, overcrowded enclosures. At least four cubs were suffering from a neurological condition called meningoencephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, that left them unable to walk. One was subsequently euthanized by a veterinarian at the facility. Upon visiting the facility in July 2019 National Geographic found that the enclosures were clean and the 26 lions afflicted with mange were improving. One of the original 27 lions had died, and was found to have a compromised liver and intestinal inflammation. The fate of the remaining lions depends on the results of the investigation and the subsequent court case — the outcome of which is far from certain. Lions bred in captivity would struggle to survive in the wild, and there aren’t enough reputable sanctuaries in South Africa to take so many of the animals. South Africans are calling it one of the most shocking cases of animal neglect they’ve ever seen—more than 100 lions and other animals, many of which were found diseased, overcrowded, and, in some cases, near death in a captive-breeding facility in South Africa’s North West province. But the situation at Pienika Farm is not an isolated incident, conservationists and Nation

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