Trade-driven killing for body parts has long been a major cause of population decline for a number of big cat species. There are now worrying suggestions that commercialised illegal trade in body parts might become a threat for wild lions in Africa, and recent concerns have been raised that trade in captive-bred lion skeletons from South Africa may have stimulated demand for lion bones, claws, and teeth and thus incentivised commercially-driven, targeted poaching of wild lions for illegal trade. However, analysis of the prevalence of commercially-driven, targeted killing of lions for body parts is currently lacking for most major lion populations. In this study we make use of detailed, long-term records of mortality and body part removal from field sites in two of Africa’s lion population strongholds, the Hwange National Park and surrounds, Zimbabwe, within the Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area and the Ruaha landscape in Tanzania, to evaluate potential cases of commercially-driven part removal and targeted killings. We find no evidence of systemic targeted killing of lions for commercial trade at either site and suggest that the majority of part removals are opportunistic and culturally-driven. Nevertheless, we stress the requirement for vigilance around the issue of lion trade and support the development of further range-wide capacity to record wild lion mortality and body part removal data.

贸易驱动的身体部位杀戮长期以来一直是许多大型猫科动物种群减少的主要原因。现在，令人担忧的建议是，身体部位的商业化非法贸易可能对非洲野狮构成威胁，并且最近有人担心，南非人工繁殖的狮子骨架的贸易可能刺激了对狮子骨头，爪子和爪子的需求。牙齿，并因此刺激了商业驱动的针对性猎杀野生狮子的非法交易。但是，目前对于大多数主要的狮子种群，缺乏对商业驱动的针对身体部位的狮子进行有针对性的杀害的普遍性的分析。在这项研究中，我们使用了详细的长期记录，这些记录来自非洲两个狮子种群据点万基国家公园和周边地区实地的死亡率和身体部位的去除，津巴布韦位于Kavango赞比西河（KAZA）边境保护区和坦桑尼亚Ruaha景观内，以评估商业驱动的零件切除和针对性杀伤的潜在案例。我们没有发现在任何一个地点有针对性地杀害狮子进行商业贸易的证据，并建议大部分切除是机会主义和文化驱动的。但是，我们强调必须对狮子贸易问题保持警惕，并支持进一步发展全范围记录野狮死亡率和身体部位去除数据的能力。我们没有发现在任何一个地点有针对性地杀害狮子进行商业贸易的证据，并建议大部分切除是机会主义和文化驱动的。但是，我们强调必须对狮子贸易问题保持警惕，并支持进一步发展全范围记录野狮死亡率和身体部位去除数据的能力。我们没有发现在任何一个地点有针对性地杀害狮子进行商业贸易的证据，并建议大部分切除是机会主义和文化驱动的。但是，我们强调必须对狮子贸易问题保持警惕，并支持进一步发展全范围记录野狮死亡率和身体部位去除数据的能力。