LION BONE TRADE
Every action has an opposite and equal reaction. Newton’s 3rd law. Normally reserved for physics, but if you look closely enough this law can be seen playing out almost everywhere. In the world of conservation, everything is linked and every action, be it ecologically or socio-economically driven, has a reaction. Take for example, the South African lion bone trade. This didn’t originate in South Africa…and it actually didn’t even start with lions. It arose from measures implemented in south east Asia to protect an iconic species, which ironically, are now threatening the very existence of another.
Tigers in Asia
Much like pangolin scales, tiger bones were once prescribed in south east Asia to treat a whole host of health issues, including rheumatism and muscle pain. Alongside this, they were used to make wine and cake. Such demand for tiger products led to over-harvesting and a decline in the species’ population. Consequently, measures were implemented to conserve the last few thousand individuals through removing the tiger from the list of approved medicines in China and limiting the extent to which tigers could be kept in captivity. These measures led to a reduced availability of tiger bones on the market. Traders started having to think outside of the box and it wasn’t long til leopard and lion were listed as an ingredient on traditionally tiger bone products. After passing through Asiatic leopards and lions, someone eventually realised that African lion bones are almost identical to tiger bones and could be used in their place. Such a transition was considered to be a perfectly acceptable use of lion bones which are a common by-product of the captive bred lion hunting industry in South Africa. However, South Africa’s relationship with lions is just about as controversial as south east Asia’s relationship with tigers.
“PRICES [OF LION BONES] (MEAN, MEDIAN AND MODE FOR BOTH SEXES) HAVE BEEN CONSISTENTLY RISING OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS, AT A RATE THAT IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN THE OFFICIAL INFLATION RATES IN BOTH THE PRODUCER AND CONSUMER COUNTRIES. THE AVERAGE INCREASE FOR THE MEAN SKELETON PRICE IS 22.4% PER ANNUM OVER THE PERIOD 2012–2017”
- Williams & ‘t Sas-Rolfes, 2019
Lions in South Africa
There are currently more lions in captivity in South Africa than in the wild, numbers have ranged from anywhere between 2-3x the remaining wild population. Unfortunately, the lions in captivity don’t just live out a happy life getting all the food and shelter they need. Oh no, they are put to work. They start their lives in the petting industry, where tourists pay to get a picture with a cub which they have been led to believe was orphaned. When the cubs grow too large to be handled they are then sent out for tourists to pay to walk with them. Then, when they get too large for that, they are shot by a well paying ‘hunter’. The bones of the carcass can then be shipped to south east Asia. The incredible thing…all of this is legal!
CITES (the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species) does much as its name suggests and controls global trade in particular species. They list each species in an appendix which denotes whether they can be traded or not. All other big cats across the globe are listed in CITES Appendix 1 - meaning that all commercial trade is completely banned. However, African lions are listed in Appendix 2 - meaning that trade in their body parts, including their bones, is regulated and permitted, but is legal.
Pragmatically and economically, we could argue that exporting the bones of lions prevents waste from a trophy hunt. However, another change, in another country far way made this situation even more complex. In 2016, the USA banned lion trophy imports. As a significant amount of trophy hunters visiting South Africa are American this meant that a large portion of the South African trophy hunting market was lost, essentially overnight. This left a whole host of lions sat in captivity waiting to be shot. An article published last year surveyed South Africa lion farmers’ response to this change. They tended to state that unless they could find another market for hunting, they would shift into the lion bone trade directly by euthanising their lions and exporting their bones. We farm many animals for their products so many could argue that farming lions for their bones isn’t that different. The problem here is that we aren’t farming cows to protect wild ones from being killed for their steaks. There are still wild lions which have exactly the same bones as farmed ones.
The controversy
In 2017, the South African government set the captive bred lion bone export limit at 800 skeletons. The next year they increased this to 1500 and then rapidly reduced this back down to 800 after much public outcry. These quotas were later ruled unlawful and constitutionally invalid and all future quotas were required to include animal welfare considerations. The government officials claimed that the lion bone exports were justified as, if there wasn’t a legal market, wild populations would be poached to support the demand. It could be that they are correct. Or it could be that having a legal market opens up the option for poaching. There is no way to tell the difference between farmed and wild lion bones and while the legal market may be protecting wild populations, it may also be a front for illegally harvested products to enter the supply chain. A study in 2008 found 71% of tiger bone consumers preferred wild products to captive bred products. Is it not likely, or almost inevitable, that there will be a similar preference for African lions? Concerningly, the majority of lion deaths in Limpopo National Park between 2011-2018 were considered to be due to poaching for body parts.
The South African regulations state that bones exported must be from captive bred individuals. But, as is pervasive in conservation, corruption is present. This corruption could quite easily manifest as an official looking the other way when wild lion bones are passed off as captive ones or when wild lion bones are included in a shipment of a whole host of other products from endangered or threatened species. It’s hard to ignore the fact that lion bones have come from the same place, and are quite literally heading in the same geographical direction, as pangolin scales and rhino horn. There’s a lot of thought that poachers simply head into the bush with a shopping list, would it be easy enough to add lions to that shopping list?
“LION CLAWS, TEETH AND BONES ARE OFTEN FOUND SMUGGLED WITH OTHER HIGHER-VALUE WILDLIFE CONTRABAND LIKE ELEPHANT IVORY, RHINO HORN, AND PANGOLIN SCALES”
- Maputla, 2019
The lion bone trade was created and boosted by two actions which took place far away from South Africa. This trade is now a problem which conservationists often term ‘wicked’. This means it has multiple sources, multiple links and solutions with unintended consequences which make it a lot more difficult to fix. Unfortunately, this comes down to a cultural demand and, as culture develops over generations, we are probably looking at the same timeframe, if not longer, to remove this. In this situation it’s also very difficult for the source country to change the sink’s demand. But, as a country very heavily dependent on tourists, South Africa needs to do more to consider its reputation as a destination and the effect that this trade may have on tourists’ decisions to visit.
The fact that this trade is currently legal I believe makes the problem even more troublesome due to the fact that we live in societies where corruption is rampant. A legal trade allows an illegal undercurrent to form which, once established, will be extremely difficult to eradicate. Even worse, we’re now in a situation where any efforts to reduce the captive bred lion bone trade may just place pressure on the wild populations even further. I suppose, at the end of it, the use of the bones means that a lion’s sad captive life at least feeds a couple of different demands but I still think that the reason for the demand is a problem which needs a solution. Even if south-east Asian countries believe that they are the recipients of captive bred and legally harvested bones, this industry is threatening wild biodiversity and I believe that because of this we have a moral duty to ensure that it does not lead to the loss of another species.