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 …

Putting a stop to cruelty – Lion Bone Trade

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“Putting a stop to cruelty: why South Africa’s commercial captive lion industry should be shut down for good” – World Animal Protection report, August 2023 “The report adds credence to pre-existing concerns about how some of these types of facilities operate. Specifically, that some are using legal activities – like captive breeding and canned hunting – to …

To skin a cat: how organised crime capitalises and exploits captive tiger facilities

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“Although the international trade in tigers has been prohibited since 1975 when they were classified as an Appendix I species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), tigers continue to be bred in legal and illegal captive facilities – otherwise known as tiger farms. In …

Consultation on Conservation and Sustainable Use – South Africa

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Banner Image: Courtesy of Michelle Riley HSUS The Minster (Barbara Creecy), the Republic of South Africa, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) has released, for public consultation, a Draft White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa’s Biodiversity: Government Notice 2252 of 2022 “South Africa’s Biodiversity 2022: …

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 …

South Africa’s Draft Policy Position – Elephant, Lion, Leopard and Rhinoceros

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After last year’s High-Level Panel (HLP) submission process in South Africa, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) released its HLP Report in May 2021. Among many proposals, the DFFE proposes to enhance the conservation of lion and rhino species in the wild by halting their commercially driven domestication/exploitation. …

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 …