# Reviewing Evidence for the Impact of Lion Farming in South Africa on African Wild Lion Populations

## TL;DR

This study reviews whether farming lions in South Africa helps protect wild lion populations, finding that it may actually increase demand and threaten wild lions.

## Contribution

The study provides a systematic review of commercial captive lion breeding's impact on wild lion conservation in South Africa.

## Key findings

- There is insufficient data to evaluate conservation benefits of commercial captive lion breeding.
- CLB may increase demand for lions and their body parts, threatening wild populations.
- The study suggests CLB may not be a sustainable solution to reduce pressure on wild lions.

## Abstract

We conducted a systematic review to assess whether commercial captive lion breeding (CLB) in South Africa reduces the pressure on wild lion populations. This study reviewed the literature published between 2008 and 2023. Research unrelated to commercial breeding in South Africa was excluded, and used Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus databases, along with additional sources through a snowball approach. From 126 peer-reviewed articles and 37 grey literature sources, we found insufficient data to effectively evaluate the conservation benefits of CLB. However, some studies have raised concerns that CLB may increase the demand for lions and their body parts, potentially threatening wild populations. Our review suggests that the purported beneficial impact of CLB practices on wild lion populations requires caution and may not offer a sustainable supply side solution that meets commercial demand due to the potential negative impacts on wild lions. These findings underscore the importance of further research and have potential implications for the regulation and governance of predator breeding operations in South Africa and beyond.

The scope and scale of commercial captive lion breeding (CLB) in South Africa have rapidly increased since the 1990s. We conducted a qualitative systematic review using the PRISMA protocol to determine whether CLB provides a sustainable supply side intervention to reduce pressure on wild lion populations. A search was performed using three academic databases for sources published between 2008 and 2023. We collated and reviewed the data using an evaluation framework to determine the potential benefits and threats of CLB in the context of conservation. Among the 126 peer-reviewed and 37 grey literature articles identified, we found evidence suggesting that the framework’s criteria were not fully met, raising concerns that CLB may facilitate the demand for lions, their parts, and derivatives. Our findings further indicate a reasonable cause to doubt that the CLB provides a sustainable supply side intervention to meet the commercial demand for lions, their parts, and derivatives. This could adversely impact conservation of wild lion populations. We conclude that further research is required to effectively evaluate the purported conservation benefits of CLB. These insights may also have implications for the policy and governance of commercial predator breeding operations in South Africa and globally.