Canned lion hunting: Dark shadow of South Africa’s wildlife

Information and Discussions on Hunting
Post Reply
User avatar
Lisbeth
Site Admin
Posts: 67237
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:31 pm
Country: Switzerland
Location: Lugano
Contact:

Canned lion hunting: Dark shadow of South Africa’s wildlife

Post by Lisbeth »

Image

Our vision of a lion is that of a majestic animal, carrying an impressive golden or black mane as he roams wild and free across the open plains. A lion whose gaze raises the hair on your back, who’s thunderous roar rumbles through your chest, knocking a nervous smile onto your bewildered face.

But if you pull back the curtain on the wildlife industry in South Africa, that vision is only a half truth.

Since 2007, the conservation spotlight has been mostly focused on South Africa’s rhino poaching crisis. However, another issue looms just as large - the intensive breeding of thousands of lions and other predators for the hunters bullet. These animals are being bred specifically to be shot in confined or enclosed areas with little to no chance of escape. Canned hunting or ‘captive hunting’ as the breeders and hunters call it, is still legal in South Africa.

“In this day and age is it appropriate that we breed lions in cages and other confined enclosures so people can shoot them for fun?” asks Ian Michler, who has been researching and campaigning against these industries for over a decade.

When Michler started his research at the turn of this century, “There were 500-800 predators in cages in South Africa… in 2006 it was up to 3,500, and now there is anywhere between 6,000 to 8,000 predators in confinement.” By comparison, South Africa has a wild population of around 2,750 lions.

Professor Pieter Potgieter, chairman of the South African Predator Association (SAPA) believes that breeding and hunting captive bred wildlife is acceptable: “The hunting of wild animals that were bred and raised in captivity is an international practice, in line with the principle of sustainable use of wildlife resources,” says Potgieter.

According to Potgieter around 200 individuals and institutions have permits to keep and breed lions in South Africa and about half of them are members of SAPA.

And he is supported by the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa (PHASA). “We have raised the bar higher than is needed," said Adri Kitshoff, CEO of PHASA in an April interview with Financial Mail. “Among standards set, a lion must be released at least seven days prior to a hunt in an enclosure of at least 1,000 ha.”

“In 2012 approximately 617 lion were hunted for trophy purposes, with fewer than 10 estimated to be wild lions,” says the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA).

So who is responsible for protecting the lions from these horrors? Well no one it appears.

The DEA have asserted that “the hunting of captive-bred lions relates to an ethical matter that does not fall within the legislative mandate of the Minister of Environmental Affairs,” adding “the Minister does not have the legal mandate to prohibit the hunting of captive-bred lions in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA).”

“Other than provincial fencing requirements, there seem to be no rules or regulations governing canned lion hunting, that is why the government can wash their hands of it,” says Michler. “It doesn’t fall under NEMBA, because they aren’t wild lions nor does it fall under the auspices of the NSPCA – because they’re not categorized as domestic animals. Everyone can exploit them.”

The DEA attempted to put the brakes on the industry in 2005 by introducing legislation prescribing that captive bred lions had to be released into a wildlife system for 24 months before being hunted. SAPA (formerly the South African Predator Breeders Association) took the then Minister of Environmental Affairs, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk to court and after losing the first round, in 2010 the Appeals Court ruled in their favor on a technical issue.

Since that case the DEA have taken no further steps to address the breeding and hunting of lions and the number of predators in captivity has more than doubled.

“The DEA have been hiding behind the outcomes of that court case for years,” says Rynette Coetzee of the Endangered Wildlife Trust. “If you issue a hunting permit you can’t divorce yourself from the welfare issues surrounding the management of that animal.”

The DEA want to hand over responsibility to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) who oversee animals kept in captivity. They believe the Department of Agriculture should regulate animal welfare matters as they can apply the Animal Protection Act that criminalizes cruelty to animals.

“How can you make Agriculture in charge of wildlife? The DEA is shirking responsibility,” says Coetzee. Allowing the categorization of our lions under the mandate of DAFF would mean that we as a nation have given the canned lion hunting industry the green light.

David Bilchitz of the SA Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law pointed out that “the mere fact that another department must also address questions of animal welfare does not relieve the DEA of its obligations in that regard.”

Tourism professionals such as Colin Bell, co-author of Africa’s Finest, question whether a few hundred lion breeders should be allowed to tarnish the international reputation of what he terms Brand South Africa. “Are we going to allow a small number of people tarnish South Africa’s international reputation as a responsible tourism destination and have a negative impact on our international long-haul tourist arrivals?”

According to Statistics South Africa the tourism industry contributed R93 billion to the GDP in 2012. PHASA says hunters spend well-over R1bn annually in South Africa.

In 2012 9 million tourists visited South Africa and of these, 9000 were foreign hunters representing a fraction of annual visitor numbers. It begs the question, should South Africa’s image suffer at the hands of such a small minority?

International indignation continues to grow. “The fact that it’s actually legal here…this horrifies most international audiences,” says Michler who travelled to Europe and Australia earlier this year to meet with government ministers.

The statistics show that 99% of all trophy hunters that come to South Africa come from outside the African continent. For this reason, Michler believes it is important to address the international community with the aim they become part of the solution. ”The killing is taking place in Africa, but the killers are coming from outside the continent,” he says.

“It’s not fair, it’s not humane, it’s not 21st century. On my watch it’s not acceptable,” says Greg Hunt, Australia’s Environment Minister.

During Michler’s visit in October, Hunt announced that his government would consider a permanent ban on the importation of lion parts and lion trophies into Australia.

Just this week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the African lion as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) after a lion petition went viral. The listing, if finalized, could also establish a permitting system for the importation of sport-hunted lion trophies, requiring that the lions originate from countries with a scientifically sound management plan for African lions.

The good news for predators and those opposed to these practices is that momentum is growing within the international community to ban the importation of lion trophies. Michler has been invited back to Australia and will be returning to Europe early in 2015. He is also due to visit the USA later this year.

http://www.eturbonews.com/52794/canned- ... e-tourism-


"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela
The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
User avatar
nan
Posts: 26304
Joined: Thu May 31, 2012 9:41 pm
Country: Switzerland
Location: Central Europe
Contact:

Re: Canned lion hunting: The dark shadow of South Africa’s w

Post by nan »

not the best in SA 0=


Kgalagadi lover… for ever
https://safrounet.piwigo.com/
User avatar
Richprins
Committee Member
Posts: 75834
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 3:52 pm
Location: NELSPRUIT
Contact:

Re: Canned lion hunting: The dark shadow of South Africa’s w

Post by Richprins »

By comparison, South Africa has a wild population of around 2,750 lions.

I don't think that is true! Probably more than that in Greater Kruger alone! O-/


Please check Needs Attention pre-booking: https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=322&t=596
User avatar
Toko
Posts: 26619
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:29 pm
Country: -

Re: Canned lion hunting: The dark shadow of South Africa’s w

Post by Toko »

Lion Park's canned hunting ‘exposé’

December 15 2014 at 08:04am
By Sheree Bega

Johannesburg - Gauteng’s top tourist attraction is one of numerous lion farms in South Africa that breed the big cats for the canned hunting industry and make money from its spin-offs like cub petting and volunteering, says an animal activist group.

“(The Lion Park knows) that volunteers and tourists would never visit lion-breeding facilities if they were told upfront that the cubs that were petted today were destined to be sold for canned hunting,” says Chris Mercer, the founder of the Campaign Against Canned Hunting.

Mercer was reacting to a recent CBS 60 Minutes exposé, which revealed that the Lion Park in Lanseria bred lions to ensure a supply of cubs year-round. When the lions reached maturity, they were shipped out to canned hunting operations because they were too dangerous to be near tourists.

The Lion Park said this week it planned to take legal action against the show’s producers.

“We will take this matter to the highest court in the land. There is nothing to hide here at the Lion Park,” said Win Booysen, general manager of the Lion Park. He said that for the past 18 months, the park had “traced every single one of our lions” through its new criteria-driven lion cub policy.

“We don’t sell our lions to people we don’t know or get a proper profile on… to make sure they don’t end up for hunting.”

Booysen conceded “lions were sold by the previous guys who didn’t make sure where the animals were going to”. But he said this had stopped.

“A lion won’t leave here until we know where it goes to. There are no sales in our books for the past 18 months.” This was with the exception of lions sold to Nazir Cajee and Joanne Hulley, whom 60 Minutes exposed as having links to hunting outfits.

Lion Park owner Rodney Fuhr conceded many of his lions ended up at hunting facilities, but said he would stop the practice.

“This whole thing about canned hunting… I think it’s grossly exaggerated,” Fuhr said in his interview.

“What (about) the jobs we’re providing and the hunting industry? Thousands of jobs.”

Booysen said Fuhr’s comments had been misunderstood. “He was just saying hunting is a big industry.”

Mercer said captive adult lions that started their lives as cubs for the petting industry were destined to be hunted. “Four hundred lions have passed through the Lion Park. Where have all the lions gone?”

The Lion Park was recently voted Gauteng’s top tourist attraction.

Saturday Star


User avatar
Lisbeth
Site Admin
Posts: 67237
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:31 pm
Country: Switzerland
Location: Lugano
Contact:

Re: Canned lion hunting: The dark shadow of South Africa’s w

Post by Lisbeth »

The best kept non secret in the country 0=


"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela
The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
User avatar
nan
Posts: 26304
Joined: Thu May 31, 2012 9:41 pm
Country: Switzerland
Location: Central Europe
Contact:

Re: Canned lion hunting: The dark shadow of South Africa’s w

Post by nan »

..... The Lion Park was recently voted Gauteng’s top tourist attraction......


O-/ :shock:


Kgalagadi lover… for ever
https://safrounet.piwigo.com/
User avatar
Toko
Posts: 26619
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:29 pm
Country: -

Re: Canned lion hunting: The dark shadow of South Africa’s w

Post by Toko »

http://m.mg.co.za/article/2015-03-20-co ... st-con-job

Conservation’s biggest con job
South Africa’s lion hunting industry has little to do with conservation and everything to do with profit but it seems only foreign governments care.

Here’s a trick question: Is canned lion hunting legal in South Africa?

According to Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa, the answer is no. “South Africa does not allow canned lion hunting,” she said at a recent parliamentary committee meeting. “The law, the ToPS regulations, clearly prohibit that.”

But is this true?

ToPS, the Threatened or Protected Species Regulations, don’t contain a definition of canned hunting, just a list of prohibited hunting practices. For example, a protected species may not be hunted with traps, snares or poison or trapped against a fence.

Despite this, it is legal for lions to be bred in captivity to be shot by trophy hunters. Depending on the province, hand-reared lions may be released into enclosures for as little as three days before being hunted. Hunters may also use aircraft and vehicles to track them and dead bait to lure them.

So the answer seems to be yes. By standard definitions, canned hunting is legal. And, as this document suggests, “it is a fast-growing business in South Africa”.

There are more than 150 lion breeding facilities in South Africa and the latest figures released by the South African Predators Association, which represents them, estimate they hold between 6 000 and 8 000 lions.

That’s more than double the number of wild lions in South Africa, and the number is growing.

Captive lions can’t be released
Ian Michler, a wildlife writer and conservation consultant who has been working on this issue since 1999, estimates that there were fewer than 1 000 captive lions at that time. By 2005, this had increased to about 3 000.

If nothing is done to halt captive lion breeding and hunting, Michler believes there could be up to 15 000 lions being bred in captivity in South Africa within five years.

Despite claims by lion breeders that they are doing essential work for conservation, none of these lions will ever be released into the wild, because captive-bred lions cannot be rehabilitated – a point the South African Predator Breeders Association made in the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2010.

The greatest threat to lion conservation is not numbers but habitat loss. Even if captive-bred lions could be reintroduced, there would be nowhere for them to go.

Sustainable use or sustained abuse?
Captive lions are “monetised” in a number of ways.

Under the cover of conservation, lion breeders attract tourists to pet cubs and walk with young lions, and volunteers pay to help farm what they understand to be wild animals.

Once lions become too old and dangerous for tourism, they can be used for breeding, shot by trophy hunters and harvested for the booming lion bone trade.

Breeders and hunters argue the benefits of foreign revenue generated by lion hunting, but a quick look at the numbers demonstrates how insignificant this is compared with tourism.

In 2013, South African foreign tourism revenue totalled just over R73.2-billion. According to the Professional Hunter’s Association of South Africa, lion trophies brought in R122.3-million that year. That’s less than a fifth of a percent of foreign tourism revenue.

The negative publicity from canned lion hunting is increasingly hurting tourism according to Michler.

Farming out responsibility
Lions seem to have slipped through the legislative cracks. The department of environmental affairs says captive lions are not their business, but fall under the department of agriculture – who appear to have done nothing.

“We went to the department of agriculture to say, you need to have your regulations in place as soon as possible … because the court has determined it is not our business, it is your business,” Molewa told the parliamentary committee.

According to the Inkatha Freedom Party, a motion to ban canned lion hunting was unanimously accepted and adopted by the National Assembly in March 2014. “And yet, a year down the line, government has failed to respond in any way,” said party MP SJ Nkomo, who repeated the call for a ban in Parliament last Thursday.

Some good news for lions came on Friday morning when the Australian government announced an immediate measure to regard African lions as threatened with extinction. From now on Australian lion hunters won’t be allowed to import trophies or other lion parts.

According to Greg Hunt, Australia’s minister for the environment: “It is part of the global movement and I hope part of a significant movement to end canned hunting. It is a practice that never had a time, but it is a practice whose time has surely come to pass.”

Hunt used the words “barbaric” and “cruel” to describe canned lion hunting.

Relic of colonialism
Chris Mercer, of Campaign Against Canned Hunting, said: “Here is a civilised government revolted by what passes muster for conservation in South Africa. Actually, the Australians are echoing the principles of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s founding father, who banned all sport and trophy hunting 30 years ago for the reason that it was a barbaric relic of colonialism.”

Michler is in Europe this week to meet, among others, the European Union’s minister of the environment, conservationists and lawyers from Finland, Belgium, Holland and the United Kingdom about instituting similar bans.

That foreign governments need to legislate to combat South Africa’s unscrupulous practices is eerily reminiscent of the past. As Terri Stander, DA deputy spokesperson for environmental affairs, asks: “How is it possible that the international community cares more about our wildlife than we do?”

That’s a question South Africans need to keep asking their government.

What can you do?
•?Don’t support lion breeders. No genuine conservationist will breed lions or allow human interaction with them. Don’t pet lion cubs or walk with lions and don’t volunteer before doing thorough research.

•?Learn more about lions. Visit the real lion sanctuaries and encourage others to visit them. Drakenstein Lion Park near Cape Town and Lion’s Rock in the Free State provide proper care for rescued lions.

•?March for lions. If you’re in Johannesburg, show your support by attending the Global March for Lions event this Saturday, March 21, at 11am opposite the Lion Park, on the corner of Malibongwe and the R114, Lanseria.

Alison Westwood is a travel and nature writer and works with Conservation Action Trust


User avatar
Toko
Posts: 26619
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:29 pm
Country: -

Re: Canned lion hunting: The dark shadow of South Africa’s w

Post by Toko »



User avatar
Mel
Global Moderator
Posts: 28221
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:31 pm
Country: Germany
Location: Föhr
Contact:

Re: Canned lion hunting: Dark shadow of South Africa’s wildl

Post by Mel »

A nice story for a change :-)


God put me on earth to accomplish a certain amount of things. Right now I'm so far behind that I'll never die.
User avatar
Richprins
Committee Member
Posts: 75834
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 3:52 pm
Location: NELSPRUIT
Contact:

Re: Canned lion hunting: Dark shadow of South Africa’s wildl

Post by Richprins »

Canned lion hunting will never be illegal...how can parameters be quantified?

What is the difference between that and canned cow killing? -O-

The lion bring in massive amounts of international money, don't live very long anyway, and generally die quickly in the hunt.


Sustainable conservation, with a non-endangered species.

And not funny, that is how I have felt for years!


Please check Needs Attention pre-booking: https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=322&t=596
Post Reply

Return to “Hunting”