Debunking captive industry myths
The captive lion industry is fighting hard to convince the public that breeding and keeping lions in captivity is helping the species. Unfortunately this is not the case. Below we debunk the most common myths used by the industry to justify their activities.
The commercial captive lion industry commonly justifies their continued existence based on several myths regarding conservation, welfare, or under the guise of animal rescues or sanctuary.
Industry myths

We are conserving big cat species through captive breeding
First, it is vital to note that breeding lions and other predators in captivity is undertaken purely for commercial purposes. This includes breeding for the tourism industry (such as predator parks and interactions), voluntourism, captive or ‘canned’ hunting, live trade to send predators to overseas zoos and breeding facilities, and trade in body parts. All these activities are aimed at making profit rather than conservation.
Lions are considered a Vulnerable species (this means they face a high risk of extinction in the wild) across Africa. However, in South Africa they are listed as Least Concern as our wild population is stable and even growing in our fenced game reserves. This means that breeding lions in captivity serves no conservation purposes as these lions are not required to improve our lion population.
Captive animals, including captive lions, are not even considered in conservation assessments made for the IUCN listings, so whether we have 10 or 10,000 captive lions in South Africa, this will not change their conservation status in the wild.
Some breeders have been using a recent study on rewilding captive bred lions as an argument that it is possible. A major issue is that we first need to account for the severe lack of wild space for lions in South Africa. Without suitable and safe habitats, we don’t have space for more lions. If space becomes available, then it would be more beneficial to use the excess wild lions in South Africa’s fenced private reserves.
If rewilding were a viable possibility, then it would also be important to conduct genetic testing to avoid compromised genes from entering the wild populations.Captive-bred lions are habituated to people, making it very important that human-wildlife conflict is addressed to ensure people and livestock are not attacked. Furthermore, if wild lion restoration projects become necessary, we have a surplus of wild metapopulation lions in South Africa.
Lion farms and predator parks do not contribute to true natural spaces in the same way that national parks and game reserves do. Natural spaces only contribute to conservation of biodiversity if they are healthy and functional ecosystems with a multitude of species all contributing to the cycle of life.

Keeping big cats in captivity is educational and for the benefit of children and young people
This is a serious statement that requires critical examination. Commercial captive facilities often justify the keeping of wild animals based on the assumption that viewing wildlife in captivity offers educational opportunities, especially for young people.
Undercover inspections of facilities that make educational claims revealed that educational materials are severely limited. Some facilities used sign boards to indicate species and country of origin only, some provided limited guided tours in which misinformation was provided to guests, and others provided no educational materials at all. The conservation status of various species, threats in the wild, and actionable ideas for visitors to assist genuine conservation were largely absent.
What do young people really gain if educational materials are limited, non-existent, or misinformed? Viewing animals in captivity is not inherently educational, but does demonstrate a concerning bias towards utilising wild animals for gain as opposed to what is ethically best for the animal and its survival in the wild.

The facility uses sanctuary in its name and claims to rescue animals
In South Africa, commercial facilities may call themselves a sanctuary without having to actually comply with international sanctuary standards.
This means that a zoo, petting facility, or even a breeding facility could add ‘sanctuary’ to their name, giving the idea that their animals are rescued from abusive and cruel situations and giving them a second chance. But, sadly in many situations these animals are kept in substandard conditions, used for unethical tourism activities or traded down the line. In reality these animals were purchased or bred at the facility and are simply part of the captive life cycle.
According to SA’s nature conservation legislation, a sanctuary provides permanent care to threatened or protected species that could not sustain themselves in the wild. But, this definition is far too broad and does not include higher standards of care, such as living conditions, veterinary care, and other examples that improve an animal’s quality of life. This loophole allows commercial facilities operating for profit to call themselves sanctuaries even though their animals were purchased and are used for entertainment purposes.
The truth, unfortunately, is that these facilities are operating for commercial gain under the guise of rescuing and homing the animals in their care. The reality is that in South Africa we only have a handful of genuine sanctuaries who operate without commercial gain. In these sanctuaries, the animals are not bought and sold; tourists are not given priority in viewing the animals; and no activities are conducted that negatively impact the wellbeing of the animals.

Young people can volunteer to help save lions and other big cats
Volunteering at captive wildlife facilities similarly requires critical examination of the funding that is misdirected into captive facilities as opposed to genuine conservation in functioning ecosystems with free roaming predators.
Predator parks and facilities that use paying volunteers justify their volunteer programmes as conservation work or saving lions (mostly cubs) from unsatisfactory situations. They usually ask fairly high fees from the volunteers of several hundred or thousand US dollars, British Pounds or Euros. This becomes a significant contribution in South African Rands, but these fees are not used for genuine conservation or legitimate rescue purposes.
Furthermore, genuine sanctuaries do not allow human contact with legitimately rescued predators, so such sanctuaries would not offer volunteers the opportunity to hand raise cubs or engage directly with big cats.
Unfortunately, the reality is that many overseas volunteers coming to work at South African captive facilities are being promised that their efforts make an important difference to saving the animals when, in fact, they are not. Sadly, these volunteers unknowingly contribute to raising animals that will remain in captivity, be traded live or for body parts, or hunted in a captive hunt.
If you would like to volunteer in South Africa it is best to choose a facility that you can directly research (most agencies actually withhold the name and location of the volunteer site), works indirectly with wildlife (such as wildlife monitoring, collaring, research assistance, etc), and takes place in game reserves or provincial/national parks. If you are ever in doubt, you are welcome to contact youth@bloodlions.org to query the legitimacy of a wildlife volunteer programme.
Looking back on more common myths

Captive-bred lions can safely be released into the wild without posing a risk to humans.
This is one of the most common myths linked to the captive lion breeding industry. As much as a wild animal is never fully tame, captive-bred lions are human-imprinted and therefore lose their fear for humans. This could therefore pose a significant risk for human-wildlife conflict when introduced into wild spaces. This is just one reason why captive-bred lions cannot be released into the wild.

Captive-bred lions are genetically pure.
The genetics of captive-bred lions are often compromised. The prevailing view amongst carnivore specialists and conservationists is that captive-bred lions do not contribute to the conservation of the species, especially since inbreeding is prevalent in captivity which has a negative effect on genetic integrity and provenance. Lion ecologists agree that releasing compromised genes into a healthy wild population is extremely risky. This is another reason why captive-bred lions cannot be released into the wild.

Captive-bred lions are as wild as lions in reserves
Although the wild instinct of captive-bred lions may well remain, they are human-habituated animals and are ill-equipped to survive in wild areas. Captive bred lions have never learned to hunt for themselves and/or deal with other predators and dangerous wild animal species. Physically captive-bred lions are also weaker due to a lack of exercise throughout their lives. This is another reason why captive-bred lions cannot be released into the wild.

Interacting with captive-bred big cats is perfectly safe
In the last 15 years, we have recorded 52 incidents of captive cheetahs, lions and tigers attacking a total of 58 people, of which 18 people died as a consequence of the attack. Fourteen of these attacks involved captive cheetahs and one person perished as a result of their injuries. These are just the ones that were reported in the media or on social media… many more attacks likely to go unreported.

Cub petting is okay because the cubs are orphans
This is another extremely common myth linked to the captive lion industry, but is very often not the case. Many captive wildlife facilities will claim that their cubs were orphaned, rejected by their mothers, or that their mothers didn’t produce enough milk to feed them. The reality is that these cubs were born in captivity and forcefully removed from their mothers within days of birth, so that they can be bottle-fed by paying volunteers and petted by visitors for commercial gain.
Cub petting is NEVER okay!

Interacting with ambassador animals helps conserve the species in the wild
Education should never take preference over the welfare of an animal. There is no doubt that raising awareness around species conservation issues and educating the public on these topics is hugely important. However, this should NEVER be done to the detriment of the well-being of individual animals through intense “pay and play” programmes with ambassador animals. The world is changing, and we need to be more innovative in our educational and awareness raising techniques.