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

[Flutterby]

Well done Nedbank!

[Lisbeth]

American trophy hunters condemn South African Lion Hunting
By ADAM CRUISE - 15 JANUARY 2018 - ETURBONEWS



The Dallas Safari Club, one of the largest trophy hunting organizations has come out strongly against captive-bred lion hunting, otherwise known as ‘canned’ lion hunting as unethical and not contributing to the conservation of wild lions.

Captive-bred lion hunting is legal in South Africa despite reservations from many trophy hunters and conservationists. In November last year, the Professional Hunting Association of South Africa (PHASA) controversially reversed its previous policy against hunting of captive bred lion and approved the hunting of captive bred lions as a legitimate form of hunting. The South African Department of Environmental Affairs believes trophy hunting captive-bred lions helps toward the conservation of wild lions by deflecting trophy hunters away from vulnerable wild populations.

However, in a statement on Friday, the Dallas Safari Club (DSC) said that “to date there is no evidence or scientific research to suggest that captive bred lion hunting contributes to the conservation of wild lion,” noting that “they have a responsibility to support and encourage ethical hunting practices, even where ethical practices do not align with what is legally permitted.”

The organization’s biggest concern is that the practice of shooting captive lions completely disregards one of the fundamental concepts of hunting, namely the fair-chase. The DSC statement said: “After a thorough analysis and deliberation, the Board of Dallas Safari Club has concluded that the practice of captive bred lion hunting is not a practice that is in keeping with its values of ethical and fair chase hunting.”

Concluding in the clearest terms: “Therefore, the Dallas Safari Club does not support the practice of captive bred lion hunting.”

The Dallas Safari Club are not the only organization to voice concern over South Africa’s canned hunting practices. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the federal agency responsible for issuing import permits for importation of hunting trophies , does not allow the import of captive-bred lion trophies from South Africa, while the African Professional Hunter’s Association (APHA) in Tanzania and the Operators and Professional Hunting Associations of Africa (OPHAA) were both appalled by PHASA’s decision to support canned hunting. OPHAA have gone so far as to suspend PHASA’s membership.

It seems then that PHASA are increasingly isolated with their stance. Conservationists have welcomed the announcement by the Dallas Safari Club. Kelly Marnewick, Senior Trade Officer of the Wildlife in Trade program at the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) said: “After PHASA’s change in their constitution to allow canned hunting where they lost a lot of members as well as international credibility, it’s encouraging to see ethical hunting organizations coming out strongly against the practice.” Marnewick said the DSC statement shows there is a definite trend back towards more traditional hunting practices rather the “quick and easy fix that we’ve seen from some trophy hunters recently.”

Other concerns are the removing of lion cubs from their mothers at just a few weeks for the cub petting industry and the ill management of sub adult lions for walking-with-lion experiences.

Another contentious issue is the legal selling of captive-bred lion bones to Asia once a lion has been shot.

“We urge the DEA and the few remaining South African operators that still support captive/canned predator hunting to take note of the statements wording,” says Ian Michler, creator of the film Blood Lions, “we also call on Dallas Safari Club to ensure the enforcement of their stand, and all hunting organizations, including Safari Club International (SCI) to push for an end to captive or canned predator hunting. A significant step in this regard would be to prohibit known captive predator breeders and hunters from exhibiting at hunting conventions around the world.”

Read original article: https://www.eturbonews.com/175295/ameri ... on-hunting

[Richprins]

Another contentious issue is the legal selling of captive-bred lion bones to Asia once a lion has been shot.

This is the same concern as selling legally-farmed rhino horn...is it potentially going to help wild populations? A 20 year-old debate...

[Lisbeth]

Who carries the can?

BY IAN MICHLER - 24 JANUARY 2018 - MERCURY

Commerical exploitation is holding lions, conservation and brand South Africa captive, writes Ian Michler. Read his article here: Read his article here:

[Lisbeth]

UPDATE: Blood Lions applauds hunting club's stance on canned lion hunting

2018-02-05 06:30 - Gabi Zietsman

Blood Lions, who has been campaigning for the end of South Africa's canned lion hunting industry, applauds Safari Club International (SCI)'s announcement that they will no longer allow captive bred lion operators to advertise or market captive bred lions at its annual convention, and will reject all captive-bred lion entries for its record books.



"As the largest US based hunting organisation, it is particularly significant that SCI has now - and in no uncertain terms - denounced captive bred or 'canned' lion hunts," says Blood Lions in a statement.

SCI was featured in the campaign's award-winning 2015 documentary, including interviews with some of its members, two of which were South African hunting operators associated with the South African Movement for the Promotion of Ethical Outfitters (SAMPEO).

Blood Lions states that they "played a significant role" in helping SCI reach its decision regarding canned lions, as well as the one taken by Dallas Safari Club last month, which saw one of the largest trophy hunting organisation strongly condemn captive-bred lion hunting.

In 2016, the US Fish & Wildlife Department announced it would no longer allow American hunters to import hunting trophies of captive bred lions into the USA.

Speaking to the media, Stan Burger, the former president of Professional Hunters Association of South Africa (PHASA), says, “I can’t tell you how happy I am.

"This is like a crowning achievement for me, and the culmination of two years of hard work. I have been through two years of suffering and anguish because of certain people in the hunting industry. But now this is proof I am finally vindicated,” said Burger.

PHASA, however, believes this won't affect its relationship with SCI, and that they plan to 'set the record straight' regarding 'misinformation and falsehoods'. The organisation recently reversed its policy on the industry, permitting it as a 'legitimate form of hunting'.

This is SCI's full statement:

“In considering that the practice of the captive breeding of lions for the purpose of hunting has doubtful value to the conservation of lions in the wild, and considering that such hunting is not consistent with SCI’s criteria for estate hunting, the SCI Board (has adopted the following policy:

- SCI opposes the hunting of African lions bred in captivity.
- This policy takes effect on February 4, 2018 and applies to hunts taking place after adoption of this policy and to any Record Book entry related to such hunts.
- SCI will not accept advertising from any operator for any such hunts, nor will SCI allow operators to sell hunts for lions bred in captivity at the SCI Annual Hunters’ Convention."

[Lisbeth]

SA Predators Association drops R1 million case against Independent Media



BY ADAM CRUISE - 13 FEBRUARY 2018 - SA BREAKING NEWS

The South African PredatorS Association (SAPA) – whose members breed lions for canned hunting – have withdrawn their R1 million damages claim against Independent Newspapers and journalist, Shannon Ebrahim, and tendered payment of all legal costs.

According to a statement from Independent Media, the merits of the case were always overwhelmingly in their favour: “Our lawyers were able to build an unassailable case early on and were prepared to litigate this matter with extreme confidence. We would like to thank the numerous national and international conservation groups who assisted us in this case, and were prepared to testify on our behalf.”

SAPA served a summons on Independent Media following the publication of Ebrahim’s article, Canned lion hunting damaging Brand SA published in The Star in October last year. The article criticised the lack of conservation benefits, and ethics, of canned lion hunting. SAPA took exception to the article, especially Ebrahim’s point that the images of South Africa’s malnourished captive lions and their subsequent deaths being screened around the world were damaging South Africa’s global reputation.

Captive-bred lion hunting is legal in South Africa. In 2015, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) ignored conservationists and the public concern and agreed to allow breeders to raise lions in cages in order to be shot and killed and even sell their bones to the Asian market. Currently, there are around 8000 lions on 200 farms in order to be shot by hunters, the majority of whom come from the US.

In November last year, the Professional Hunting Association of South Africa (PHASA) controversially reversed its previous policy and fell in line with DEA’s policy that the hunting of captive bred lions is a legitimate form of hunting.

PHASA’s decision received global condemnation, especially from the hunting fraternity. Many PHASA members revoked their membership and last week, the world’s largest hunting club, Safari Club International (SCI), turned its back on South Africa’s canned lion industry, announcing it will no longer allow captively bred lion operators to advertise or market captive bred lions at its annual convention, and will reject all captive-bred lion entries for its record books.

Three weeks ago, the Dallas Safari Club, another large international hunting organization, also rejected the practice. In a statement, Dallas Safari Club said that canned lion hunting “is not a practice that is in keeping with its values of ethical and fair chase hunting.” The statement was rejected by SAPA who responded by saying captive bred hunting “is capitalism at its finest in a society mostly run on socialist values, and is the only way that wildlife is to be encouraged and expanded in our country.”

Kelly Marnewick, Senior Trade Officer of the Wildlife in Trade program at the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) disagreed , saying: “The captive breeding and shooting of lions has not been shown to contribute to the conservation of wild lions, has become the focus of a lot of negative attention and is detracting from the excellent conservation work we are doing as a country.”

Read original article: http://www.sabreakingnews.co.za/2018/02 ... ent-media/

[Lisbeth]

A lion policy SA can’t defend



BY SHANNON EBRAHIM - 9 FEBRUARY 2018

World opinion is so firmly stacked against South Africa’s policy of allowing the hunting of captive-bred lions that even the world’s largest hunting organisation has now banned the Professional Hunters Association of SA representatives from marketing lion hunts at their annual conference and refused to register South African lion trophies in their record books. To be quite frank, this is nothing but a national embarrassment.

When the US hunting umbrella organisation, the Safari Club International (SCI), met in Las Vegas last weekend they stunned the hunting world by outright rejecting captive lion imports from South Africa with immediate effect. The SCI now says it “opposes hunting of African lions bred in captivity”. If the hunting associations have finally found their consciences, why can’t we?

Why is it that South Africa has watched as the US, Australia, France and the Netherlands have all banned the importation of captive-bred lion trophies and other iconic species, not to mention the 45 airlines that have placed embargoes on all Big Five hunting trophies? How did it happen that British Airways, Air France, American Airlines, Delta, Lufthansa and the Emirates became more principled about our wildlife than we are?

South Africa is supposed to be a country that prides itself on ethical tourism and markets our country with amazing images of our wildlife and nature. More and more what the world sees is a government policy that continues to defend breeding lions for the bullet, where the majestic king of the beasts has been reduced on 200 South African farms to nothing but walking target practice.

It is not like we were not duly warned. Former Tourism minister Derek Hanekom made it quite clear that captive-bred lion hunting is damaging Brand South Africa: “Is this something that we feel proud of as a nation? My feeling is I’m not proud of it. I think we should consider stronger measures to control, if not to ban, the breeding of lions in captivity.”
What I find amazing is that even US President Donald Trump recently characterised lion hunting as a horror show in a recent tweet, saying that his own department would be hard-pressed to change his mind that “this horror show in any way helps the conservation of elephants or any other animal”. He was specifically referring to the hunting of wild lions and elephant in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Imagine what he would tweet about the shooting a lion for $20000 (R242000) in an enclosed area – a lion that has been bred for the bullet?

It is amazing that such a conservative US president, whose two sons are avid big game hunters, has chosen to side with the conservationists and go up against his own department, the hunters, and the National Rifle Association (NRA) lobby.

Just consider that the US hunting industry is immensely powerful and forms a voting bloc with the NRA of fourmillion votes, making it at times a kingmaker. There is only one explanation – US and global public opinion is so outraged at the continuing practice of lion hunting that their pressure has become greater than those who carry the gun and fund political campaigns. It really shows that the tide has finally turned.

But we don’t have to look across oceans for the criticism of our current captive-bred lion policy – our neighbours have spoken loud and clear. Botswana’s Environment Minister Tshekedi Khama pulled no punches when he was interviewed on the internationally acclaimed award-winning documentary Blood Lions and said: “We get no second chances.”

How about the fact that the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (16000 leading conservation scientists), at its last World Conservation Congress, requested its director-general to encourage South Africa to draft and enact legislation by 2020 to terminate lion breeding for the purposes of hunting.

The solution put to our Department of Environment (DEA) by numerous conservation bodies is quite simple: phase out captive-bred lion hunting over the next three years. Seeing as the 200 South African farms that are breeding lions for the bullet cannot release the cats into the wild for many reasons, their stock should be counted by the DEA. Males and females must be kept separate and not allowed to breed. The remaining cats can be hunted over the next three years and then the practice must be banned entirely.

As for the tourist outlets that market their cuddly lion-petting experiences, they should no longer be allowed to send these cubs, once grown, to farms to be hunted.

That national embarrassment was aired on the US investigative show 60 Minutes when Clarissa Ward disclosed to 18.4 million American viewers how many of our cubs go from petting outlets to be hunted.

It is time for us to find our conscience and do the right thing.

Read original article: https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/a-li ... d-13189901

[okie]

The world has started to notice that in general South Africans are not really honourable people . When it comes to money they will sell everything including their souls

[Lisbeth]

Has the Department of Environmental Affairs condoned canned lion hunting?

BY LOUISE DE WAAL - 21 FEBRUARY 2018 - THE MERCURY



Changes to Cites legislation in 2016 allowing South Africa to establish ‘annual export quotas for trade in bones, bone pieces, bone products, claws, skeletons, skulls and teeth for commercial purposes, derived from captive breeding operations’ further legitimise the canned hunting industry, says the writer.

THE Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) appears to have given the green light to the controversial practice of canned lion trophy hunting and justified the legal export of lion bones.

Its recently released non-detrimental findings (NDF) assessment for African lions states: “The export of lion trophies is not detrimental to the survival of the species.”

An NDF is a science-based risk assessment that considers the vulnerability of a species in relation to how well it is managed. It is a legal requirement for the export of all Cites appendix I and II listed species – for example, for any lion hunt to legally take place and trophies and/or bones to be exported a non-detrimental finding has to be provided by the relevant country’s scientific authority.

The NDF states that South Africa has an estimated 7000 captive-bred lions kept in around 260 breeding or captive facilities. Nearly 90% of these lions are in the Free State and the North West, and are bred for trophy hunting, with the legal export of lion bones seen as a by-product.

In September 2016 during COP17, amendments were made to Cites appendix II for lions, allowing South Africa to establish “annual export quotas for trade in bones, bone pieces, bone products, claws, skeletons, skulls and teeth for commercial purposes, derived from captive-breeding operations”. Consequently, on June 28 last year, Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa set a legal quota of 800 lion skeletons, seven months before the release of the NDF assessment for lions.

This export quota of 800 lion skeletons appears to be based on the average lion bone trade over the past 10 years. In other words, the quota is determined purely on economic grounds rather than science-based and evidence-driven.

The conservation and animal welfare community are extremely worried about this, as it legitimises the canned lion hunting industry further, at a time when the world’s largest hunting club, in the US, has turned its back on this industry.

The captive-bred lion hunting industry in South Africa has grown significantly, to the point where almost twice the number of lion trophies are exported from South Africa as from all other African countries combined.

The NDF assessment concludes that “legal local and international trade (of lion trophies and bones) poses a low to moderate, but non-detrimental risk to the species in South Africa”. Before starting to celebrate, we need to understand some of the inadequacies of the NDF.

In the NDF assessment, the overall level of risk of harvesting for lions is expressed as a relationship between species vulnerability (its biology and status) and the management system to which the species is subjected.

The NDF puts the overall risk as marginally in the category of non-detrimental to trade. This means that the overall system need fail in only one or two areas to pose a detrimental and high risk to the species.

This is especially worrying considering the NDF points out several flaws in the existing management system, especially in terms of monitoring and record keeping.

In Section 19, it describes reporting errors with Cites trade database entries, discrepancies between reported exports and imports, differences in provincial ordinances or acts, as well as hunts that are rarely monitored by conservation officials for compliance with existing norms and standards owing to a lack of resources and capacity.

Furthermore, in the absence of centralised systems for setting quotas for harvest and the issuing of permits, the NDF recognises these as areas for caution too (sections 14 and 25).

Under “major threats”, the NDF assessment quotes a study from Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria (Lindsey et al 2012a). “It is thought that they (captive lions) may serve as a buffer to potential threats to the wild population by being the primary source of hunting trophies and derived products.”

However, the issue doesn’t seem to be so black and white, as the same Lindsay et al study also recognises that “neither the limited market information nor the survey results represent sufficient data from which to draw firm conclusions about the relationships between the markets for wild and captive-bred lion hunting”. They conclude that “further research is urgently required into the issue of the trade of lion bones from South Africa to identify the potential risks and issues for lion conservation”.

Dr Kelly Marnewick, senior trade officer for the Endangered Wildlife Trust, raises concern that the NDF suggests there is “no evidence to suggest that the lion bone trade… is detrimental to South Africa’s wild lion population”.

Marnewick said: “While this may be true, the opposite is true too – there is no evidence to support that it does not have an impact.”

Section 10 on the Illegal off-take or trade states that “although there are no specific figures on the illegal trade of lions in South Africa, provincial conservation authorities indicated that the illegal use or trade of wild lion is generally small to negligible”.

However, if there are no figures, there is no scientific basis for such a statement. Do we have any idea of the size of illegal trade?

Professor John Donaldson, who chairs the South African Scientific Authority, said: “The NDF is not a general conservation document that deals with all issues relating to lion conservation.

“The NDF has a specific purpose, to determine whether international trade has a negative impact on wild lion populations and to compile and assess evidence related to this risk.”

So the NDF assessment looks at one question only, namely: Will the export of lion trophies and bones be detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild?

“It compresses the complexity of preserving the natural functioning ecosystems into mere numbers… but numbers alone are a wholly inadequate measure of the health of the environment or its species,” said Chris Mercer, the director of the Campaign Against Canned Hunting.

By justifying the canned lion hunting and lion bone trade based only on the findings of the NDF assessment, the DEA ignores many wider concerns, such as the potential impact on wild lions in other parts of Africa and the welfare of about 7 000 lions in captivity awaiting the hunter’s bullet.

Dr Paul Funston, the senior director of Panthera’s lion and cheetah programmes, said: “I believe the South African government, in allowing these practices to continue legally, shows no regard for or understanding of how these practices might affect lions, and other large cats throughout the world.”

The DEA also ignores the potential human health risk of exposure to bovine TB transmitted through lion bones.

No consideration appears to have been given to the continued concerns of animal welfare standards in the captive lion breeding industry. Only last week the NSPCA Wildlife Protection Unit was conducting inspections in the Free State.

The DEA also seems to disregard the ethical debate underlying the canned lion industry and the damage this relatively small industry can do to the reputation of Brand SA, a multibillion-rand tourism industry.

“The only conclusion that can be drawn is that the South African Scientific Authority assessment is a political finding and not a scientific one, because it is trying to legitimise the existing captive lion industry,” said Michele Pickover, the director of the EMS Foundation.

Read original article: https://www.pressreader.com/search?quer ... eSimilar=0

[Flutterby]