South Africa’s growing trade in lion bones should be halted, and keeping and breeding lions and tigers should be curbed, conservationists have urged.

A major report on the practice has been published after South African ministers announced a near-doubling in the number of lion bones allowed to be exported.

The bones are largely sold to Asian markets for use in virility products and traditional medicines.

News of the new quota prompted outrage, with animal-welfare activists and organisations appealing directly to President Cyril Ramaphosa, saying the move would accelerate the drop in wild lion populations by fuelling poaching, and would undermine efforts to decrease demand for unscientific traditional medicines.

South Africa’s EMS conservation foundation and the Ban Animal Trading group, which together produced the report, called The Extinction Business, argue the big-cat skeletons industry should be dismantled and intelligence-led investigations should be launched into the Asian criminal networks fuelling the growing trade.

It also identified flaws in the Cites system of issuing permits for bone exports.

The controversial lion-bone trade began in the country a decade ago, and it is now the largest exporter of lion bones to Asia - mostly to Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, where bones are ground down to make medicine and wine, which is wrongly believed to be a health drink.

The market has flourished despite authorities' efforts to crack down on the use of tiger body parts for Chinese medicine.

Trophy-hunters travel to South Africa to shoot lions bred there in captivity specifically for the hunting and bones businesses. Up to 8,000 lions are kept in more than 200 “canned hunting” breeding facilities. But experts believe they are helping to fuel wildlife trafficking by creating demand.

Between 2008 and 2015, the South African Department of Environmental Affairs issued permits for the export of more than 5,363 lion skeletons, research has shown. Last year the business brought in an estimated 16m South African rand (£908,000), according to the Captured in Africa Foundation.

The new report’s key recommendations include:

A zero-export quota on lion and other big-cat body parts for commercial purposes, including from captive sources

A forensic investigation into the financial affairs of all lion breeders and bone traders

Restricting the keeping and breeding of big cats

Reviewing and improving animal protection and welfare legislation

Ensuring that animal protection, welfare, care and respect are included in law, particularly in relation to permits for the keeping, sale, hunting and exporting of wild animals and body parts

However, the department has approved an annual quota of 1,500 lion skeletons for export, almost double the previous year’s quota of 800.

Linda Tucker‚ founder and head of the Global White Lion Protection Trust‚ wrote a heartfelt letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa‚ appealing to him to reverse the move.

“Factory farming lions for killing is not a policy South Africa can defend, neither the old nor the new South Africa,” she wrote.

“As I write to you‚ 1,500 of our lions‚ incarcerated under abysmal conditions‚ have been committed to slaughterhouses in the inappropriately named ‘Free State’.

“Once vilified for apartheid‚ our country will go down in history for legalising crimes against nature that supersede the wrongs perpetrated by the illegal trade in animal parts.

“For our international reputation and true moral compass‚ I call upon you with all my heart to repeal this heinous legacy.”

The South African government has justified the trade in bones as a by-product of the "hunting industry" and claimed the increased quota has been prompted by a growing stockpile.

Spokesperson Albi Modise said the quota was based on a research project established by the SA National Biodiversity Institute with Oxford University and the University of Kent which said there had been no discernible increase in the poaching of wild lions, although there appeared to be an increase in the poaching of captive-bred lions for body parts.

But The Extinction Business report said by calculating the weight of consignments, experts believe exporters are exceeding the export quotas – unchecked by Cites.

It stated the industry is de facto fully supported by the state, “despite widespread opposition to the practice which is considered extremely cruel, linked to international criminal networks, a threat to Africa’s wild animals population and run by a small monopoly of operators purely for financial gain".

Where not to visit if you love animals Show all 9 1 /9 Where not to visit if you love animals Where not to visit if you love animals Monkey shows Chimpanzees are forced to perform demeaning tricks on leashes and are often subject to cruel training techniques. Animals who are confined to small, barren enclosures and forced to perform unsurprisingly show symptoms of stress and depression. Chimpanzees have been documented rocking back and forth, sucking their lips, salivating and swaying against enclosure perimeters in distress. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Marine parks Some parks confine orcas to concrete tanks and force them to perform meaningless tricks for food - many die in captivity. Orcas are highly intelligent and social mammals who may suffer immensely, both physically and mentally, when they're held in captivity. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Tiger shows Tigers are forced to live in an unnatural and barren environment and have to endure interactions with a constant stream of tourists. Since tigers never lose their wild instincts, across the world they are reportedly drugged, mutilated and restrained in order to make them “safe” for the public. However, every year, incidents of tiger maulings are reported at this type of tourist attraction. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Donkey rides Sunning on the beach is great for humans – we can take a quick dip or catch a bite to eat when we get too hot or hungry. But it's pure hell for donkeys who are confined to the beach and forced to cart children around on the hot sand. Some donkey-ride operators at beach resorts in the UK even keep the animals chained together at all times. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Swimming with dolphins Some marine parks use bottlenose dolphins in performances and offer visitors the opportunity to swim with dolphins. Unfortunately, people are often unaware that these animals are captured in the wild and torn from their families or traded between different parks around the world. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Canned hunting Lions are confined to fenced areas so that they can easily be cornered, with no chance of escape. Most of them will have been bred in captivity and then taken from their mothers to be hand-reared by the cub-petting industry. When they get too big, they may be drugged before they are released into a "hunting" enclosure. Because these animals are usually kept in fenced enclosures (ranging in size from just a few square yards to thousands of acres), they never stand a chance of surviving. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Running of the Bulls Every year, tourists travel to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. The bulls who are forced to slip and slide down the town's narrow cobblestone streets are chased straight into the bullring. They are then taunted, stabbed repeatedly and finally killed by the matador in front of a jeering crowd. The majority of Spaniards reject bullfighting, but tourists are keeping the cruel industry on its last legs. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Horse-drawn carriages City streets are no place for horses. The animals toil in all weather extremes, suffering from respiratory distress from breathing in exhaust fumes as well as numerous hoof, leg and back problems from walking on pavement all day long. As easily spooked prey animals, horses subjected to the loud noises and unexpected sounds of city streets are likely to be involved in accidents, even deadly ones. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Zoos The zoo community regards the animals it keeps as commodities, and animals are regularly bought, sold, borrowed and traded without any regard for established relationships. Zoos breed animals because the presence of babies draws visitors and boosts revenue, yet often, there's nowhere to put the offspring as they grow, and they are killed, as we saw with Marius the giraffe in Denmark. Some zoos have introduced evening events with loud music and alcohol which disrupt the incarcerated animals even further. EPA

The Campaign Against Canned Hunting believes the bone trade is one of several damaging activities involving lions: the others are captive breeding, cub petting, volunteering and lion walks.

President of the Born Free Foundation, Will Travers, said earlier this year: “Unwitting tourists fuel this despicable industry by participating in activities such as petting cubs and walking with lions, while unsuspecting volunteers rear cubs in the mistaken belief they are destined to be released into the wild.