Lions are special. The king of beasts, they are at the top of the list of must-see animals for many visiting Africa. But, as Michael Ashcroft relates in Unfair Game, some lions in South Africa are treated in a way that has little regard for nobility.
First, some context. The trophy hunting debate continues and, as readers of The Critic may know, I am an advocate of the “it’s complicated” argument. I, and many others in conservation, fear the harm we believe will come from blanket bans. Trophy hunting features in Unfair Game but this book isn’t an excoriation of the practice. Ashcroft does have the occasional swipe at hunting and hunters in general, but mostly he has his sights fixed firmly on a different target: the captive-bred lion (CBL) industry in South Africa.
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