Rhino poachers now hack off lions’ faces and paws, pull teeth

Rhino poaching gangs appear to have added a new and grisly commodity to their illegal wildlife shopping lists – the hacked-off faces and feet of wild lions.

A new study by wildlife researchers suggests a trend is emerging among poachers along the Mozambique-SA border in which lions are killed for their body parts, notably their teeth and claws.

Writing in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation, researchers Kristoffer Everatt, Rae Kokeš and Carlos Lopez Pereira warn that at least two recent shipments of lion teeth and claws poached in Mozambique were destined for Vietnam, while Chinese tourists were reported to be fuelling a similar demand for these products in Kenya...