A controversial South African advert urging President Jacob Zuma to take action to curb the trade in lion bones is the subject of a court action brought by a campaign group after it was abruptly removed from Johannesburg’s main airport last year.
The poster depicted Zuma staring down the barrel of a gun at a young lion cub along with the words ‘Our lions are being slaughtered to make bogus sex potions for Asia. Will President Zuma save them? Urge him to stop the deadly bone trade now.’
It was said cited by airport management as being a ‘PR disaster’ for South Africa - prompting its rapid removal within nine days but campaign group Avaaz, which masterminded the piece, claim that the airport authorities violated freedom of expression by pulling it down.
The lucrative Asian trade in lion bones has ris4en by 250 per cent between 2008 and 2010 – although the South African government claims that these are sourced from commercial breeding farms and do not affect wild populations.
It is believed there could be as few as 20,000 lions left in Africa after a population fall of 80 per cent over the past 50 years.