Lion Photo

When I look close I see the lions have spray painted numbers on their backs. I wonder if they are still alive. Overall, I think that it is mean for them to either kill them or put them to sleep. It reminds me of my two dogs at my home. When I look at the whole picture, I notice there are 7 lions lying on the ground.
On one of the lions it has a number on it.
The number on it's back is 714 so I wonder if that is how many have be killed or how many have be put to sleep.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/05/mozambique-spirit-lion-relocation/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=sunstills_20190512::rid=1018652856#/mozambique-lion-relocation-28.jpg