As Tigers Become Rarer, Poachers Are Targeting Lions
Growing numbers of wild lions in Africa are slaughtered for their teeth and claws, sought in Asian countries for jewelry.
LIMPOPO NATIONAL PARK, MOZAMBIQUEThe four young lions died where they ate their final meal. They were found lying on sandy ground near the remains of a poisoned calf. No one witnessed the silent slaughter—only the gruesome aftermath. The faces and paws of all four cats had been hacked off.
"It’s not a nice thing to see,” says Marius Steyl understatedly. Steyl, the law enforcement operations manager at Limpopo National Park, in Mozambique, was a member of the team that investigated the killings in late January. “It’s the king of the jungle, and suddenly it’s just being wiped out by humans.”
According to Steyl, two men are suspected of the crime, likely killing the lions in retaliation for the cats having preyed on cattle. One man
