Lord Ashcroft Exclusively Reveals the Horrors of Lion Farming in South Africa

Lord Ashcroft has written a series of newspaper articles on "lion farming", in which thousands of Africa's most iconic animals are bred to be killed for their bones or as hunting trophies. His disclosures were made in today's Mail on Sunday newspaper. Lord Ashcroft has written a series of newspaper articles on "lion farming", in which thousands ofAfrica'smost iconic animals are bred to be killed for their bones or as hunting trophies. His disclosures were made in today'sMail on Sunday...

Lord Ashcroft has written a series of newspaper articles on "lion farming", in which thousands of Africa's most iconic animals are bred to be killed for their bones or as hunting trophies. His disclosures were made in today's Mail on Sunday newspaper.

Lord Ashcroft, a businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster, commissioned a year-long undercover investigation – codenamed Operation Simba ��� involving former Special Forces and security operatives. The result was a disturbing insight into the full horrors and illegal practices linked to "lion farming".

The booming trade in lion skeletons is worth tens of millions of pounds a year and meets an insatiable desire in South East Asia and China for "traditional" medicines, including aphrodisiacs.

Lord Ashcroft's disclosures today include:

According to well-informed sources, there are now an estimated 12,000 captive-bred lions in South Africa – far more than previously thought and approaching four times the number of wild lions in the country.

South Africa is the only country that permits large-scale, captive-lion farming and that has an annual quota for the legal export of lion bones. Many more lion bones are illegally smuggled to the Far East.

Lord Ashcroft has called on the South Africa Government to make captive-bred lion farming illegal as it has no conservation value. He said: "The captive-bred lion industry shames South Africa – indeed it shames us all.

"By allowing such a barbaric practice, the South African Government is harming the reputation of a country that treasures its position on the international stage in the aftermath of apartheid. Captive-bred lion farming in abusive and horrific."

Lord Ashcroft added: "I also call on the UK Government to follow the lead of other nations, notably the US, in banning the importation of captive lion trophies. We must do our bit to stamp out lion farming and show that we are not in any way complicit with it."

Lord Ashcroft has unveiled a new website on his wildlife work: www.LordAshcroftWildlife.com and has produced a YouTube film on his revelations about lion farming https://youtu.be/5lEHYMDGAzs.