“It was shocking. We couldn’t believe what was happening. You could smell the blood. The lions got shot in the camp and then were all brought into this one room. The flies were terrible.”
Screengrab / Lord Ashcroft and WildlifeA South African “ Leo the Lion farm . ” These cage animals have nowhere to drift and nothing to hunt .
South Africa ’s grass have been a longstanding field for sea poker , trophy hunters , and the environmentalist urging against the business of killing animals . This issue is now in the news program again thanks to an exposé of one “ lion farm ” revealing the horrors that took lieu inside , including 54 lions belt down for their bones within just two days .
According toThe New Zealand Herald , South Africa ’s Leo breed industry sells bombastic amounts of Leo the Lion bones to international customers , especially in East Asia . And the Wag-’n - Bietjie “ farm ” 20 miles outside Bloemfontein , for instance , was recently find to be more of a slaughterhouse .
Screengrab/Lord Ashcroft and WildlifeA South African “lion farm.” These caged animals have nowhere to roam and nothing to hunt.
When Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals elderly examiner Reinet Meyer saw the minuscule cages , horrid condition , and evidence of wanton demise — she realize that even her lowest expectations had n’t develop her for what she was now witnessing . These lions were waiting to choke and have their clay sold off .
Lord AshcroftOne of the two lion kept in a steel transport cage without solid food or water for three days .
While onerare ashen lion named Mufasawas on the wand of being auction off off to trophy hunters due to his sterility and subsequent lack of breeding potential in November , he was save up by a U.S. donor earlier this yr . But the 50 - plus lion in South Africa , regrettably , were n’t as lucky .
Lord AshcroftOne of the two lions kept in a steel transport cage without food or water for three days.
When Meyer arrived at the farm , she found a shockingly bloody slaughterhouse alternatively . lion — or rather , their bloody carcasses — were being divest of their hide and flesh , their clay left out in macabre piles .
Screengrab / Lord Ashcroft and WildlifeThe bark mitt of a Leo shoot down at a lion farm .
“ It was shocking , ” Meyer recalled . “ We could n’t believe what was materialise . You could smell the parentage . The lion got blast in the camp and then were all play into this one room . The flies were terrible . ”
Screengrab/Lord Ashcroft and WildlifeThe skinned paw of a lion killed at a lion farm.
Most of the pic investigators take up at the site are simply too sick to write . The dead kings of the jungle — some already skinned , some awaiting make their skin rip off — were piled up on a blood - stained floor . Their guts and various viscera were heap nearby . Other miscellaneous organs , body parts , and bones — essentially those that are n’t in profitable requirement — were plainly stuff into drivel bags outside .
Lord AshcroftBritish trophy Orion Miles Wakefield with his dead “ prize , ” a lion named Simba .
Unfortunately , the lions still alive and awaiting their turn were n’t address any well . Some 200 yards from this grisly scene was another disconcert internet site : Two lions , left without nutrient or water for three entire sidereal day , were stuck inside steel transport crate that were so modest that these animals could n’t even place upright up or become around .
Lord AshcroftBritish trophy hunter Miles Wakefield with his dead “prize,” a lion named Simba.
At first , Meyer take over one of them was dead . But he simply was n’t able to move or did n’t deal to .
“ The king of beasts was so downhearted that it did not move at all , ” she said . “ It was totally disgusting that they were kept like this . A lion is a wild animal , it wants its exemption but now it ’s stay fresh in a small cage for three day . It ’s absolutely deplorable . ”
That day ’s discoveries — the carnage , the numbness , the fact that 54 majestic creatures were killed in a two - solar day period — were almost insurmountably difficult for the fourth-year inspector to see .
Lord AshcroftA pile of carcasses, bones, and whatever valuable remains were left of the butchered lions.
First , the lions were shot with a ataractic drug accelerator . Then , they were bourgeon with a .22 - calibre rile . In parliamentary law not to jeopardize their heavily - realize profits , worker shoot the animal through the ear and direct into the brains . Buyers wo n’t pay for damaged skulls , of course .
Lord AshcroftA pot of carcasses , bone , and whatever valuable remains were left of the butchered lions .
While not confirm , it ’s believed that some of these lions were transported nearly 250 mi from a safari parking area near Johannesburg . Unfortunately for them , this particular farm is certify to slaughter lion . have by stock breeder Andre Steyn , this business largely sell their os to East Asian buyers .
Screengrab/Lord Ashcroft and WildlifeTrophy hunting like that pictured above is big business in South Africa and is often used as a financial incentive to fund conservation.
South Africa has a cap of exporting 800 captive - multiply Leo skeletons per year . Naturally , that limit point is commonly believed to be exceeded . Wag-’n - Bietjie , meanwhile , described itself as an “ eco - farm ” and even has the impertinence to claim it place “ nature first . ”
Meyer ’s experience at this supposedly wholesome farm that care for animals , of path , was in fact a grisly one .
“ For me , a Leo is a formal creature , a kingly animal , ” she said . “ Here he is butchered for hoi polloi just to make money , it ’s absolutely disgustful . ”
Lord AshcroftA trapped lion, waiting to be killed, skinned, and sold to the highest bidder.
Screengrab / Lord Ashcroft and WildlifeTrophy hunting like that pictured above is big business in South Africa and is often used as a financial incentive to fund preservation .
As it stand , Steyn and his honcho Johan van Dyke are in reality facing legion charges link to the discoveries in the newfangled report . Keeping the two lions ensnare in little steel cage has earned them animal public assistance charges , while the putting to death methods and gruesome atmospheric condition may garner them additional care .
As a former council appendage of the South African Predator Association , it may have come as a surprise to Steyn that his activity would result in such consequences . Unfortunately for him , the farm ’s permission are presently revoked — while Steyn and Van Dyke are headed to court .
Lord AshcroftA trapped lion , waiting to be killed , skinned , and sold to the gamey bidder .
For the 246 lions witness at the so - called farm , 100 of them were designated to be killed . More one-half of those , tragically , have already met their end as such . Hopefully , any and all survivors will eventually be liberated from these horrid conditions and once again be allowed to stray the plains .
Next , register aboutthe lions who bolt down and ate a suspect sea poker , leaving behind only his head . Then , learn aboutthe African elephant who pop a full-grown biz hunterby falling on top of him .
