On reaction of a worker that was killed by a lioness, I made the remark the lions are not endangered in the Southern African countries and that lion captive breeding holds no benefit for the species, definitely not free roaming cats.
LIONS ARE NOT ENDANGERED IN SOUTH AFRICA AND OUR NEIGHBOURING STATES and the following information was supplied by lion and lion disease specialists;
1. The desert lions have increased from just more than 30 in 1992 to more than 150.
2. Regardsless of Bovine Tb, the lion population of Kruger National Park has been stable from the mid 1980s till now.
3. Research has showed no evidence to date that proves that BTb has an adverse effect on KNP's lion numbers.
4. The Kgalagadi TFCA's lion population has been stable from the mid 1970s till now.
5. Several game reserves use contraceptives to keep the numbers of their lion populations managable.
6. Captive bred lions do not offer a solution in the highly unlikely event of KNP's lions being wiped out by BTb as any new re-introductions would pick up the disease in no time.
7. No successes with the re-introduction of captive bred lions were recorded to date, something that can be fully understood when one has knowledge of the ecology of these cats.
In a recent documentary it was stated that Africa's lions would disappear within the next ten to fifteen years. This may refer to populations in Tanzania, Kenya and their neighbours, but the challenges that those countries face, differ immensely from what we are facing here. It must also be understood that the Humane Society was one of the investors and that bunch will do anything to focus attention on them by twisting the truth and abusing magnificent species to further their cause. They depend on it to motivate uninformed people to part with their money.
Very few captive bred predators hold benefits for wild populations. There are a few cases of captive reared wild dogs that were introduced successfully into wild packs and some inroads have been made with cheetahs.
It thus does not make sense to breed and raise lions in captivity for any reason whatsoever.
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