Draft Policy Position on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Elephant, Lion, Leopard and Rhinoceros

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The Republic of South Africa, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and The Environment (DFFE) has issued its “Draft Policy Position on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Elephant, Lion, Leopard and Rhinoceros” – Government Gazette, No. 49322, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE), dated 19 September 2023. There are many contradictions between …

Year of the Tiger?

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Big cat farming in South Africa: the need for international action “South Africa is intensively breeding tigers and lions for a commercial trade in live animals and their body parts. There is also a significant commercial trade in leopard parts through hunting trophies and trade in live jaguars and their parts from captive sources. The trade …

30 Lions Euthanised After Burning in Free State Fires in Shocking Animal Cruelty Case

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Banner Image: 30 Lions Euthanised After Burning in Free State Fires. Photos suppliedOriginal article link,”30 Lions Euthanised After Burning in Free State Fires in Shocking Animal Cruelty Case,” SA People News, 3 October 2021 Thirty captive lions on a private breeding farm in the Free State, South Africa, have had …

The Vicious Circle

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It’s not just lions/big cats being cruelly exploited in South Africa’s captive breeding industry, but also vulnerable people: “One of our key findings following multiple interviews with industry stakeholders, was the exploitation, not only of South Africa’s wildlife, but the exploitation of its people too on these farms. By talking …

Challenging the Captive Lion Industry

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As we await Minister Creecy’s public announcement of South Africa’s High Level Panel recommendations regarding the captive breeding industry (and other ‘sustainable utilisation’ policies), South Africa’s  National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) recent report, “NSPCA Challenges the Captive Lion Industry” (February 2021), makes for a sombre read and reminder of the cruel, …

Breeding and trading endangered wild animals is not conservation – it threatens their survival

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Banner image “Tiger for sale in Bangkok.” By Andreas Wilson-Spath*, Daily Maverick, 9 February 2021 – This article was provided by the Conservation Action Trust. Conservationists have demonstrated that legalised trade and commercial breeding of wild animals stimulates demand, encourages poachers and smugglers and ultimately pushes species towards extinction in the wild. A …

NGO Appeal for Closure of Captive Lion Breeding Industry and Associated Activities

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PDF version of letter – NGO Appeal for Closure of Captive Lion Breeding Industry and Associated Activities, 2 December 2020   Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Environment House, 473 Steve Biko, Arcadia, Pretoria 0083, South Africa For attention Faroze Shaik, Chief of Staff [email protected]

Captive lion breeding damages SA’s tourism reputation

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By Melissa Reitz, Conservation Action Trust, 17 November 2020  Despite overwhelming worldwide opposition, including a parliamentary resolution to close down the captive lion breeding industry, SA’s government is ignoring red flags that the industry is damaging the country’s reputation and deliberating a 2020 annual trade quota for the export of lion bones. The …

Urgent questions about the welfare of wildlife that Parliament needs to ask

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Banner image: An overcrowded camp with lion cubs of the same age. (Photo: Blood Lions) By Don Pinnock, Daily Maverick, 26 August 2020 As Department of Agriculture officials file into a meeting with Parliament’s Environmental Portfolio Committee on Friday (August 28) to explain the animal welfare laws they administer and the implications …

World Wildlife Crime Report – Trafficking in Protected Species

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The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has issued a report, “World Wildlife Crime Report – Trafficking in Protected Species” 2020. “Lion, jaguar and leopard body parts are being increasingly sought as substitutes to tiger products by traffickers, a major UN report has found, but demand for ivory …