The illegal wildlife trade affects lions in multiple ways. Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES) the African lion has been listed under Appendix II since January 2, 2017, however, the lion population in India has been listed under Appendix I since November 26, 2019 (CITES, 2020; CITES Checklist Panthera, 2020). The lions in India have more protections than the lions in Africa. Appendix II focuses on species not necessarily threatened with extinction but trade must be controlled for their survival (CITES How, 2020). Appendix III focuses on species that are protected in at least one country that has asked CITES to step in and help control the trade (CITES, 2020). In order to trade lions or lion parts a CITES export permit is required, however, illegal lion trade has been going on for years but has escalated since 2008 (Williams et al., 2015).
In 2005 TRAFFIC found evidence that African lions were an ingredient in ‘tiger’ bone wine, which is said to give the drinker strength, although no scientific evidence has been found (BCA, 2020; TRAFFIC; UNODC, 2020). Lion bones are now replacing tiger bones in wine but they are being sold as ‘tiger bones’ (Williams et al., 2015). The real damage of the illegal lion trade is unknown because bones from captive lions versus wild lions are indistinguishable, lion breeding occurs, and hiding lion parts is overlooked (Williams et al., 2015).
CITES reported 199 incidents worldwide between 1982 and 2011 (UNEP-WCMC, 2014; Williams et al., 2015). It was determined that the United States is the largest importer of lion products, with 57% of the total seizures, while South Africa is the largest exporter, having 22% of seizures (Williams et al., 2015). It must be noted that more confiscations and seizures take place than are recorded in a CITES report because some countries do not share all or some of their data (Williams et al., 2015).
Lions that were trophy hunted appear to be the main source of the lion bone trade in South Africa (Williams et al., 2015). It is believed since there are more lions in captivity in South Africa that the bones are coming from captive lions rather than wild lions (Williams et al., 2015).The image below shows existing trafficking routes for Asian cats and other wildlife; Lion bone shipments may be a part of these same routes (Nooren and Claridge, 2001; UNDOC, 2010; UNDOC, 2013; Williams et al., 2015).
You can help lions by not buying lion products or wildlife products. Lions are the only ones who need lion bones. Download the Wildlife Witness app, help TRAFFIC, and learn more about the illegal wildlife trade, a map of issues that have been reported, what wildlife to watch for, and reporting tips.
*The video below shows some graphic images*
Literature Cited
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Checklist of CITES species: Panthera. https://checklist.cites.org/#/en/search/output_layout=alphabetical&level_of_listing=0&show_synonyms=1&show_author=1&show_english=1&show_spanish=1&show_french=1&scientific_name=Panthera&page=1&per_page=20
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. (2020).
How CITES works. https://www.cites.org/eng/disc/how.php
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. (2020).
What is CITES?. https://www.cites.org/eng/disc/what.php
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Committee for IUCN, Amsterdam.
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Checklist of CITES Species. CITES Secretariat, Geneva, Switzerland and UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, United Kingdom. http://checklist.cites.org/
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organized crime threat assessment. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. pp. 149–169.http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-andanalysis/tocta/TOCTA_Report_2010_low_res.pdf
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2013). The illegal wildlife trade in East Asia and the
Pacific. In: Transnational organized crime in East Asia and the Pacific. A threat assessment. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. pp. 75–86. http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific//Publications/2013/TOCTA_EAP_web.pdf
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2020, May). World wildlife crime report: Trafficking
in protected species. https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/wildlife/2020/World_Wildlife_Report_2020_9July.pdf
Williams, V.L., Newton, D.J., Loveridge, A.J. & Macdonald, D.W. (2015). Bones of contention:
An assessment of the South African trade in African lion panthera leo bones and other body parts. TRAFFIC, Cambridge, UK & WildCRU, Oxford, UK
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