There are 7,834 captive lions in 348 facilities in South Africa.
A report released yesterday by Barbara Creecy, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), detailed findings of a Task team (MTT) led by Kamalasen Chetty, which was established in December 2022, to investigate Voluntary Exit Options and Pathways from the Captive Lion Industry.
Of the 7,843 lions held in captivity, a chunk of them are in the Free State (over 3,000).
The Free State breeds and exports lions to the North West and Limpopo for captive hunting.
Since 2005, lions in captivity increased from 2,500 to 6,200 in 2013.
According to the MTT report, there was a decrease in the number of lions per facility, which could point to either downsizing or diversification of species, which could include other captive carnivore species, such as tigers, to replace lions.
Tigers are not indigenous to South Africa, and are facing risks similar to those associated with lion hunting and commercial international trade.
The MTT considered a lion as captive unless actively managed under the LiMF (Lion Management Forum of South Africa) or part of managed wild populations as defined by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) database.
The team collected and analyzed data from government sources, provinces, and
compliance inspections.
The report categorized industry income streams to include breeding and keeping lions, trophy and domestic hunting industry, non-consumptive tourism and as well as live trade of lion bones, parts and derivatives to South East Asia.
According to the report, stockpiles of lion bones are estimated at 3,163 skeletons and whole carcasses, with no legal export quotas since 2019, raising concerns about potential illegal trade.
South Africa is the primary exporter of lion hunting trophies across sub-Saharan Africa with 80% of all trophies originating from the captive population between 2009−2013 (Di Minin et al., 2016). According to the CITES, South Africa declared the export of more than 14,000 lion trophies from the captive population between 1999-2021, including 10,223 hunting trophies, 1,212 bones, 798 skeletons, 753 claws, 482 skulls and 223 skins.
Back then, approximately 60% of these lion trophies were destined for the United States. But recently, South Africa exported more than 400 captive bred lion trophies per year to Germany, Spain, Scandinavian countries, China, Russia and Eastern European countries.
The domestic trophy hunting market, often referred to as recreational hunting, had an average annual income of ZAR 230,000 per facility between 2012−2017 (S1 Table K in Williams and ‘t Sas-Rolfes, 2019).
The Minister said yesterday that the report should be understood in the broader policy context of the White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa’s Biodiversity and the Policy Position on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Elephant, Lion, Leopard and Rhinoceros that was approved last week by Cabinet for implementation.
In summary, the key recommendations of the task team were that cabinet approves the further engagement of voluntary exit candidates to finalise the pathways and exit terms.
The Department is also planning to prohibit captive lion breeding in the medium term to safeguard benefits of voluntary exit.
The report also stated that the industry is not aligned with the constitutional recognition of the right to a healthy environment, or the policy direction of the country, namely with the recently published White Paper on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa’s Biodiversity, and, in particular, with the objectives in the draft Policy Position on the Conservation and Ecologically Sustainable Use of Elephant, Lion, Leopard and Rhinoceros to end commercial captive lion practices.
Pictures: DEFF & MTT Report (February 2024)
Read more: https://earthnews365-store.sellfy.store/