Animal activists have discovered 108 captive lions with mange and neurological problems at Pienika Farm, a breeding site in South Africa. Shockingly, their caretaker was supposedly a member of a humane lion care organization.
Twenty-seven of the abused lions were afflicted with mange, a skin disease cause by parasitic mites, causing skin lesions and hair loss. The inspectors found “filthy” enclosures meant for two animals packed with more than 30 lions at once. Three cubs on the site also seemed to suffer from a sort of inflammation of the brain called meningoencephalitis, leaving the poor young lions unable to walk. As a result, one cub was forced to be euthanized.
The situation was brought to the attention of The National Council for Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA), a group which oversees animal welfare in South Africa, by a journalist who had received a anonymous tip.
“South Africa’s captive lion breeding industry is a vicious cycle of exploitation, from cradle to grave,” says Audrey Delsink, Wildlife Director of Humane Society International/Africa. She says cubs are reared as tourist attractions, but once too big and dangerous for human interaction the animals are “killed for their bones which are exported to Asia for traditional medicines, or sold to be killed by trophy hunters largely from the United States in ‘canned’ hunts.”
Pienika Farm is owned by Jan Steinman, who also serves on the council of the South African Predator Association (SAPA), which requires members to “maintain high ethical standards.” However, SAPA officials deny Steinman’s role in the organization’s leadership: “He’s just an ordinary member of the organization.”
In a statement this week, SAPA says they had “conducted an in-depth investigation” of Steinman and would “immediately institute disciplinary action.” Meanwhile, the NSPCA has charged Steinman with violating South Africa’s Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962. If found guilty, he could be required to pay $2,700 and serve one year of jail time for each charge.
