Paws and Profit
SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa’s tiger farming industry poses a major threat to the big cat species already in decline, according to a report released by global animal rights charity Four Paws on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reported.
Lion breeding for commercial hunting and bone exports for Asia is legal in South Africa but some breeders have begun farming tigers in recent years for similar purposes.
The new report found that South Africa exported 359 tigers – almost a tenth of the global tiger population – between 2011 and 2020. Around 255 of them were sold to zoos.
Four Paws said that the animal is not native of South Africa and does not enjoy legal protections. The country also does not have an official count of its tiger population.
Wildlife Trade Expert at Four Paws, Kieran Harkin, noted that many breeders opted to switch to tigers because it was more profitable.
“The market being in Asia was already there, demand was there, so it made perfect sense for the (breeders) to move over to the tiger, which was again even more lucrative than lions,” he told AFP.
Harkin accused the South African government of breaking international laws that stipulate that tigers should not be bred for their parts.
South African officials have yet to comment on the report.
Meanwhile, the organization also urged the country to stop the commercial breeding of all big cats, whose populations have been in decline due to trade with Asian countries.
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