If you want to shoot a lion or a tiger and save money in the process go to South Africa.

South Africa

The price of killing a wild lion shot on a safari in Tanzania may cost $70,000. In South Africa you can shoot a trophy size specimen for a fraction of that.

Hunting in South Africa also takes the strain out of the hunt as you are not only guaranteed a trophy, but the farm-raised, habituated animals are released for your pleasure inside a fenced area, just a few hours prior to your arrival, so there is no need to go driving and hiking all over the place and wearing yourself out.

The entrepreneurial spirit is strong in South Africa, which has more than 160 lion-breeding farms holding up to 5,000 lions, far exceeding the population of 2,000 or so remaining in the wild, hanging by a thread living off-limits behind fences in national parks and private nature reserves.

As an added bonus some South African game ranches also have tigers on offer, which they market with flair, pitching them “wink wink” as one ranch does using a photo showing a “Hunt trophy” with a specimen “taken from the wild.” An interesting turn of phrase as tigers are not native to Africa.

South Africa.

If you don’t want to shoot a tiger you can buy a cub–lion or tiger. Cubs are big business there as well.

South Africa.

The South African wild cat trade is multi-faceted: lions, tigers, cubs…. The game farms make extra money selling them either alive or as parts to clients in Asia who grind up the bones for use in traditional medicine.

Demand for cats in the canned hunting industry is such—in the five years to 2011, the country exported 4,062 lion trophies, the vast majority captive-bred animals—that a substantial business has developed in neighboring Botswana capturing lions and selling them to South African game ranchers to supplement demand that can’t be met for farmed cats.

A look at big game hunting in South Africa can be found here.