I wish this was an April fools but it isn’t.

Lion meat is showing up for sale on a US based meat company’s website. Last summer lion meat was served for a limited time at a Dunedin, Florida restaurant. They stated that the meat was farm raised in South Africa.

In South Africa it is legal to raise lions for meat, and they also have a controversial lion hunting issue for both trophy and canned hunts. The latest lion meat being offered for sale is now listed as coming from so called lion farms right here in the United States. Where these farms are located is a mystery for now. States like Texas, Ohio, Oklahoma and Florida are home to the majority of big cats like lions and tigers given their lax laws and regulations for private ownership.

Lions are a threatened species with wild populations falling to just around an estimated 30,000. While a few pro exotic animal owner organizations feel that by allowing for a legal trade in captive big cat parts you will lessen the strain of illegal poaching of wild cats, this idea is extremely discarded by many wildlife conservationist.

What is sure now, is that all lions wild and captive are under one threat or another.

With so many endangered animals finding their way onto dinner plates, are we doing the lion any favors by serving it?

Links:

Recent Cape Argus article:

http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4915211

My Lion ireport:

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-2211

*Wild lion footage filmed in Kenya, Africa.

*Captive lion footage filmed in USA.-Please note: captive lion footage was NOT shot at a "Lion Farm" but footage was from an accredited sanctuary in Minn.