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Canned Lion Hunting--The Beginnings Canned lion hunting has been taking place in South Africa for more than two decades. Between 1996 and 1998, as I researched into the canned lion industry, I learnt of what was presumably one of the earliest canned lion hunts. This hunt took place in the late 1970's. I met an eyewitness of that particular hunt and additionally that person gave me photographs of scenes after hunt. The client was a Spanish man who was accompanied by his wife. A male lion was shot from a vehicle while in the presence of this lionesses and young. In two of the photographs that were given to me, one can faintly see a fence in the background. My informant was convinced that the hunt took place under clandestine circumstances in a portion of the Kruger National Park. This is what my informant was told when accompanying the hunting party. It is possible though, that my informant--and the Spanish client hunter--were duped into believing that the hunt was taking place in the Kruger, i.e., that the client hunter would believe that he was hunting a famous Kruger lion. The hunt might, in fact, have taken place on a game farm near or bordering the Kruger National Park. But then again, I might be wrong... This gruesome historical perspective of the South African canned lion industry furthers one's horror when pondering on how many hundreds of South Africa's lions have been murdered over the past two decades in the name of "sport" for the trophy hunters. |
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