 |
| credit: P Hankinson |
South Africa's government will appoint a high-level panel to review the status of the country's captive lion breeding program. Lion advocates consider the industry to be inhumane and degrading. South Africa is only one of seven countries with substantial lion populations in the wild. Around 7000 lions are held captive in breeding facilities. These are raised for slaughter by humans for their bones--considered by the misinformed superstitious to have medicinal qualities or for execution in so-called "canned hunts" in which lions raised in captivity met their end in an enclosure at the hands of poor imitation of a hunter. Some are donated to other countries without lions or relocated to areas were lions have been exterminated. An influential big-game hunting group, Safari Club has condemned the practice, saying canned hunting has "doubtful value to conservation of lions in the wild." It has announced it will no longer promote or auction canned hunts. Other hunting groups have also spoken out against trophy hunting of captive bred lions.
The decision to establish a review panel comes after a report to Parliament tabled by the Environmental Portfolio Committee. The report concluded that a the trade in lion bones and trophy hunting should be ended. The Committee's chairperson said the practises were "compromising South Africa's conservation reputation" since it primarily benefits a small group of breeders without a scientific basis. A vast majority of South Africans agree according to polling data. The Commission will conduct public hearings, consider scientific evidence and present findings to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES, which
holds its next meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 23 to June 3.
