Johannesburg:
In a major policy move, the South African government has decided to end its multimillion-dollar lion-breeding industry, which supplies cubs for tourism, lions for trophy hunting and bones for traditional medicine.
It also decided to halt further trade in rhino horns and ivories. Though the policy is yet to be made into law, if implemented, it will end the world’s legal lion bone trade. South Africa is the only country which is allowed lion hunting, as long as they are captive-bred, by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Earlier this week, Minister of Forestry and Fisheries and Environmental Affairs Barbara Creecy launched a report of a high-level panel, which recommended ban on breeding of lions in captivity.
The report also called for South Africa to discuss conditions for trade in ivory rhino horns, which are much sought after in the Far East as an aphrodisiac. “Implementing these recommendations will result in both protection and enhancement of South Africa’s international reputation, repositioning the country as an even more competitive destination of choice for ecotourism and responsible hunting,” Creecy said at the launch of the report on Sunday. ”The panel noted that the captive lion industry poses risks to the sustainability of wild lion conservation, resulting from the negative impact on ecotourism which funds lion conservation and conservation more broadly,” she said.
The panel recommended that South Africa discontinue captive breeding of lions or use the captive animals or their derivatives commercially.
“I have requested the department to action this accordingly and ensure that the necessary consultation for implementation is conducted,” Creecy said.
She, however, underlined that the government is not against the hunting industry per se.
“Preventing hunting of captive lions is in the interest of the authentic wild hunting industry. It will boost the hunting economy, our international reputation and the jobs that this industry creates,” the minister said.
The captive lion breeding industry, which support ‘canned’ lion hunting where trophy hunters shot down the animals breeded in captivity, did not contribute to conservation and is doing damage to South Africa’s conservation and tourism reputation, the report said.
There are currently about 350 facilities in South Africa housing between 8,000 and 12,000 captive lions, according to Panthera, a nonprofit organisation focused on wild cat conservation. The lions often live in crowded and dirty conditions. For captive rhinos, partnerships with private owners will be sought to encourage conservation outcomes for the species, while enhancing potential benefit streams, Creecy said.
“As South Africa protects the largest component of the world’s rhino population, we intend to play a global leadership role in this. For elephants, although the country holds a relatively smaller portion of the population, we want to play a key role to bring African consensus on ivory trade, she said. “We have accepted that the country adopt the recommended positions on ivory and rhino horn trade, such that we will not be making proposals to CITES for further trade in these derivatives until certain conditions have been met,” the minister said.
