PETITION TARGET: South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment
Across multiple facilities in South Africa, lions and tigers are being bred, torn from their mothers within days of birth, and kept in filthy, overcrowded cages so tourists can pose with them. These young animals endure fear, stress, injury, and disease — then are often sold on to other facilities or hunted in enclosed “canned” operations, with their bones exported for profit.
Tourist cub-petting and commercial breeding fuel a cycle of cruelty that destroys families and denies animals even basic dignity and autonomy. Visiting these venues supports an industry that treats sentient beings as props and commodities, and puts public safety at risk.
This industry also feeds the lucrative lion bone trade, where the bodies of these exploited cats are shipped to Asia for use in traditional medicine.
Lady Freethinker urges South African leaders to take the following actions to stop this suffering: require immediate, transparent inspections of all captive big cat facilities; suspend operations that fail basic welfare standards; end cub-petting and public handling of big cats; enforce a rapid phaseout of commercial breeding tied to substantial penalties; and fully enforce the ban on captive lion breeding and the trade in bones and live animals.
In addition, we ask that they ensure rescued animals are moved to accredited sanctuaries and that former keepers are supported through humane transition programs.
Sign this petition to call on South African authorities to enforce the country’s commitment to end captive breeding and strengthen protections for captive big cats.
UPDATE (3/2/2026): The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency says it will phase out captive lion facilities across the province, according to Daily Maverick.
We will continue to monitor this situation and share any updates as they become available. — Lady Freethinker
