Trophy hunting: a cruel and unfair chase
Image credit: Pippa Hankinson / Blood Lions
Every year, trophy hunters shoot more than 800 lions in South Africa. Wealthy tourists pay big bucks for a guaranteed kill and claim the heads of lions as 'trophies.'
For this sadistic sport, an unsuspecting lion is lured into a confinement where he or she is brutally killed by these tourists who are usually amateur hunters. Ambushed and slaughtered, a lion is often left to bleed out, suffering a slow, agonizing, and demeaning death. After that, the lion is skinned and decapitated and turned into 'trophies.'
With your support, we commissioned research into public attitudes towards trophy hunting, surveying 10,900 people from around the world, including international tourists, who most frequently visit South Africa, and South African citizens.
It revealed the universally strong opposition to this inhumane blood sport and a desire to finance the protection of the nation's iconic wildlife through non-lethal alternatives such as responsible wildlife tourism.
South Africa has beautiful nature and rich wildlife, which should be experienced with wildlife-friendly alternatives that can both generate income from the tourism industry and ensure better lives for lions.
Transforming the current trophy hunting industry into a more wildlife-friendly alternative will not only benefit the animals, but also the country.
Here are just three national parks with lion prides to visit in South Africa:
The greater park area is home to an estimated 1,600 lions.
- Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
Home to about 40 prides of the legendary black-maned lion
A small but growing population of 120 lions call these combined parks home.
Together we can end the exploitation of big cats who are being hunted by so-called 'trophy hunters' and give them lives worth living.