Multiple lion cub trafficking cases under investigation in Cape Town

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Lisbeth
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Multiple lion cub trafficking cases under investigation in Cape Town

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BY DAVE CHAMBERS - 23 August 2019

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Warrant officers HS Schroeder and AJ van Greunen of the police's stock theft unit with the lion cub they rescued in Athlone, Cape Town, on August 21 2019. It had apparently been transported from Limpopo. Image: SA Police Service

Criminal trade in lion cubs is rife in Cape Town, say nature conservation officials.

CapeNature spokesperson Loren Pavitt said the organisation was investigating "multiple criminal cases regarding the suspected illegal import, transport, trade and possession of lion cubs in the greater Cape Town area".

Pavitt was responding to questions from TimesLIVE after police said they had rescued a lion cub from a house in Athlone on Wednesday. The cub was handed over to CapeNature by officers from the police stock theft unit in Kuils River.

Pavitt said: "Investigations are ongoing and therefore we cannot comment on any of the details."

She would not say where the lion cub was being kept.

"Any lions found during the course of the investigation will be managed in accordance with our provincial protocol, which is based on international best practice," she said.

Drakenstein Lion Park in Paarl, a sanctuary for captive-born lions, said it had not been asked to help with the cub.

Western Cape police spokesperson Sgt Noloyiso Rwexana said the cub had come from Limpopo.

"Detectives attached to organised crime investigations followed up on information about a lion cub that was transported from Thabazimbi to the Western Cape."

A spokesperson at Marekele Animal Sanctuary in Thabazimbi said she doubted the cub was from there.

"We’re the only people in Thabazimbi with lions, and it has nothing to do with us," she said.

Capt Petrus Jansen, of the stock theft unit, said the case was the second involving lion cubs in the past month. In the first, a Strand man had reported the theft of a cub a month ago.

Jansen said the investigation into the Athlone cub was still under way and no decision had been made on pressing charges. Rwexana said three people aged between 28 and 30 were taken in for questioning.


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Re: Multiple lion cub trafficking cases under investigation in Cape Town

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Smuggled by the same people who practice Dog Fights I Bet


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Re: Multiple lion cub trafficking cases under investigation in Cape Town

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http://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/3688 ... hlone-home?

https://omny.fm/shows/the-kieno-kammies ... -was-eutha


CapeNature says it stands by its decision to euthanise the famed lion cub upon receiving it from authorities back in August.
Local conservation body CapeNature has confirmed that it euthanised the lion cub which was rescued from a home in Athlone earlier this year.

'Simba' the lion cub made headlines back in August when he was found in the suburb on the Cape Flats following a police operation.

RELATED: Lion cub worth R50k rescued from house in Cape Town

At the time, it was reported that the cub had been taken to safety.

It has now emerged that the animal was euthanised the same day that it was handed over to CapeNature in August.

CapeNature spokesperson, Loren Pavitt, says the organisation was faced with the "hardest decision to make in conservation".

Pavitt claims it was not possible to release the lion cub back into the wild or subject it to life in captivity.

According to her, euthanasia is in line with international best practice guidelines on animal's confiscated during law enforcement operations.


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Re: Multiple lion cub trafficking cases under investigation in Cape Town

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Very interesting interview, CapeNature expresses a rather radical stance of no lions in captivity

Captivity means the animal would live out his days within confinement. Sending the animal to a place of captivity was not a viable option as CapeNature does not support this in terms of our guidelines relating to the placement of confiscated wild animals.
More detail here
https://www.capetownetc.com/news/capena ... -put-down/


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Re: Multiple lion cub trafficking cases under investigation in Cape Town

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SAPS confirms a case has been opened against Cape Nature for death of Simba

Kieno Kammies speaks to Brig. Novela Potelwa, SAPS spokesperson for the Western Cape, who confirmed that charges have been laid against Cape Nature in relation to the death of the lion cub which was taken from a private residence in the Cape Town suburb of Athlone

https://omny.fm/shows/the-kieno-kammies ... ainst-cape


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Re: Multiple lion cub trafficking cases under investigation in Cape Town

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CapeNature says it stands by its decision to euthanise the famed lion cub upon receiving it from authorities back in August.
Local conservation body CapeNature has confirmed that it euthanised the lion cub which was rescued from a home in Athlone earlier this year.
What else could they do -O-


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