The report from Mozambique’s Niassa National Reserve comes amid debate about whether the legal, annual export of bones from hundreds of captive-bred lions in South Africa to China and Southeast Asia could spur the market, possibly leading to the illegal killing of wild lions for their bones as well. African lion bones are a relatively recent substitute in tonics for the bones of Asian tigers, whose numbers were depleted by poachers.
There have been “multiplying anecdotal reports of lions harvested for body parts” along with “increasing examples of whole skeletons being taken,” said Paul Funston, senior lion program director for the Panthera conservation group. He said he believes the phenomenon is linked to increased Chinese demand rather than the longtime use of lion parts in some traditional cultures in Africa.
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