Lion Bones export Approved/Blood Lions

User avatar
Richprins
Committee Member
Posts: 75834
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 3:52 pm
Location: NELSPRUIT
Contact:

Re: Lion Bones export Approved

Post by Richprins »

Just wait until it emerges Government officials receive a kickback! 0()


Please check Needs Attention pre-booking: https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=322&t=596
User avatar
Lisbeth
Site Admin
Posts: 67237
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:31 pm
Country: Switzerland
Location: Lugano
Contact:

Re: Lion Bones export Approved

Post by Lisbeth »

Lion mass slaughter house

Posted: May 1, 2018

Image
© Blood Lions

Sourced from third-party site: Blood Lions Facebook page – original article published in Beeld (28 Apr 2018), written by environmental journalists Elise Tempelhoff and Marietjie Gericke

Editorial comment: Please be aware that this news relates to captive-bred lions and not wild lions. This does not diminish the seriousness and abhorrence of this situation, but it is an important distinction.

A statement released by Blood Lions claims that there has been a mass lion shooting in the Free State Province, South Africa. The Blood Lions team and other environmentalists reacted with horror to reports that a lion slaughterhouse was established ‘overnight’ on a farm outside Bloemfontein.

The team said in a statement that 19 lions were shot on this farm last week and 80 were allegedly on their way to the Free State, or were already being held on the farm to be shot and their bones to be sent to the East. However, another source said 26 lions were shot on the farm on Tuesday and 28 more were shot on Wednesday. Allegedly the lions were anaesthetised before they got shot.

Their skeletons are then boiled until the meat falls off. After that, the bones are brought to a collecting point at a free-trade branch in the Free State where everything gets prepared for export. Traders in China and Vietnam pay for what is claimed to be as much as R100,000 for a lion skeleton exported from South Africa.

Blood Lions referred to the decision of Environmental Minister Edna Molewa, who announced last year that 800 lion skeletons may be exported to the East every year.

Ian Michler, campaigner for lions and member of the Blood Lions team says that this trend should be very worrying for South Africans because the farmers of the country’s 8,000 captive held lions will start shooting them all over the country. André Steyn’s farm, Wag-’n Bietjie, outside Bloemfontein is just the first of many to follow, says Michler. “The cruel reality is that South Africa’s iconic lions are traded on an industrial scale, to provide for China’s insatiable demand for their bones.”

Beeld was told on Thursday that lions in crates were brought to the farm from Gauteng, North West and other parts of the Free State. A source who works at a game farm in North West approached Blood Lions and asked for help after two lions were shot on the farm this week, were loaded on a truck and brought to the Free State. No permits were issued for the transport of the lions from North West to the Free State.

According to legislation, a veterinarian should have shot the lions but the driver of the truck shot them himself, he said. According to him (the source), he watched powerlessly how the lions were taken away. Steyn did not respond to inquiries. Complaints about alleged animal abuse on Wag-’n Bietjie have been received. A veterinarian, Dr. Hennie Klopper of Bloemfontein, confirmed he was involved in the anaesthesia of the lions at Wag-’n Bietjie. He said he had received permits to anaesthetise the lions.

Reinet Meyer, a senior inspector of the Bloemfontein Animal Protection Association (DBV), confirmed to have been called to the farm on Tuesday. “It was about two lions held in a very small crate for two or three days before being destroyed.” Meyer says the SPCA is investigating the incident.

Adv. Antoinette Ferreira of the National Prosecuting Authority in Bloemfontein says she has no file/info at this stage and does not know whether criminal charges can be filed. She said the big question is if there were legal permits issued for this shooting. She said the National Department of Environmental Affairs issued permits according to a quota system. The other question is if cruelty was committed to the animals when they were shot or before they were shot.

The National Department of Environmental Affairs sent Beeld to the Free State Department of Economic Affairs, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs. This department did not respond to inquiries at any time. According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), export permits must also be obtained because lions are an endangered species.

Read more: Lion bone trade: New report reveals South African government’s role

See this short clip on the lion bone trade from Blood Lions

phpBB [video]


"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
Flutterby
Posts: 44150
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:28 pm
Country: South Africa
Location: Gauteng, South Africa
Contact:

Re: Lion Bones export Approved

Post by Flutterby »

:evil: :evil:


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

Re: Lion Bones export Approved

Post by Lisbeth »

Image

OPINION | How our lions are cruelly slaughtered – with government consent

BY LOUZEL LOMBARD STEYN - 4 MAY 2018 - TIMESLIVE

It’s been a bloody time for the South African canned lion industry.

Last week‚ a lion ‘abattoir’ was exposed on a farm in the Free State‚ where close to 100 lions were reportedly to be killed and their skeletons prepared for export to Asia. Shortly after news of the slaughter broke‚ a game reserve owner from Limpopo was mauled by one of his captive lions‚ Shamba. The lion was immediately shot‚ causing a social media outcry.

In a separate incident‚ six more captive lions were poisoned and their limbs cut off on another Free State Lion breeding farm‚ allegedly for use in tradition medicine.

Experts warn that the bloodshed – facilitated by the flourishing captive-bred lion industry and SA’s Department of Environmental Affairs’ recently implemented export quota of 800 lion skeletons per year – may just be the first sight of a new demon waking from the captive-bred lion industry.

The mass-killing of captive-bred lions in the Free State was exposed after captive-bred lions were transported in crates to a farm‚ to be killed and their flesh removed for the bone export trade. According to Beeld‚ a total of 73 lions had been shot last week‚ with more being transported to the Free State to suffer the same fate.

Some of the lions on the farm were kept in a small crate before being killed. Reinet Meyer‚ a senior inspector of the local SPCA‚ confirmed visiting the farm where “two lions were held in a very small crate for two or three days before being destroyed.”

According to the NSPCA‚ the incidences of the past fortnight will continue as long as the captive-bred industry is supported by government and regulations are inadequately enforced.

Blood Lions‚ who first published details of the Free State mass-slaughter‚ also reported that although a veterinarian should have supervised the killing of the animals‚ the driver of the truck shot the lions himself. According to a source who works at a game farm in North West from where lions were ‘harvested’‚ no permits were issued for the transport of the lions from the property to the Free State.

The Free State provincial environmental authority confirmed that the farm representative’s permits have since been revoked‚ but only after dozens of lions had already been killed under dubious circumstances.

Although shocking‚ the mass-shooting of canned lions is completely legal in terms of the DEA’s approved export quota of 800 lion skeletons from captive-bred animals.

The quota‚ which caused a global outcry and sharp criticism from conservation authorities noting that there was no scientific data nor conservation benefit to wild lions to back the proposal‚ was approved nevertheless; backed by the DEA’s promise that all skeletons would be closely monitored and DNA tested before export.

The ‘harvesting’ procedure from the DEA stipulated that‚ although managed at a national level‚ each province would evaluate applications for lions to be killed and exported separately‚ provided that valid and relevant permits were available and approved by the DEA.

The DEA’s and provincial authorities’ inadequate regulation of the bone trade‚ and the negative impact this would have on SA’s conservation status was highlighted in a recent report titled Cash Before Conservation: An Overview of the Breeding of Lions for Hunting and Bone Trade‚ published by the Born Free Foundation in March this year‚ warned that the DEA was damning SA’s conservation reputation to benefit a small clique of breeders by allowing canned hunting‚ trade in lion bones and sale of rhino horn while admitting its decisions are not backed by science or conservation information.

“South Africa has a world-class conservation reputation and the captive breeding of Lions for hunting and their bones is detracting from this‚” the report reads.

According to Ian Michler‚ Consultant and Campaign Co-leader to Blood Lions‚ the lion slaughter is but the “reality of South Africa’s lion bone quota taking effect”.

He warns‚ however‚ that it could be an indication of an even bigger demon than canned hunting.

“We are concerned that‚ contrary to claims from government and the breeders and canned hunting operators that the lion bone industry is a by-product of canned hunting‚ the quota may well become one of the primary drivers of the breeding. It is possible that canned hunting will become a by-product of the bone industry.”

Albi Modise of the DEA advised that the welfare of captive-bred lions was not their concern as it fell under the mandate of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries‚ when asked whether the Free State lion slaughter was what the DEA had in mind when approving the lion skeletons export quota.

Read original article: https://www.timeslive.co.za/ideas/2018- ... t-consent/


"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
Flutterby
Posts: 44150
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:28 pm
Country: South Africa
Location: Gauteng, South Africa
Contact:

Re: Lion Bones export Approved

Post by Flutterby »

Just so sick and tired of man's cruelty and stupidity! O/ O/ O/


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

Re: Lion Bones export Approved/Blood Lions

Post by Lisbeth »

‘Eventually the lion breeding industry will shoot itself in the foot’

BY RICHARD PEIRCE - 5 MAY 2018 - IOL

Image
Wildlife campaigner Richard Peirce Picture: Supplied

“Cuddle Me, Kill Me” started off as the fourth book in a Struik Nature (Penguin Random House) published series telling the true stories of actual animals. It did not finish as it began, instead, it started me on a journey of discovery which would last two years. Obi and Oliver are lions that were born into the captive predator breeding sector; they were rescued from early deaths by two of their carers, who now run a big cat sanctuary in the Western Cape called Panthera Africa.

In 2016 I watched the documentary film Blood Lions, which prompted my wife to remind me of a promise I had made to her to write a book investigating canned hunting.

Three things came together, Blood Lions ignited my interest, Obi and Oliver gave me a story to tell, and I always try to keep promises to my wife!

The canned hunting issue had been on my radar for many years, but until I saw Blood Lions I had not been aware of the many other uses to which captive bred lions are put.

Cub petting, paying voluntourism, films and adverts, walking with lions, the lion bone trade, teeth and claws for jewellery, and even the sale of lion meat are all money-making opportunities which have made lion farming a highly profitable business.

It saddens me to have written the two words “lion” and “farming” together, but my early research showed this word coupling to be wholly appropriate; the king of the animal world is being factory farmed like domestic livestock.

Part One of the book tells the story of the two rescued lions, Part Two is called “Journey of Discovery” and describes my research driving thousands of kilometres, visiting several facilities involved in lion breeding and related activities, and conducting interviews across the sector.

Lion farming ends with a bullet, and this aspect is covered in Part Three, when I explore canned hunting and take readers on a lion hunt.

“Past, Present & Future” is the final section which examines the place of lions in history, the present plight of wild lions, and the future for the species.

The attraction of being close up to an apex predator is undeniable, it is the reason why cage diving with Great White sharks is so popular, and it is also the reason why walking with lions, and cuddling cubs are now firmly established eco-tourism opportunities in South Africa.

There is of course a huge difference, the sharks are wild, whereas the lions are captive bred.
Cuddle-Me-Kill-Me_Cover-1-717x1024.jpg
It may be that eventually the lion breeding industry will shoot itself in the foot, because if they are captive bred for generations, and cease to be regarded as dangerous wild predators their attractiveness will lessen.

Captive bred big cats are highly dangerous, as has been shown many times when handlers get mauled or killed. But once the public, however mistakenly, start to regard them as large half tame pussycats, their allure will diminish.

“Hunters” from the United States made up by far the largest part of those taking part in canned hunts. Restrictions on importing trophies into the US has dramatically reduced the number of canned “hunters” coming to South Africa.

However, as mentioned previously “hunting” is now only one of the reasons for breeding lions.

I would like to think that the reduction in canned hunters and the possible eventual erosion of the “dangerous predator” label will combine to reduce the profitability of lion farming.

However, the steady increase in the value of lion carcasses alone will be reason enough for the breeding sector to continue, and probably continue to grow.

Without effective action at the consumer end in China and the Far East to stop the increase in demand, lion breeding will expand to keep pace with market forces.

The captive-bred and wild lion populations are separate, and utilisation of captive-bred animals is not widely seen, yet, as impacting negatively on wild populations.

This is why the South African government has been able to get a dispensation from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to export 800 lion skeletons a year from its captive breeders.

In the immediate future, I can see no reason why this 800 skeleton figure will be reduced, or abandoned, indeed many believe it will increase. The 800 legal skeletons being exported for the bone trade will by no means be the whole story, on top of this figure there will be smuggled skeletons, and bones and skeletons finding their way to the Far East from other African countries.

So what is the bone trade, and why are lion bones in such increasing demand?

The answer is that it is a confidence trick. Lion bones and whole skeletons are almost impossible to tell apart from tiger bones and skeletons, and so are being passed off as tiger and used to produce tiger wine, tiger cake and other products. The huge financial scale of this business is illustrated by the following example from ‘Cuddle Me, Kill Me’ which is already out of date as the figures are too low.

“A 15-18 kg lion or tiger skeleton is initially sold for $1 500 – $1 800. At an average of $1 650, the 800 carcasses in the 2017 South Africa quota are collectively worth $1 320 000 before processing. When boiled, a skeleton delivers about 60 portions (bars) of tiger or lion ‘cake’. Of course, there are middlemen between the first seller and the final consumer: the processor, wholesaler and retailer all have profit margins and, in many cases, smugglers and others will have taken their cuts too. Each bar sells for $1 000, so each skeleton is worth $60 000 by the time it has been processed and sold to the end consumer as ‘tiger’ cake. By now the 800 skeletons will collectively be worth a mind-blowing $48 000 000!”

When researching the book, I came across estimates of the size of the captive bred lion population which varied from 4 000 to 18 000 animals.

To put a perspective on this I would offer another example from the book, “In an interview with the South African Predator Association (SAPA) reported later in this book, I was told there were at least 200 predator breeders in South Africa, and there may be as many as 240. One could extrapolate that, if 200 breeders each had 20 lionesses with each producing six cubs annually, there is an annual production rate of a staggering 24,000 cubs. This is a huge figure and cannot be accurate because not all facilities will house 20 lionesses, and not all facilities will be breeding at full rates all the time. Nevertheless, I based my hypothetical calculation on 200 breeding facilities, not the SAPA possible maximum of 240; and if even just a quarter of this maximum number is born, it still indicates a staggering 6 000 cubs being bred in captivity in South Africa each year.”

Without controls the populations can only increase, which means the problem of eventually doing something about it will get more and more difficult.

If the commercial usage of captive bred lions was stopped, what do you do with thousands of dangerous animals that cannot be released into the wild? Shooting them would provoke international outrage, and feeding them would not happen once they had no value.

By allowing this sector to develop and continue to expand, the South African government has placed itself between a rock and a hard place!

In ‘Cuddle Me, Kill Me’ I tried to be fair and examine all the issues arising from captive breeding in as neutral a way as possible so that readers could make their own minds up.

I failed, and must own up to bias, because early on in our journey of discovery the awfulness of the whole captive predator breeding sector became apparent, and our open minds slammed tight shut.

Read original article: https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/even ... t-14793765


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

Re: Lion Bones export Approved/Blood Lions

Post by Lisbeth »

Lions in limbo at Free State abattoir while DEA and DAFF point fingers

Image

BY LOUZEL LOMBARD STEYN - 17 MAY 2018 - TIMESLIVE

Image
The killing caused an outcry‚ an official response from government is yet to be made‚ with both departments refusing to comment on the matter.

Captive-bred lions at a recently exposed ‘lion-abattoir’ in the Free State are waiting for their fate to be decided as both the Departments of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and Department of Agriculture and Fisheries are dodging responsibility for the recent mass-slaughter of captive bred animals for the lion bone export trade.

Although the killing caused an outcry‚ an official response from government is yet to be made‚ with both departments refusing to comment on the matter.

According to Albi Modise of the DEA‚ the department could not comment on mass-killing of lions as the welfare of these captive-bred lions fell under the mandate of the Department of Agriculture‚ Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF)‚ and was therefore not the DEA’s concern.

When approached on this statement‚ DAFF refused to comment and said that the lions weren’t their responsibility either‚ but rather that of the Free State Department of Economic and Small Business Development‚ Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DESTEA).

According to Dirk Hagen of DESTEA‚ this department answers neither to the DEA or DAFF. He says DESTEA is responsible for the issuing of permits for captive-bred lions to be killed in the Free State‚ but that the primary responsibility of the lions’ welfare resides with the SPCA and animal owners.

The current export quota‚ which allows the annual export of 800 lion skeletons from captive-bred animals per year‚ was approved by the DEA last year. Permits to fill this quota are determined provincially‚ and approved by the DEA‚ provided that there is national availability.

The blame game comes after a total of 73 lions were shot for their bones to be exported to Asia last month. Operations were halted when permits for the transport and killing of the lions were revoked.

A case of animal cruelty is being investigated by the South Africans Police Service (SAPS) after the Bloem SPCA laid charges against ‘Wag-‘n-Bietjie’ farm owner André Steyn and his farm manager‚ Johan van Dyk.

According to Reinet Meyer‚ senior inspector at the local SPCA‚ a case of animal cruelty was opened regarding two lions that were held in a very small crate for days without food or water‚ before being destroyed. These lions were brought from Predators Pride in Hartbeespoort to ‘Wag-‘n-Bietjie’ farm to be killed.

DESTEA is also conducting an investigation into the situation at Wag-‘n-Bietjie farm‚ Hagen confirmed.

According to Meyer‚ 246 more captive lions remain on ‘Wag-‘n-Bietjie’ farm – some bred by Steyn‚ and some brought to the farm from other captive-breeding facilities. Around 100 lions were reportedly marked for slaughter‚ in addition to those already killed‚ but since the farm’s permits have been revoked‚ the animals now await their fate on Steyn’s farm.

Dr Kelly Marnewick‚ Senior Trade Officer for the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s (EWT) Wildlife in Trade Programme‚ said: “No permits should be issued without comprehensive welfare regulations in place for the management and slaughter of wildlife and completely effective compliance monitoring. There is a severe lack of transparency around the trade in lion bones as well as the management of the facilities‚ the permits‚ the welfare considerations and the impacts [of the industry].”

Following the month of bloodshed in the captive lion industry‚ major Big Cat conservation groups including EWT‚ Panthera‚ WildlifeACT‚ WildTrust‚ Blood Lions and the National Association of Conservancies called on South Africa’s Minister of Environmental Affairs‚ Dr Edna Molewa‚ urging her to act fast in regulating the captive breeding carnivore industry in South Africa to avoid further bloodshed.”The time has clearly come for legislation to be put in place to end all public interactions with carnivores in South Africa. There is no justifiable rationale for the public to be interacting with carnivores in captivity‚ risking people’s lives‚” the open letter reads.

Furthermore‚ the document states that the department could be held accountable if more fatalities related to the captive-bred industry occur.

“Should the South African government continue to turn a blind eye to this issue‚ more people will be injured or killed. It is clear that the current system is flawed and a failure to react rapidly to protect people would be negligent‚” it reads.

The conservation heavyweights have urged the DEA to enforce “strict regulations for the management of all carnivores held in captivity that ensure that only qualified‚ experienced people have access to these animals and that no risks are posed to either human or animal life by unrestricted‚ unregulated access by all people”.

Marnewick further warns that‚ apart from the damage the canned lion industry is doing to SA’s conservation credibility‚ EWT is “also concerned about the possible impact of this practice on the wild lion population‚ and more so in other African countries where they are vulnerable to being poached. “The poaching of wild lions for body parts has escalated in recent years and we cannot rule out a link to the market created for lion bones from captive breeding institutions”.

Read original article: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south- ... t-fingers/


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

Re: Lion Bones export Approved/Blood Lions

Post by Lisbeth »

Image

Captive Lion Breeding, Canned Lion Hunting & the Lion Bone Trade: Damaging Brand South Africa?

BY CACH UK & SPOTS NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 2018 - REPORT

A review of the worldwide reaction to South Africa’s captive lion breeding and canned hunting industry and involvement in the lion bone trade.

Read the full report here: CACH Brand SA Review August 2018


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

Re: Lion Bones export Approved/Blood Lions

Post by Lisbeth »

Lion bones and predator farming – picking on the carcass of SA tourism
By Ian Michler• 17 August 2018

Predator breeding using lions and other species could cost South Africa over R54-billion over the next 10 years in loss of tourism brand attractiveness. This is according to a scientific report about to be released by the South African Institute of International Affairs.

According to a scientific report about to be released by the South African Institute of International Affairs, The Economics of Captive Predator Breeding in South Africa, the burgeoning lion bone trade, canned lion hunting, cub petting and “voluntourism” are doing escalating damage to the image of South Africa as a tourism destination. There is already substantial body of evidence stacked against these notorious industries says the author, Ross Harvey, and it’s going to get worse.

The report comprises two sections. The first is a formal academic review of the scientific and “grey” literature, some of which is being used by those involved in attempts to justify their commercial predator activities. The second deals with the conservation and economic claims being made, including the most recent lion bone quota of 1,500 carcasses awarded by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA).

According to Harvey, “perhaps the most surprising finding was the sheer extent to which the skeleton quota numbers for the last two years (from 800 to 1,500) appear to have no grounding in science. Also startling is how little reliable economic analysis has been conducted on this industry”.

The cruelty and brutality of industrial-scale farming of lions in South Africa has been documented by Blood Lions and others, as has the killing of predators by hunters. In the past, these have been the ugly face of this industry. But Harvey’s report adds the burgeoning lion bone trade as well as the cub petting and “voluntourism” sectors which have over the last decade become just as insidious.

Some of the principle findings in the report are that:

Based on the current literature and data available, the conservation and economic claims of the entire industry “do not correspond to reality”.

Excluding the canned hunting sector, the predator breeding industry and its other related activities may generate over R1-billion of revenue a year– less than 1% of the total tourism economy.

The opportunity costs and negative externalities associated with these industries may “undermine South Africa’s brand attractiveness as a tourism destination by up to R54.51-billion over the next decade”.

The conservation claims have no validity. Current data is based on small sample sizes dependent on interview responses. If the industry is going to make any claims of economic benefit, further analysis and data collection is needed.

The lion bone quota should be removed as there is insufficient scientific basis for awarding it. In addition, legal quotas create supply-side signals of legitimacy that promote parallel illegal markets as well as poaching for illegal stock to be laundered through “legal” markets.

Volunteers on predator facilities are taking work away from local full-time job-seekers.

While the market for canned hunts has fallen, this has not resulted in any noticeable increase in demand for wild lion trophies.

The price of lion bones is on the increase; heading over R50,000 for a carcass, and that this trade may well be replacing canned/captive hunting as the breeders primary revenue source.

The connection between captive lion breeding and organised crime has been well documented.

Of particular interest to the government, particularly the Department of Labour and the revenue authorities, will be Harvey’s findings on the much-touted job creation claims made by predator facilities and so-called sanctuaries. Rather than creating jobs, they make use of a seemingly endless stream of volunteers which is “crowding out” full-time jobs that would otherwise be available to local work-seekers.

The volunteer exchange is the most incongruous of contracts as those offering their labour for free are also asked to pay substantial sums before setting foot in a facility. In essence, the volunteers pay twice; their cash in dollars or euros that provide substantial revenue streams for the operators, and then they work for free, without pay.

It may seem inconceivable that anyone would offer both their cash and labour to scrub lion cages, mend fences and feed animals among many other chores. But as Harvey points out, this happens because of the misleading or false conservation claims used to lure them.

Unsuspecting volunteers from around the world are prepared to make these sacrifices thinking they are making a contribution to securing the future of wild lions. A further lure is the chance to cuddle and bottle-feed newly-born cubs ripped from their mothers. 14

The report highlights the economic contributions of these industries as being relatively small. However, it is the first to quantify the significant potential losses to Brand South Africa.

Concerns about the future of lion hunting and breeding are being noted at the highest level and next week Parliament will hold a two-day colloquium to hear a range of viewpoints. DM


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

Re: Lion Bones export Approved/Blood Lions

Post by Lisbeth »

The Economics of Captive Predator Breeding in South Africa

BY ROSS HARVEY, SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - AUGUST 2018

Image

Executive Summary

In July 2018, without public consultation or scientific substantiation, South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) raised its annual lion skeleton export quota to 1,500, up from 800 the year before. These skeletons are supplied by the predator breeding industry, which breeds lions in captivity for multiple and sometimes overlapping purposes.

This is a report in two parts.

The first is a formal academic review of the scientific and ‘grey’ (reports and newspaper articles) literature pertaining to the predator breeding industry. It interrogates the most recent attempt to quantify the economic significance of the industry and finds its conclusions questionable for a number of reasons. One of its claims, for instance, is that the predator breeding industry provides positive conservation value. The review examines this claim against the available literature and finds it dubitable. Even if the conservation impact was neutral, it is not clear that the genetic impairment and welfare problems justify the continuation of the industry, even under the banner of ‘sustainable utilisation’ and the ‘wildlife economy’ doctrine. This is especially important if the theoretical possibility of future adverse conservation consequences is strong. Finally, it examines the dynamics of the lion bone trade and questions whether predator breeding can satisfy demand for tiger and lion derivative parts in East-Southeast Asia. If, as it seems, legal bone exports provide a laundering channel to feed the illicit wildlife trade, South African authorities are well advised to reconsider their current position and instead set the export quota to zero.

The second part of the report provides a framework for assessing the claims – made by the predator breeding industry – of economic significance and positive conservation value. The literature is relatively clear that these claims do not correspond to reality, but no work yet exists in the public domain that tentatively quantifies the costs and benefits of the industry. The word ‘tentatively’ is used because the next steps required are a full forensic audit of the industry and a more rigorous cost-benefit analysis using the most appropriate scientific methods. Neither of these research propositions can be fulfilled without a full dataset of the industry and its revenue flows. This report aims to provide a foundation on which future work can be built. In doing so, it provides more data than existing work to date. From that data, it demonstrates that current efforts to quantify the economic significance of the predator breeding industry are inadequate and likely misleading. For instance, jobs currently undertaken by volunteer tourists crowd out local labour participation. One major finding, for instance, is that potentially as many as 84 full time jobs that would otherwise be available to local job-seekers are currently undertaken by volunteer tourists who falsely believe that they are contributing to conservation. The report also demonstrates that the industry in its current form has no conservation value. To market it in that way is therefore disingenuous. In summary, the opportunity costs and negative externalities of the captive predator breeding industry in South Africa warrant substantive public policy reform and highlight the urgent need for more well-informed regulation.

Read full report: Harvey_Final Report – Captive predator Industry
Harvey_Final-Report-Captive-predator-Industry.docx
(1.47 MiB) Downloaded 110 times


"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
Post Reply

Return to “Lions and Other Endangered Animals Management and Poaching”