End is near for South Africa's million-dollar lion-breeding industry

Wildlife experts want to ban what they call ‘canned lion hunts’. Here, one of five lions raised on a farm is to be sent to South Africa and reintroduced to the wild. — dpa

The lion cub, a ball of soft, brown fur with sharp little teeth at only several weeks old, wriggles around in the tourist’s arms as she tries to pose for a cute picture with the animal on a farm not far from the South African capital, Pretoria.

Animal rights campaigners from the Humane Society International’s Africa branch (HSI-Africa) have come down strongly against these wildlife selfies, which were a common scene before the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing travel restrictions that killed off tourism.