Lion Meat on the Menu and Canned Hunting

[Maggie Funkhouser]

Since a restaurant in Florida decided to offer lion meat on the menu,
it has raised some concern for how these “game” animals are raised and
killed prior to consumption. South Africa is the world leader of
canned lion breeding and hunting. The definition of a “canned hunt” is
still disputed, though, most definitions are similar. According to
Wikipedia and Lexicus, a canned hunt is a "hunt for animals that have
been raised on game ranches until they are mature enough to be killed
for trophy collections." And The Campaign Against Canned Hunting
offers this definition, “canned hunting is the hunting of an animal
that has been unfairly prevented from escaping the hunter, either due
to physical or mental constraints (such as fencing or habituation to
humans).”

Captive predators, which are often caught in the wild, are reared
under cruel conditions and then shot for sport. Packs of dogs are
sometimes used to force tame, hand reared lions up trees so that bow
hunters can shoot them with arrows. Canned hunting is most commonly
associated with sport hunters or trophy hunters, who usually stuff and
mount their prizes; however, these game animals are also sold to
commercial food suppliers and can be found on restaurant menus.

Legislation to stop canned hunting in South Africa has been on-going,
and a new regulation has been tabled by the Department of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism. Thus far, no decision has been made
and no formal legislation has been passed. For more information on
canned hunting, please visit these sites:

http://www.cannedlion.co.za/index.html,
http://www.bigcatrescue.org/cannedhunt.htm,
http://www.africanconservation.org/dcforum/DCForumID22/132.html.
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