More lion carcasses to be exported thanks to DEA

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Re: More lion carcasses to be exported thanks to DEA

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Department of Environmental Affairs Increase Captive Lion Bone Export Quota to 1,500

17 July 2018

In 2017, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) announced an annual export quota of 800 skeletons (with or without the skull) for the international trade in lion bones. This has now been increased to 1,500 skeletons, effective from 7 June 2018.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and partner organisations raised several concerns regarding the quota published in 2017 in our Technical Response to the DEA’s Proposed Captive Lion Bone Export Quota.[1] We note with concern that many of these have yet to be addressed and further:

- There is still no evidence to show that the regulated trade in lion bones will not drive demand for wild lion projects, or evidence to show that it will alleviate pressure on wild lion populations.
- Field observations indicate that wild lions in southern Africa, specifically Mozambique, have been under increasing threat for their parts. The Greater Limpopo Carnivore Programme has recorded an escalation in the number of wild lions poached on the Mozambican side of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, with a marked increase since 2015. They report that 26% of the lion population in this park has been lost due to poaching for their body parts.[2]
- In the year immediately preceding the quota (June 2016 to May 2017), 13 captive bred lions in South Africa were poached for their body parts. The EWT notes with concern that during the first year of the quota (June 2017 to May 2018) there were 12 poaching incidents, resulting in 31 lions being killed. These preliminary figures suggest that the poaching of captive lions in South Africa has more than doubled since the quota was established.
- The mandate to regulate welfare of captive carnivores remains confused as both the DEA and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries maintain that the welfare mandate is not their responsibility. We continue to have serious concerns about the welfare of captive lions.[3] For instance, in May 2018, over 70 lions awaiting slaughter at an abattoir on the Wag-'n-Bietjie farm in the Free State were exposed to conditions that resulted in a case of animal cruelty being opened with the South African Police Service by the Bloemfontein Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. This case is still under investigation. Unacceptable welfare conditions include lions being held in small crates and being held without food or water.[4] This case clearly illustrates an absence of proper monitoring and compliance with the law by participants in this trade. It is clear that South Africa is unable to ensure the adequate welfare and husbandry of lions bred for their bones.
- At the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) World Conservation Congresses held in Honolulu, Hawaii, in September 2016, a formal motion was passed to stop the canned hunting and non-conservation based captive breeding of lion and other predators. The international position is clearly against the captive breeding of wild animals for their parts.
- Finally, we are concerned for the reputational damage to Brand South Africa and the negative impact that lion bone farming and the related captive lion industry is having on South Africa’s world-class conservation reputation.

The EWT is not aware of any formal public participation process or consultation prior to the decision to increase the annual lion bone export quota, and we have no further information on how or why this decision was made.

The EWT supports the sustainable use of natural resources when it directly contributes to species and habitat conservation efforts, and where communities meaningfully and directly benefit. We do not believe that farming lions for their parts is sustainable use but rather economic exploitation to benefit a select few.

The EWT calls for more transparency in decision making and calls on DEA to review this decision after full consultation and public participation has been undertaken. The EWT further calls for the welfare concerns surrounding captive carnivores to be addressed before any further decisions around the lion bone trade are taken.


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Re: More lion carcasses to be exported thanks to DEA

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Dodgy skeleton traders and lion slaughterhouses exposed in damning report

By Don Pinnock• 19 July 2018

The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has increased South Africa’s lion bone export quota from 800 to 1,500 a year, despite being aware that some skeletons are being exported to known wildlife traffickers in Asia. It also thereby sanctions the existence of lion slaughterhouses.

After a document was leaked in North West, the government this week finally made public its decision to almost double the lion skeleton export quota to 1,500. By chance, this coincided with the release of an explosive report, The Extinction Business, about the lion bone trade by the EMS Foundation and Ban Animal Trading.

South Africa is already the largest exporter of lion bones to mainly Vietnam, Lao PDR and Thailand, countries which are at the nexus of the illegal wildlife trade. The bones are mainly used for fake tiger bone wine, which is a bogus health drink.

In a letter announcing the quota, the DEA says the decision is based on findings from a survey (in year one of a three-year scientific research process) by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). The survey – Interim Report 1: South African Lion Bone Trade – mentions only the 800 quota. One of the study’s key researchers seemed startled by the 1,500 claim:

“The wording of that quota letter … is a bit unclear concerning our involvement. All decisions were made by the Scientific Authority and DEA and we provided no input on what the quota should, or should not, be. We correctly excluded ourselves from this process, and we’ll clarify that soon. Since DEA weren’t obliged to keep us informed about the decision on making the quota, it might surprise you to know that I didn’t hear about it until yesterday afternoon.”
don-jabula.jpg
Jabula who waited in this small cage for days before being killed for his bones. EMS Foundation pic

The implication is that the “scientific” reasons given for the new quota by the DEA are untrue. Confirmation of this came from the answer by DEA’s Mpho Tjlane to a question from journalist Adam Cruise about why the quota was upped. He replied that it was increased “because they have surplus stockpiles of lion bones and they want to get rid of them”.

Very little science in that.

There’s a large issue hiding behind the word “they”. International distaste for canned lion hunting saw membership of South Africa’s main hunting associations’ (PHASA and CHASA) to the European hunting community revoked and “canned” trophies can no longer be registered with Safari Club International in the US. The resulting drop in foreign hunters has forced the industry to refocus and amplify the bone trade.

Benefits for the few

According to the Extinction Business report, that refocus seems to be benefiting very few people. They appear to be an interconnected group of less than 10 South Africans, all somehow linked to canned lion hunting and who are factory-farming lions for bone export.

“It is confounding,” Dr Paul Funston of Panthera is quoted in the report as saying, “that a country whose iconic wild lions are such a source of national pride, not to mention tourist revenue, would take such risks as to sustain a marginal captive breeding industry that is condemned globally for its shameful practices.” 1

According to information published on the internet by DEA in 2011, the South African traders at the time were SH Rothman, JP Wapenaar and GJ van Zyl of Hatari Taxidermy; T Cloete, Sandra Linde Taxidermy, MP Steyl of Williamson Savuti Taxidermy, and JJ van der Westhuizen of Letsatsi la Africa.

Asian importers were listed in CITES permits as S Durosagham, Sipharpra Duarseram, Vixay Keosovang, Jacek Raczka and Bounpasong Paphatsalang. Keosavang is one of the world’s most notorious illicit wildlife traders and the US has placed a $1-million bounty on his head leading to his capture, a fact that the DEA could hardly not have known.

Forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan has discovered links between Sandra Linde Taxidermy, Rothmann, Steyl and Van Der Westhuizen directly to Keosavang.

By 2017 there were just four South African exporters listed on CITES permits and seven importers in Vietnam, Lao PDR and Thailand. A number of importers the report found to be dodgy.

“Although the official CITES export permits contain a name and address of the supposed exporter and importer,” says the report, “many of the destination addressees and addresses could not be satisfactorily verified, have little or no public profile and in some cases may be linked to illegal activities.

“Moreover, there are no telephone numbers or identification or passport numbers on the permits which makes them even harder to authenticate or validate.”
don-frikkie.jpg
Frikkie Jacobs of Shigalana with dead lion. from his Facebook page

However, using Facebook trawls, the report’s researcher in Asia linked a number of recipients on the permits to poaching and black market trading.

According to the report:

“The fact that South Africa was issuing CITES export permits to criminal syndicates and questionable destinations after they had knowledge of the Keosavang Network speaks to gaping loopholes in CITES permitting mechanisms.”

One of the key problems with the global trafficking of wild animals and their body parts is that the key players often diversify, own mainstream businesses and have powerful and complicit connections in government.

In Lao PDR three legal companies have been publicly identified as being big players in the illegal wildlife trade and breaking international and Lao law: Xeosavang Trading Company (run by Vixay Keosavang), Vinasakhone and Vannaseng Trading Company.

Despite this, The Guardian newspaper found that each of them has been supported by deals with the Lao government. Despite Keosavang’s clear involvement in wildlife slaughter and trafficking cases in Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa, he has never been arrested.

The Laotian government has ignored international pressure and has authorized similar agreements with other companies with a track record of wildlife crime, such as Vinasakhone and Vannaseng.

Industrial-scale killing

When the original quota was legalised in South Africa, the DEA claimed the bone industry was merely a by-product of the trophy hunting industry. If so, the skull, jaw and clavicles would be absent from the skeleton exports because they’re required to mount a trophy. However, Extinction Business researchers found that 91% of the skeletons that went out in 2017 included skulls:

“It can therefore be concluded, contrary to claims from government, that South Africa’s lion bone trade is not simply a by-product of the canned trophy hunting industry. Big cats are being commercially bred for their bones.”
Don-boskoppie.jpg
Lions in Boskoppie Lion & Tiger reserve. EMS Foundation pic

The shift from hunting to bones has necessitated industrial-scale killing. Earlier this year a whistle-blower – Armand Gerber, a manager at Predator’s Pride – disclosed the existence of a lion slaughterhouse in the Free State established to kill lions for their skeletons. It is situated on the farm Wag ’n Bietjie in the Glen district outside Bloemfontein and owned by Andre Steyn.

Lion farmers told Beeld journalist Marietjie Gericke in that there were more lion slaughterhouses in the Free State – including one in the Winburg district – and that at least 400 lions had been killed there in the past year.

There is also evidence, says the report, that some of the local traders are cheating.

“Given that the mean average of a full lion skeleton is nine kilograms, our examination of a sample of 10 skeleton consignments exported in 2017 indicates that the individual skeletons actually exported on average weighed between 11 and 30 kilograms, indicating multiple skeletons per consignment.”

This means exporters are exceeding the quota – unchecked by CITES.

Serious concerns

There are now serious concerns by some politicians and civil society environmental organisations about the DEA’s understanding and, more important, its intentions in dealing with the canned trophy hunting industry and how so few people can seemingly hold the country to ransom over such questionable trade.

These concerns appear to have reached the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs. On August 21/22 it will be hosting a colloquium on the issue entitled Lion breeding for hunting in South Africa; destroying or promoting the conservation image of the country?

Responding to the bone quota, IFP Chief Parliamentary Whip in Parliament, Narend Singh, said “these appalling policy initiatives by government, which fly directly in the face of international best conservation practice, beggar all belief and raise serious questions as to the motivations that inform them.

“The practice is nothing more than a commodification of an apex African predator for the pecuniary benefit of a small handful of people, at great and distressing expense to Brand South Africa.”

The Extinction Business report echoes his concern.

“DEA’s peculiar (and many would argue incomprehensible) interpretation of ‘sustainable use’ means the industry is de facto fully supported by the State, despite widespread opposition to the practice which is considered extremely cruel, linked to international criminal networks, a threat to Africa’s wild animals population and run by a small monopoly of operators purely for financial gain.”

In the light of the involvement of organised criminals in the ongoing poaching of rhino and the difficulties in controlling this activity, asks the report, how will, South Africa prevent laundering and other illegal activities with regard to the lion bone trade?

When asked about the welfare of lions bred for the lion bone trade, DEA spokesperson, Albi Modise, brushed it off.

“The welfare of captive-bred lions is not our concern as it falls under the mandate of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.”

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article ... g%20report


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Re: More lion carcasses to be exported thanks to DEA

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“The welfare of captive-bred lions is not our concern as it falls under the mandate of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.”
The above is a very strange comment. Isn't it the DEA, who has raised the quota? :-?

This whole business makes me sick :evil:


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Re: More lion carcasses to be exported thanks to DEA

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Head should roll over “lie” decision made on lion bone quota

BY ELISE TEMPELHOFF - 17 JULY 2018 - NETWERK24

NGO Ban Animal Trading (Bat) wants the head of Mpho Tjiane, the South African representative to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to roll for lying about the Department of Environmental Affairs’ decision to increase South Africa’s lion bone export quote to 1500 skeletons. Last Wednesday, Tjiane, Deputy Director CITES Policy Development & Implementation at Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), told Smaragda Louw, founder of Bat, that no decision has been made by the department on the quota.

However,in the interim, a letter from Edna Molewa, Minister of Environmental Affairs, to Manketsi Tlhape, Member of Executive Council for the Department of Rural, Environmental and Agricultural Development in the North West Province. was leaked to the media. The letter, issued to Tlhape during the first week of June 2018, states that the DEA confirmed a quota of 1500 skeletons.

Louw said she is furious about being lied to and is willing to supply an affidavit. “Why would he lie about it? Why would he lie to an organisation that fights for animal rights? It is absurd. Tjiane should be fired,” Louw said. As an alternative, she suggested that Tjiane should face a disciplinary hearing.

Netwerk24 submitted questions to Tjiane about the matter. He requested that all questions should be directed to Albi Modise, spokesperson for the department. Modise answered via Whatsapp, saying that “these type of questions” may not be asked to Tjiane. He did not answer any questions that followed, however, it is clear that Modise read the messages.

Louw implies that Tjiane probably lied to protect lion breeders or because he might have had to defend the decision at the CITES deliberation if the news was leaked. Louw said that South Africans cannot allow people who lie about the welfare of animals to make decisions about the environment.

The welfare organization, Blood Lions, said in a statement on Tuesday that they abhor the department’s decision to proceed with the trading of lion bones. The organization has worked endlessly for the past 21 years to shut the canned lion industry down.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) said they are “very worried” about Molewa’s decision. They said there is no evidence to prove that increasing the quota for lion bones will decrease captive lion poaching. According to the EWT, there is a lot of confusion around who is responsible for captive bred lions . The DEA decides on their fate (whether they should be hunted or killed for their bones) while the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) is responsible for their welfare.

Various organisations are creating awareness online by Tweeting the hashtag #EdnaMustFall.

*In the interim, Safari Club International announced to the Professional Hunter’s Association of South Africa (PHASA) that they will not be attending or sponsoring PHASA’s annual meeting this year, reason being that PHASA promotes canned trophy hunting.

Read original article: https://www.netwerk24.com/Nuus/Omgewing ... s-20180717


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Re: More lion carcasses to be exported thanks to DEA

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‘Shame on South Africa’ – environmental NGO slams the country’s decision to export 1‚500 lion skeletons

BY NICO GOUS - 17 JULY 2018 - TIMESLIVE

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EMS Foundation Michele Pickover has lashed out at Department of Environmental Affairs’decision to allow for and regulate the exporting of lion skeletons
Image: DANIEL BORN


Exporting lion bones is killing South Africa’s brand.

So says director of the environmental non-profit organisation EMS Foundation Michele Pickover who said in response to the new lion bones export quota the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) Minister Dr Edna Molewa announced on Monday.

completely gobsmacked. The fact that we are actually taking lions and killing them for their bones‚ shame on South Africa. The worst part [is]that tourists will not want to come to this country‚” Pickover said.

“They [DEA] might be supporting it [the canned lion industry]‚ but they’re slitting their own throats‚ because they are killing brand South Africa and killing tourism in this country.”

Molewa and the DEA said on Monday that 1‚500 lion skeletons can be exported annually from South Africa and is effective retrospectively from June 7.

The DEA said the quota was based on new evidence from a research project by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and the universities of Witwatersrand (Wits)‚ Oxford and Kent‚ which analyse and monitor the lion bone trade in South Africa.

According to the DEA‚ the research found: • There is a growing stockpile of lion bones due to restrictions; • There has been no discernible increase in the poaching of wild lions‚ but there appears to be an increase in the poaching of captive bred lions for body parts such as heads‚ faces‚ paws and claws; and • The captive breeding industry is in a state of flux as breeders respond in different ways to the United States’ restrictions on trophies and the imposition of the skeleton export quota.

Pickover said she had not seen the research‚ but would request it “urgently”. She said some of the research by these institutions found there was reason for concern.

“But the biggest question is: Why are they doing this? There is so much damning evidence to show there is a huge problem with lion bone trade‚” Pickover said.

“There just is not enough information and as a conservation agency they should be using the precautionary principle which is‚ if you don’t know enough‚ don’t do it.”

Pickover said the EMS Foundation would release a report on the lion bone trade later this week. She described it as “pretty explosive”.

The DEA said there was a demand for lion bones and‚ if supply was restricted from the captive breeding facilities‚ dealers might seek illegal ways to source bones or start poaching lions.

It added: “South Africa has learned through its experience with rhino and abalone poaching that these illegal supply chains are very difficult to disband once they become established‚ and seeks to avoid such a scenario materialising.”

Pickover claimed‚ however‚ that once trade was legalised it became a cover for the illegal trade.

“Abalone is a perfect example of that and now we have a domestic rhino issue as well.”

The Department of Environmental Affairs will regulate the implementation of quotas and the following process must be followed: • Applications to export lion bones must be lodged with provincial conservation authorities; • Provincial conservation authorities must then confirm the quota is available with the DEA; • Provincial conservation authorities will assess the application and issue or deny a permit; • The permit must show the permitted quota; • All skeletons must be packed separately at the supplier; • Skeletons must be weighed‚ tagged and a DNA sample taken; and • Skeletons must be inspected and weighed when they leave the country and checked against permits.

South Africa is one of only seven countries in the world that has substantial lion populations. There are 3‚500 African lions in the wild and about 7‚000 are kept in 260 captive breeding facilities.

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


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Re: More lion carcasses to be exported thanks to DEA

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Roaring trade in lion bones fills gap in the market for tiger parts

BY JANE FLANAGAN - 18 JULY 2018 - THE TIMES

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South Africa claims that a stockpile of bones has been created by restrictions on international game hunters taking home their “trophies”
STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/GETTYIMAGES


The Far East’s growing demand for animal body parts will fuel the export of 1,500 lion skeletons from South Africa to Asia over the next year, filling a gap in the market left by moves to protect endangered tiger species.

South Africa’s legal and controversial lion-bone trade began a decade ago, mostly to meet the shortfall in tiger body parts that have been used in Chinese medicine for centuries as cures for ills including ulcers, malaria and a diminished libido.

The South African government has justified the trade in bones as a by-product of the “hunting industry” and claimed that the quota that it allows to be sold abroad — which will almost double in the next year — has been prompted by a growing stockpile.

Authorities say that the stockpile has been created by countries including the United States imposing restrictions on imports of hunting trophies from big cats kept in captivity. “All activities involving the African lion, including hunting, possession and trade, are regulated through a permit system, part of our policy of sustainable utilisation of natural resources, which is supported by solid scientific evidence,” Edna Molewa, the environment minister, said.

The trade is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) and applications to export bones need to be logged with provincial authorities. All skeletons have to be weighed, tagged and have DNA samples taken to prove the animal’s provenance, Ms Molewa said.

Those who oppose the trade claim that increasing numbers of lions are being raised and slaughtered purely to meet the lucrative Asian market and that the official quota accounts for only part of the true business, with the rest of the market driving poaching and illegal trafficking.

Michele Pickover, director of the conservation charity the EMS Foundation, said that investigations by her organisation had revealed that “many more” than the 800 permitted lion skeletons left South Africa last year.

“We also believe that around 90 per cent of the lion skeletons that went to Asia still had their skulls, which means they were not hunted or the skulls would have been kept as trophies,” she said.

“Growing an industry which slaughters lions in abattoirs specifically for their bones is indefensible and cannot be justified.”

Paul Funston, from the charity Panthera’s lion and cheetah programme, claimed that the trade in bones would put captive and wild lions at greater risk, “accelerating the slaughter of wild lions for their parts in neighbouring countries”.

The hunting industry brings in an estimated £565 million a year to South Africa. About 9,000 trophy hunters visit the country each year, most of whom come from the US.

Lion skeletons can fetch £125 a kilo, about £3,800 a lion, with another £840 for the skull if the hunter doesn’t keep it as a trophy.

Since 2008 more than 6,000 lion skeletons from South Africa have been legally sold. About 98 per cent go to Vietnam, Thailand and Laos, where the bones are boiled down and made into a cake-like product that can sell for about £13,000 a kilo and is meant to give those who eat it the strength of a big cat.

Read full article: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/roar ... -swrnh5m08


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The whole thing is disgusting!! :evil: :evil:


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and not at all transparent :evil:


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Re: More lion carcasses to be exported thanks to DEA

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https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News ... e-20180719

Presidency website down as hacker appears to link attack to lion bone trade
2018-07-19 19:42
Jenna Etheridge

The Presidency website was down on Thursday evening as a hacker seemingly claimed responsibility on Twitter and said the attack was linked to the lion bone trade.

President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson Khusela Diko told News24 that they were aware the website was down but not aware of any hacking.

"We are still looking into why it is down," she said.

The environmental affairs department announced this week that it had approved an annual quota of 1 500 lion skeletons for export, amid opposition from some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and conservationists.

Hacker @VirusSec posted a photo of the website homepage along with the words "Greed has taken over the African presidency long ago" and hashtag #OpFunKill, which seemed to be linked to a campaign which aimed to protest against the killing of animals.

When a Twitter user asked if the site was attacked because of the lion bone trade, the hacker replied "true".

The account also posted a screenshot on Twitter that appeared to show computer code attacking the presidency's domain.

It attached President Cyril Ramaphosa's official twitter handle to make sure his team could see the screenshot.

The same account claimed responsibility in August last year for taking down the Government of South Africa's website, tweeting: "This is for allowing the sale of rhino horn and lion bones."


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