Lion Pride Brutally Butchered By Poachers

At the end of last year, a third lion pride was brutally butchered in South Africa making it the third pride in a month. The evil poachers hacked of their heads and paws to be used for making black magic potions. The owner of the pride said his male lion and four of his lionesses were poisoned chicken carcasses resulting in an agonising deaths. The Sunward Ranch where the lion pride lives provides lion experiences for under-privileged children.

Poisoned chickens

The gang threw the poisoned chickens over a couple of electrified fences and waited for the lions to eat them after which the lions suffered for about half an hour until all five lions died. The gang then cut their way through the fences and hacked of the heads or jaws of the animals using machetes and hacked of 20 paws for use in what is known as “muti.”

There is a link

The owner says there seems to be a link between the audit of lion farms and the attacks and as a result is urging police to increase their efforts to find the link and arrest the people responsible. A police spokesperson said the poachers must be stopped and brought to justice. He added that the top anti-poaching investigators have formed a team and will investigate the attack which was the third one of the 2019.

Other lion prides killed

Previously poachers had slaughtered another four lions using the same method but were spotted by guards and chased off before they were able to hack off and steal their body parts. Owners say this has been happening all over the country and the villains seem to disappear into thin air. In October last year, a lion pride that ruled one of the largest game reserves in South Africa were butchered for their body parts after also being poisoned with chicken carcasses.

Money to be made

A full lion skeleton can be purchased in South Africa for £1000. The same skeleton sells for £50,000 in Vietnam where individual claws and teeth of lions are much sought after. Traditional healers also make muti which is a potion witchdoctors use to cast spells. These spells are believed to protect individuals from illness, cure them, make them strong and virile or scare enemies away. The concern is that lion bones are now becoming a substitute for much rarer tiger bones which are in high demand in South East Asian traditional medicine.