At a national level, governance of this industry has fallen under a patchwork of legislation including the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act and regulations around threatened or protected species. With national and provincial concurrence, the regulation of the industry falls to the provincial nature conservation authorities.
But, as there is no centralised national system, transparency and enforcement is difficult. This results in grey areas that cloud the legality of the industry and its associated activities, contributing to confusion and noncompliance throughout. Likewise, at an international level, lion bone exports are regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora . But the industry has been under scrutiny since 2019, when a high court in South Africa declared the lion bone export quota unconstitutional — due in large part to animal welfare concerns.
Consequently, since that time, the CITES export quota has been deferred, resulting in a “zero quota”. This means that lion skeletons cannot be legally exported for commercial purposes. And any subsequent exports originating from lion farms are illegal.The industry has been estimated by some to contribute up to R500m annually to the South African economy.