Poachers target lion body parts in rising extinction threat
(WorldNews Environment)

Lions and other big cats are coming under increasing threat from an insatiable appetite for luxury products and trophies sold on the black market, conservationists warn. Panthera, a global wild cat conservation organisation, provides evidence of targeted poaching of lions for body parts in a seven year study conducted in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The growing threat could wreak similar devastation on lion populations as seen recently in wild tigers. Scientists said 35 per cent of lions killed by man were done so for their body parts between 20011 and 2018, with teeth and claws the most frequently harvested remains. `Our study demonstrates that lions are increasingly confronting a...