LONDON, October 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS UK has joined forces with street art specialists Graffiti Life to create a unique and attention grabbing wall mural as part of its campaign to end "canned" trophy hunting in South Africa.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151028/281321 )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gMNWJmW1xc

The trophy and canned hunting industries have been in the spotlight recently, following the illegal killing of beloved Zimbabwean lion Cecil, lured from a protected area and shot by US hunter, Walter Palmer.

Since Cecil's death there have been many calls to ban the import of trophies into the EU, and the UK more specifically. FOUR PAWS UK has also seen a rise in the number of people concerned about canned hunting, one of the most brutal and prevalent forms of trophy hunting, in which lions are bred in captivity and hunted in an enclosed area with no hope of escaping. South Africa is the only country where this practice is legal, and there are around 6,000 captive lions in the country fuelling the horrific industry, more than the current population of wild lions which is estimated at around 1200 lions.

Many of these lions will be killed for large sums of money, only to end up as so-called trophies on the walls of hunters, mostly from the US and the EU.

FOUR PAWS' petition calling on the South African government to ban canned hunting has been signed by around 200,000 people across the globe, and the organisation now feels the time is right to up the ante in their campaign and raise awareness of the issue to a wider audience.

Kieran Harkin, Head of Programmes at FOUR PAWS UK, commented: "The public outcry around the killing of Cecil suggests that many people, not just committed animal welfare supporters, are absolutely appalled by the idea of these majestic wild animals being killed just so they can be displayed on someone's wall. We hope this mural raises even more awareness of this barbaric and senseless practice and adds to the growing momentum against the canned hunting industry as a whole. We want this unique piece of street art to grab people's attention, to generate discussion and debate around the issue and ultimately to urge people to act so we can stop this practice once and for all."

To sign the FOUR PAWS petition, please visit: http://www.cannedhunting.com

SOURCE Four Paws UK