South Africa Lion- US import Rules?

[wildwilderness]

Does anyone know if a South Africa Lion that is NOT captive breed importable?

Are there many options in South Africa to hunt native born lions? Has anyone heard of one being imported to the US?

 

[mark-hunter]

If I remember correctly I think that member @375Fox was writing once on the forum about this.
Dont expect it will be in the same price level as CBL, if available to import at all.

 

[wildwilderness]

Sure, and importable will be much more as well. Just wondering if it can be and how often those opportunities arise in South Africa

 

[Philip Glass]

Does anyone know if a South Africa Lion that is NOT captive breed importable?

Are there many options in South Africa to hunt native born lions? Has anyone heard of one being imported to the US?

Yes there is a category called "wild managed lions" that are exportable. These are few and far between. The outfitter will be clearly stating this on the few hunts available.

 

[wildwilderness]

Yes there is a category called "wild managed lions" that are exportable. These are few and far between. The outfitter will be clearly stating this on the few hunts available.

What do you estimate a price would be for such a hunt? Say a mature wild breed lion on a game refuge 10,000+ acres?


Does anyone know the going rate for a CBL in South Africa?

 

[Philip Glass]

What do you estimate a price would be for such a hunt? Say a mature wild breed lion on a game refuge 10,000+ acres?


Does anyone know the going rate for a CBL in South Africa?

I have no idea. I do know what it costs with @DALTON & YORK SAFARIS and that is where I would go for a lion.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

There are a couple of places you can hunt Wild Managed Lions but they’re not hunting a lion or multiple each year. I’d also expect a Wild managed lion hunt to go for more than a true Wild lion hunt because of how few there are, the logistics it takes, and the convenience of it being in South Africa. I’ve seen figures from $85K (covid era) to well over $140k, and some short notice opportunities anywhere in between.

I knew of a last minute permit that was available last year in/around Kruger and it was over $100k. The other option is CVS on their 240,000 acre Kalahari Conservancy. I’d expect pricing to be inline or more than the last minute one.

If it was me, I’d rather spend the same money going to Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, or Mozambique for one for less money. In a perfect year I think you’re looking at no more than 2-3 Wild Managed Lions coming out of RSA. In some years that number is likely 0.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

What do you estimate a price would be for such a hunt? Say a mature wild breed lion on a game refuge 10,000+ acres?


Does anyone know the going rate for a CBL in South Africa?

There isn’t going to be a wild bred lion on a 10k acre game farm (at least that would get approved for import). There are certain requirements USFWS will want to have/see and if it was possible to do on 10k acres you’d see a bunch of places doing it. Some of the CBL places are 30-50k acres.

10k acres cant sustain a pride of lions, let alone multiple prides to prevent inbreeding and the game required for them.

 

[mark-hunter]

Take a look at this read:

Thread 'The Third Way By Peter Ryan'

Sep 25, 2016

I was checking out some of the AH sponsor's websites this morning and came across this article from @hansv. It's well worth reading.

http://cvsafaris.co.za/the-third-way-by-peter-ryan/

Dave

• 375 Ruger Fan
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Running a search on google, I found one thread here on the forum for wild managed lion hunt, but it was deleted.
The term "wild managed lion" is not overly present on internet. Interesting.

 

[wildwilderness]

There isn’t going to be a wild bred lion on a 10k acre game farm (at least that would get approved for import). There are certain requirements USFWS will want to have/see and if it was possible to do on 10k acres you’d see a bunch of places doing it. Some of the CBL places are 30-50k acres.

10k acres cant sustain a pride of lions, let alone multiple prides to prevent inbreeding and the game required for them.

I didn’t know the size of the refuge (reserve? not a game farm per se). Looked into it more and heard over 20k Hectares which would be closer to that 50k acres you mentioned.

 

[Fatback]

When I was looking into booking a lion hunt in 2024 at SCI, I spoke with a couple of outfitters that offered “wild managed” lions in RSA. The prices I got then were $80k on the low end up to $200k on the high end and that was just for the lion. I decided to go in another direction for my lion hunt in 2027. For close to the same money I’ll get to hunt a wild lion and have the added bonus of hunting some bait animals like buff and/or hippo. That worked better for me, YMMV.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I didn’t know the size of the refuge (reserve? not a game farm per se). Looked into it more and heard over 20k Hectares which would be closer to that 50k acres you mentioned.

IMO it’s likely a CBL hunt. There are very few WML hunts, the article above references the same CV Safaris Outfitter I mentioned above. That’s on one of their other conservancies and none of their hunts (including just PG) are cheap.

I’ve never hunted with Scruff, but have met him at shows and talked to him. I wouldn’t hesitate to hunt with him, but if I’m spending that amount of money to hunt I’m personally choosing another country aside from South Africa. They offer more of the true African experience but with the ease of travel, comforts and accessibility of South Africa.

If importation is the goal, my advice to you would be to call conservation force and talk to them about RSA Lions. They will know how many permits there are, as well as the outfitters and areas a permit will be approved from. They’ll give you all the questions you’ll need to ask. I’ve heard of some $30-50k RSA lion hunts advertised as WML but never heard of one successfully imported (doesn’t mean they’re haven’t been). I’m not saying they’re not out there BUT if they were, it would likely impact the prices of the $100k + wild lion hunts in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia, and Mozambique.

 

[koodoo62]

Take a look at Tam safaris near Cradock in the Eastern Cape. Over 80,000 acres and some big lions. Good website.

 

[wildwilderness]

Take a look at Tam safaris near Cradock in the Eastern Cape. Over 80,000 acres and some big lions. Good website.

Are those lion considered CBL or WML?