'Captive lions' face injuries, diseases, malnutrition, obesity

Lions are most likely to face the biggest atrocities. [iStock]

Lack of welfare studies on captive breeding exposes lions to undocumented cruelty, a recent study has revealed.

Captive breeding is the process of breeding animals outside of their natural environment in restricted conditions in farms, zoos, or other closed facilities. The choice of individual animals that are to be part of a captive breeding population, and the mating partners within that population, are controlled by humans.