A Global Call to End South Africa’s trophy hunting canned hunting operations.
The Issue
Right now, an estimated 8,000 lions, are trapped in factory-farm-style facilities across South Africa. They are bred , hand-reared for tourist cub-petting, and eventually marketed to be executed by trophy hunters in "canned hunts," or slaughtered for the international bone trade, thus grossly enriching wealthy landowners operating deceptive businesses under the guise of contributing to conservation. The global reputation of African citizens and Government Lawmakers . The risk of economic backlash affecting the tourism industry alongside the escalating presence of criminal element warrants immediate action and implementation to forever prohibiting any and all business of Safari Hunting Lodges that breeding facilities.
In March 2026, the National Council of Provinces approved a notice intended to prohibit certain captive lion activities. Yet, the industry remains fully functional. Why?
Current regulations fail to define specific enclosure sizes, allowing breeders to simply exploit vague terminology and challenging the terms to avoid restrictions. The current policy relies on a "voluntary exit" strategy with no hard legal deadline, giving the hunting lobby endless time to stall.
This is not just an animal welfare crisis; it is an economic threat. A safety concern.
South Africa’s ethical tourism economy supports 1.8 million jobs and drives nearly 9% of the national GDP. Independent data shows that continuing to protect fewer than 2,100 jobs on private predator breeding farms risks an international backlash that could wipe out 66,000 mainstream tourism jobs. For every 1 breeding job the hunting lobby tries to save, 31 ethical eco-tourism livelihoods are put at risk.
We cannot allow a wealthy minority to destroy South Africa's global reputation and wildlife heritage.
We respectfully demand that Parliament immediately:
Enact an explicit, permanent legislative ban on the breeding of all indigenous and exotic species for commercial, entertainment, or hunting purposes.
Establish a strict, non-negotiable legal deadline to close all existing captive predator facilities, ending the open-ended "voluntary" framework.
Close the exotic species loophole by expanding protection laws to cover all non-indigenous wildlife.
Please sign this petition to demand an immediate end to captive breeding and canned hunting or any other hunting of Africas resource. Let’s protect Africa’s wildlife and its global standing.
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The Issue
Right now, an estimated 8,000 lions, are trapped in factory-farm-style facilities across South Africa. They are bred , hand-reared for tourist cub-petting, and eventually marketed to be executed by trophy hunters in "canned hunts," or slaughtered for the international bone trade, thus grossly enriching wealthy landowners operating deceptive businesses under the guise of contributing to conservation. The global reputation of African citizens and Government Lawmakers . The risk of economic backlash affecting the tourism industry alongside the escalating presence of criminal element warrants immediate action and implementation to forever prohibiting any and all business of Safari Hunting Lodges that breeding facilities.
In March 2026, the National Council of Provinces approved a notice intended to prohibit certain captive lion activities. Yet, the industry remains fully functional. Why?
Current regulations fail to define specific enclosure sizes, allowing breeders to simply exploit vague terminology and challenging the terms to avoid restrictions. The current policy relies on a "voluntary exit" strategy with no hard legal deadline, giving the hunting lobby endless time to stall.
This is not just an animal welfare crisis; it is an economic threat. A safety concern.
South Africa’s ethical tourism economy supports 1.8 million jobs and drives nearly 9% of the national GDP. Independent data shows that continuing to protect fewer than 2,100 jobs on private predator breeding farms risks an international backlash that could wipe out 66,000 mainstream tourism jobs. For every 1 breeding job the hunting lobby tries to save, 31 ethical eco-tourism livelihoods are put at risk.
We cannot allow a wealthy minority to destroy South Africa's global reputation and wildlife heritage.
We respectfully demand that Parliament immediately:
Enact an explicit, permanent legislative ban on the breeding of all indigenous and exotic species for commercial, entertainment, or hunting purposes.
Establish a strict, non-negotiable legal deadline to close all existing captive predator facilities, ending the open-ended "voluntary" framework.
Close the exotic species loophole by expanding protection laws to cover all non-indigenous wildlife.
Please sign this petition to demand an immediate end to captive breeding and canned hunting or any other hunting of Africas resource. Let’s protect Africa’s wildlife and its global standing.
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Petition created on September 8, 2026