Africa : South Africa: Uncertain future for thousands of animals
on 2009/6/16 11:47:58

"Canned" lion hunting - the commercial shooting of captive-bred lions for trophies - appears to have been finally canned itself by a Bloemfontein High Court decision.

While last week's decision has been welcomed, questions are being raised as to what will happen to the 4 000 captive-bred lions in South Africa which have now lost their trophy value for commercial hunting, which was anything between $22 000 and $60 000 an animal.

The court action was brought in May, 2007, by the South African Predator Breeders Association and two breeders, Matthys Christiaan Mostert and Deon Cilliers. The three parties sought to overturn legislation promulgated by the former minister of environment affairs and tourism, designed to end "canned" hunting of large predators.

The legislation said captive-bred lions must be allowed to run free and fend for themselves "in an extensive wildlife system" for at least 24 months before they could be shot. This was an attempt to introduce the practice of "fair chase" into hunting captive-bred animals, which were raised to be totally dependent on humans, and to allow the animals a reasonable chance of escape. Some had been hunted in enclosures where this was not possible.

The Breeders Association, Mostert and Cilliers sought to overturn this legislation. They also asked the court to set aside the legislation which makes the future breeding of lions for canned hunts illegal.

They argued that the laws would have a big economic impact on the captive-bred lion industry, particularly in the Free State and North West. They said having to allow the animals to run free for two years would destroy the industry.

However, the court found that this claim could be refuted. The application was dismissed with costs.

The head of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, Yolan Friedman, has applauded the decision which she said would effectively put an end to canned lion hunting in South Africa.

"We believe that the principles of ethical, humane treatment of all species should never be compromised for the economic enrichment of a few, as has been the case with canned lion hunting in South Africa," she said.

She welcomed the court's finding that economic considerations could never be used to condone or ignore practices that either compromised the country's biodiversity, undermined the humane treatment of hunted animals, or tainted the hunting industry's reputation.

Friedman urged the government to begin a process immediately to avert "a welfare crisis" in which the country's existing 4 000 captive-bred lions could "fall prey to neglect and cruel treatment" now that they had lost their economic value.

"To these animals, whose lives so far have been nothing more than a caged existence to provide a trophy to an unethical hunter, their future remains uncertain," she said.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=vn20090615050312491C492605