Exploited Lions in South Africa (1 Viewer)

Hi there

http://www.wildlifeaid.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=1&Itemid=56

I have watched Wildlife SOS over the last 2 nights. Simon Cowell the eccentric Wildlife person has taken an interest in the plight of neglect, and hunting of Lions in South Africa

Currently there appears to be a small dividing line between taking care of Lions who has become victims of 'abuse' by mankind to others who need to be looked after before releasing into the wild.

Now there seems to be a growing trend in abusing Lions and hunting them down through a system
called 'canning'.
'Canning' means as an operative word, means the Lion is tethered to a tree and shot for pure pleasure
This so called sick sport allows the hunter to get a maximum of £10.000 British money per lion as a trophy.

To add insult to injury Lion nurseries or Farms are being provided for the pure pleasure of breeding of Lions. The whiter they are they are the more important they seen to be. A lot of inbreeding and neglect takes place as long as there are cubs that is all that matters - only to be shot at the end of the day.

So sick, and so unfair why this so called sport is considered a modern trend for some sick people. why, why, why ......... :C

Grrr to this one from me :C

Kathy
x

There is an article pertinent to this issue here:

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_2395110,00.html


The legislation to prevent the hunting of canned lions and other animals was to have been introduced as from 1 June last year. But it seems that certain interested parties have formed a very strong pressure group to get the legislation changed. Money is the reason.

Sal said:

There is an article pertinent to this issue here:

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_2395110,00.html


The legislation to prevent the hunting of canned lions and other animals was to have been introduced as from 1 June last year. But it seems that certain interested parties have formed a very strong pressure group to get the legislation changed. Money is the reason.

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hi Sal

Thank you for your article. It made interesting reading. I see that there is a chance to write a letter to associated bodies to complain about the issues in hand.

It just shows how entombed this crazed form of hunting has become over the years. More so now so it seems

There appears to be enough 'dirty' money being passed around hunting parties, and animal breeders. It would be better for the money to be confiscated and used to ban this 'sick' sport

Name and shame the parties comes to mind. Place their names in the local press, and make sure people know what they are really like. :C

I would not like to find one of my neighbours has got this cruel, unsavoury streak in them. :C

Peewit said:

There appears to be enough 'dirty' money being passed around hunting parties, and animal breeders. It would be better for the money to be confiscated and used to ban this 'sick' sport

Name and shame the parties comes to mind. Place their names in the local press, and make sure people know what they are really like. :C

I would not like to find one of my neighbours has got this cruel, unsavoury streak in them. :C

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Hi Kathy

To me, this is the most telling part of that article:

Madikizela said a decision was taken by his department late last year to "temporarily exclude" lions from the TOPS definition of large predators, following legal action from the SA Predator Breeders Association (SAPBA).

"It was decided that by changing the definition, the implementation of the Threatened or Protected Species Regulations will not be jeopardised, as SAPBA wanted to stop the implementation of TOPS," he said.

Basically, it sounds as though SAPBA has pressurised the government. The only way it could do that is financially. The type of person who comes to this country to hunt is very well off as a rule and spends a lot of money here. The kind of income that is generated by these people (and remember they don't all hunt lions) could, I guess, be more or less wiped out by SAPBA if they wanted to. In 2006, for example, these hunters brought in R1 billion revenue. To my mind the hunters themselves should carry as much blame as those who breed the lions, because their demands create the market.
Here is another quote from another source:

While hunters also covet the African buffalo, leopard, rhino and elephant, the lion is still ``the king of the bush,'' says Apie Reyneke, 51, owner of AA Serapa Safaris, a hunting lodge in North West Province. ``Everyone wants to shoot a lion.''

Visitors at Serapa pay $700 each day to stay at the lodge and hunt the most dangerous species, on top of fees for each animal killed. A French couple spent $70,000 in one week this year, says Reyneke, a former South African off-road driving champion.

``There's no place in the world that has the quality of lion we have in South Africa,'' Reyneke says, while sitting on a leather couch draped with a leopard pelt, his feet resting on a lion skin.

There are many people out here who feel as you do, but there are, I suspect, far more people to whom hunting is a manly pursuit or who, themselves poverty-stricken, are either happy for any form of job-creation, or too weak to care. So the problem is multifaceted.

I wish I could give you a more hopeful appraisal. I have watched lion in the wild for years and the only shooting I have done is with my camera. When you can sit with a family group for an hour or more and watch their every interaction they seep into your heart and become a part of your soul just as any other mammalian species does. (After all we share a very high percentage of DNA. )

Sal said:

Hi Kathy

To me, this is the most telling part of that article:

Madikizela said a decision was taken by his department late last year to "temporarily exclude" lions from the TOPS definition of large predators, following legal action from the SA Predator Breeders Association (SAPBA).

"It was decided that by changing the definition, the implementation of the Threatened or Protected Species Regulations will not be jeopardised, as SAPBA wanted to stop the implementation of TOPS," he said.

Basically, it sounds as though SAPBA has pressurised the government. The only way it could do that is financially. The type of person who comes to this country to hunt is very well off as a rule and spends a lot of money here. The kind of income that is generated by these people (and remember they don't all hunt lions) could, I guess, be more or less wiped out by SAPBA if they wanted to. In 2006, for example, these hunters brought in R1 billion revenue. To my mind the hunters themselves should carry as much blame as those who breed the lions, because their demands create the market.
Here is another quote from another source:

While hunters also covet the African buffalo, leopard, rhino and elephant, the lion is still ``the king of the bush,'' says Apie Reyneke, 51, owner of AA Serapa Safaris, a hunting lodge in North West Province. ``Everyone wants to shoot a lion.''

Visitors at Serapa pay $700 each day to stay at the lodge and hunt the most dangerous species, on top of fees for each animal killed. A French couple spent $70,000 in one week this year, says Reyneke, a former South African off-road driving champion.

``There's no place in the world that has the quality of lion we have in South Africa,'' Reyneke says, while sitting on a leather couch draped with a leopard pelt, his feet resting on a lion skin.

There are many people out here who feel as you do, but there are, I suspect, far more people to whom hunting is a manly pursuit or who, themselves poverty-stricken, are either happy for any form of job-creation, or too weak to care. So the problem is multifaceted.

I wish I could give you a more hopeful appraisal. I have watched lion in the wild for years and the only shooting I have done is with my camera. When you can sit with a family group for an hour or more and watch their every interaction they seep into your heart and become a part of your soul just as any other mammalian species does. (After all we share a very high percentage of DNA. )

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hi Sal

Thank you once more for an very informative answer.

I could only guess that there has been a lot going on in the news department relating to this issue, and as we agree there are a lot of different issues going on at one time.

The big question is will the killing stop. Yes, it brings in big bucks but why at the expense of an animals life

I have family who live in South Africa and have been there 2 times in my life. I have been lucky to see Lions and all the big game animals while visiting the Kruger Park. It was wonderful (other than getting up at 4am in the morning) as that was considered the best time to see game animals.
Seeing Lions free, and wild is a life changing experience and it is a feeling that a person never forgets for the rest of their life.

The first trip to SA and Kruger Park was different to say the least. I stayed in the enclosed areas within Kruger Park itself in a caravan in a caravan Park. At night you could hear all the shuffling about, the roars of the big cats, and all the activity even in the dark. So near yet so far. :eek!:
It was quite an experience. The wire fence was the only thing protecting myself and my family members.

The neighbours of many of my family members had their trophies of game they had killed and it is 'in the blood' to want to hunt. I found it hard to comprehend but to me that is the 'SA' culture. Having a head of an animal pinned on your wall in your house was the normal. Having a gun is normal.

So yes it is the breeders of Lions who are as bad as the hunters themselves. They are one as bad as the other

During my second visit to SA, in 1991, one of my cousins placed a shotgun in my hand and asked me if I wanted to shot Ferrel cats as they where killing the young pigs (My cousin owns a Piggery).
I was horrified as I had never touched a gun in my life. I felt out of place and refused to get involved.
It was considered the normal to my cousin and he was taken aback at my response.

No comment about Reyneke, but having said that, I have meet people in SA who see animals as game animals to shot, and that is their limit to understanding the animal Kingdom. If it breathes, and is not human shoot it. :C
Yes, it is a macho thing that men like to do.

People in the UK may it hard to grasp - well I do as the mind set is so different with people in the UK and SA.

So yes we understand each other - to me animals are on the earth, have a right to live, and a camera is the nearest I want to shot with! :t:

Kathy
x

Peewit said:

hi Sal


The big question is will the killing stop. Yes, it brings in big bucks but why at the expense of an animals life .

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I don't think that in our lifetime this will happen. There is a great deal of aggression in this country born of its past history. Generally speaking there seems to be a low degree of reverence for human life, let alone animal life. Enhancing this problem is a greed for money and more money. And wildlife is an easy prey and an easy source. For example official figures put the number of rhinos killed for their horns in KwaZulu Natal at 8 this year alone. Unofficial figures suggest the number should be closer to 20. These are animals in supposedly guarded wildlife parks, not ones bred for hunting.

The neighbours of many of my family members had their trophies of game they had killed and it is 'in the blood' to want to hunt. I found it hard to comprehend but to me that is the 'SA' culture. Having a head of an animal pinned on your wall in your house was the normal. Having a gun is normal. . . .
People in the UK may it hard to grasp - well I do as the mind set is so different with people in the UK and SA.

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I dont think that the mindset of all South Africans is different from people in the UK, any more than the reverse applies; my sisters who live there tell me that crime stats are noticeably on the up there; and what about fox hunting and badger hunting, whether illegal or not, it is still done. It also would not surprise me to hear that some of the hunters who come out here are from the UK - but I do agree that we have more people to whom killing something comes easily. I don't think it is in the blood, but I do think that it is bred in the mind from childhood and that parents need to take a good hard look at the way they bring up their offspring. Having said this, I must add that there is a large number of people living here to whom killing is an anathema and many different pressure groups have done their best to stop this form of hunting. It was due to this pressure that the original attempt to pass the law we discussed earlier was made. There is a lot of sadness and anger that they have been thwarted in this respect. There are people from all walks of life who visit game parks and love and respect the wildlife in these parks. The Parks Boards do their best to foster this in the form of educational programmes and school visits to the various parks

I'm not trying to make smaller what you have said, what you have said is huge, in fact pressure from overseas would probably do more in a positive way than internal pressure to bring about changes, because the value of tourism to this country is immense. Watching programmes such as you have watched brings me to tears. But there is no easy or quick solution to this problem, and that, perhaps is the most depressing thing of all.

Sal said:

I dont think that the mindset of all South Africans is different from people in the UK.

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I agree. This issue aside, South Africa has a record of conservation that is a towering example not just to some other nations on the continent, but also at a much wider international level too. It also, much as in European countries, has highly developed birding infrastructures, numerous and extensive reserves and, most important, a general attitude of positivity towards conservation amongst large segments of the public. Naturally, as in any other nation, European included, there are minorities who fail to share the same view and there are activities that are questionable to say the least, but overall South Africa is, I believe, a very forward-thinking nation when it comes to the environment.

Jos Stratford said:

South Africa has a record of conservation that is a towering example not just to some other nations on the continent, but also at a much wider international level too. It also, much as in European countries, has highly developed birding infrastructures, numerous and extensive reserves and, most important, a general attitude of positivity towards conservation amongst large segments of the public. Naturally, as in any other nation, European included, there are minorities who fail to share the same view and there are activities that are questionable to say the least, but overall South Africa is, I believe, a very forward-thinking nation when it comes to the environment.

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I agree. We need to extend this forward thinking into a very strong environmental ethic within schools and a good start has been made on this.

You are right about south africa haveing a good track record with conservation.

Be in no doubt that the hunting industry is driven mostly by european and american clients. These are the same people who feel shooting polar bears or any other endangered wild life is acceptable because they can pay for it. You will never change this mindset, the government must ban canned hunting at the very least even if it alows for 'normal' hunting

Just remembered something!

Whilst spending some time in canada in BC I stayed in right in the middle of 5 national parks. There where bear, wolf and lynx around and plenty of other wildlife. Being near Banff national park I thought it would be easy to find a wildlife mag for sale in any magazine shop, but no not one. On the other hand there were over 15 separate publications for hunting.
So it happens every where not just SA. Incidently, here on the news stands I can buy quality wildlife mags and there are not so many hunting mags

lulie said:

Be in no doubt that the hunting industry is driven mostly by european and american clients.

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Absolutely agree.