Month: October 2016

Cape Town – Nedbank, one of South Africa’s leading commercial banks, has announced that they will no longer “finance any activity constituting captive breeding of mammalian predator species for hunting or the exotic pet trade”.

Blood Lions says the move is a significant and vital breakthrough for those fighting to end predator breeding, canned hunting and the exploitation of animals in the tourism industry.

According to a statement issued by Blood Lions, the move comes after the bank’s management “attended a number of workshops and engaged with interested and impacted stakeholders”, most notably the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), an organization at the forefront of the global campaign to end these activities.

“It has long been established that breeding predators for canned or captive hunts has nothing to do with conservation, but few have shown the vision to take an ethical stand. Nedbank have now done that. The Blood Lions team applauds Nedbank and EWT for their leadership on these issues and we appeal to South Africa’s other banks to follow this bold move,” says Ian Michler the investigative conservationist behind the canned lion hunting expose’.

The move comes just days after the US dealt an equally massive blow to the canned lion industry in South Africa, banning the import of items from canned lion hunts, saying South Africa was unable to demonstrate the conservation value of canned lion hunting.

According the the director of the US Fish and Wildlife Services, Dan Ashe, lion trophies may only be imported from exporting nations like South Africa if they can provide evidence of the hunts benefiting the long-term survival of the species in the wild.

“Following our research into the issue we have taken an in principle decision not to finance any activity constituting captive breeding of mammalian predator species for hunting or the exotic pet trade. This decision will form part of the total policy and book review in 2016 to better manage the biodiversity impact of our lending decisions,” Nedbank states.

“Since its inception Nedbank has worked closely with the NBBN to further the mainstreaming of biodiversity into South African business. The NBBN-EWT is proud to be associated with Nedbank in light of their many green initiatives, especially their recent commitment to better manage the biodiversity impact of their lending decisions.

This latest decision demonstrates the potential that lies within corporate to positively influence the management of South African biodiversity,” it says.

 

While the practice of so-called “canned hunting” can still go ahead, trophies from these kills can no longer be imported into the USA.

The US Fish and Wildlife Services have put a ban on imports of captive bred lion trophy heads, skins, claws, teeth, and other lion parts from those kills.

Anyone who wants to important a trophy will have to provide “evidence of the hunts benefiting the long-term survival of the species in the wild”.

The move to have these trophies banned started earlier this year when lions were declared as a protected species.

The ban does not include trophies taken from wild or wild-managed populations if they have been authorized by the South African government

“We cannot and will not allow trophies into the United States from any nation whose lion conservation programme fails to meet key criteria for transparency, scientific management and effectiveness,”  director of the US Fish and Wildlife Services, Dan Ashe, said.

According to reports, around 8000 lions are bred for the purpose of being hunted on game ranches in South Africa.

“This is huge,” Ian Michler, a conservationist and the narrator of Blood Lions, a documentary released last year that exposed the canned lion industry, told Nat Geo.

“If we can start seriously clamping down on the demand side, then it will impact things here in south Africa.”

OPERATORS of canned lion hunts and traders in exotic pets should not expect any financial assistance from Nedbank.

It was revealed yesterday that the bank had taken “a decision not to finance any activity constituting captive breeding of mammalian predator species for hunting or the exotic pet trade”.

Drew Abrahamson, CEO of nonprofit organisation Captured in Africa Foundation, welcomed Nedbank’s decision.

Abrahamson said it was a step in the right direction.

“Captivebred lions don’t benefit from conservation at all,” Abrahamson said.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust echoed Abrahamson’s sentiments, saying: “The latest decision demonstrates the potential that lies within corporates to positively influence the management of South African biodiversity.”

The bank’s decision comes as the US Fish and Wildlife Services announced that the country has a ban on “any imports of captivebred lion trophy heads, skins, claws, teeth and other lion parts from those kills” and follows the release of documentary Blood Lions, which focuses on the canned lionhunt industry.

Abrahamson added that the documentary had had an impact on the captive lion breeding industry.

“Due to Blood Lions it’s become more taboo to hunt captivebred lions.”

Despite this, there was still a market for it, with South Africa considered one of the biggest markets in the trade, Abrahamson added.

South Africa had been “given the green light to ship parts and bones to Asia, which is shocking”.

Ukutula, an industrial-sized predator facility outside Johannesburg, South Africa, has been in the firing line from conservationists and animal activists for over a decade. The place runs one of the most sophisticated lion cub petting, ‘voluntourism’ and trading operations, and on countless occasions they have been exposed for selling their lions on to other operators once they are no longer good for their commercial operations.

The explosive documentary Blood Lions has exposed how the predator industry operates, with scenes shot at Ukutula clearly showing as many as 27 lions cubs being handled by visitors and volunteers. The film asks the leading question, “where do these cubs come from and where do they go?”

Ian Michler, lead role in the documentary, states: “There is absolutely no conservation value whatsoever to breeding lions in captivity under these conditions, and especially so if they have been hand-reared. These lions can never be released to the wild, and volunteers are being conned into believing they are making a contribution to securing the future of lions.”

Volunteers are paying up to US$1,000 a week for the experience of handling cubs, and Ukutula can have up to 25 volunteers at any given time – clearly a significant money spinner for the operation.

Ukutula has implemented a system of tracking their lions to assure buyers that they’re not destined for the canned hunting industry but, given the information is confidential, you have to question how effective this is.  In addition, not a single recognised lion ecologist or predator conservation agency is working with them.

But it seems a private zoo in New South Wales has been able to import cubs from Ukutula in South Africa. Billabong Zoo in Port Macquarie publicly states that it wishes to breed from these cubs. The Billabong Zoo Facebook page statement reads as follows:

“In order to import lions to Australia, both the Australian authorities and the South African authorities have a strict permitting process to ensure the animals are sourced from a legitimate and licensed facility and to ensure they are going to be used for conservation purposes. In Australia, lions are treated as a CITES 1 species, a higher level of protection than anywhere else in the world. This means that they can only be imported as part of a conservation breeding and education programme. The Australia CITES office did research Ukutula and were satisfied that they were not part of the canned hunting industry – if they weren’t satisfied we would never have been granted our import permit. These cubs were also approved by the Zoo Aquarium Association to be accepted into the Australian breeding programme for lions – this approval process included the scrutiny of, and acceptance by a number of individuals involved in this organisation.

“Secondly, Ukutula themselves insisted that Billabong Zoo become a member of EcoScan, a programme that offers lifetime tracking of individual animals to ensure they are only used for ethical purposes and are not part of the hunting industry. Ukutula could not be a member of EcoScan if they hadn’t already proven themselves to not be part of the canned hunting industry.

“Thirdly, our zoo vet personally visited Ukutula to inspect the lion cubs and the facility prior to the transfer, and returned with nothing but praise for the operators, the staff, the facility and the animals. The process for Billabong Zoo to import lion cubs has been a huge undertaking, and one that we have spent years bringing together. These animals and the sending facility, Ukutula, have been researched and accepted by various government bodies and zoo industry officials. Throughout the entire process, Billabong Zoo has remained transparent with the sourcing and importation of these animals, and at no time has any government or zoo official raised concerns with how these animals were sourced. The cubs, Milo and Misty have travelled and settled extremely well, and we are so proud of the impact these little ambassadors have already had in raising awareness about the plight of the African lion.”

The US Fish and Wildlife Services have effectively ruled that Captive-bred lions serve no conservation purpose by banning any imports of captive bred lion trophy heads, skins, claws, teeth, and other lion parts from those kills.

Hand-reared lions cannot be released into the wild, according to wildlife experts and they also often suffer in captivity, with many hunters saying canned hunting violates the principle of “fair chase,” in which every animal has a reasonable chance to get away.

“This is huge,” says Ian Michler, investigative conservationist and the narrator of Blood Lions, a documentary released last year that exposed the canned lion industry.

Michler told Traveller24, “We need to applaud the decision by US Fish & Wildlife. Having them engage on these issues is significant as the vast majority of canned or captive hunters come from that country.”

“There are still loopholes and this does not mean that the number of canned lions into the USA will fall to zero, but we now have a legal framework that we can monitor and hold accountable.”

“Despite the growing global opposition, it would seem the breeders, SAPA and the authorities are still digging in. This is all about money so they will start looking for new markets – the Far East for example, and the lion bone trade and petting industries still remain sources of revenue. So the global campaign to end these horrors still has much work to do.

 

They just want another cheque, say critics

THE US will no longer allow lion trophies to be imported from captive lion populations in South Africa, describing this as a “major step” for the conservation of the species across Africa.

Writing in the Huffington Post yesterday Dan Ashe, the director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW), said it “cannot and will not allow trophies into the US from any nation whose lion conservation programme fails to meet key criteria for transparency scientific management and effectiveness”.

Last year, the US announced it had changed the rules relating to the import of lion trophies into the country, now requiring US hunters to obtain an import permit for their lion trophies before the hunt takes place.

“To permit the import of lion trophies, exporting nations like South Africa must provide clear evidence showing a demonstrable conservation benefit to the longterm survival of the species in the wild. In the case of lions taken from captive populations in South Africa, that burden of proof has not been met,” Ashe wrote in the publication this week.

But Chris Mercer, of the Campaign Against Canned Hunting, suggested this was “at the very least, a clever public relations coup. USFW can claim to be protecting lions, which it is not, it can claim to be supporting weak African conservation structures, which it is not, and can claim to be controlling the hunting industry, which it is not”.

Other than “adding a layer of bureaucracy” to the paperwork of foreign hunters and “infuriating hunting thugs, nothing will change on the ground. Canned lion hunting will continue unabated,” he remarked.

“Foreign lion hunters have already found a way around this restriction US imposes canned lion trophies ban it is not a ban by employing ‘pay to play’ tactics.

“Each hunter will donate, say $5 000 (R70 000), to a lion research organisation in return for a permit to import his tame lion trophy.

“In that way, he proves the ‘hunt’ will ‘enhance the survival of wild lions’ as required by the new rule. Just another layer of bureaucracy and another cheque to write,” said Mercer.

Blood Lions, a campaign to outlaw captive and canned hunting, applauded the US move, “which in many ways is even more significant than the earlier bans introduced by Australia, France and the Netherlands”.

“So many people have become part of the campaign to end these unethical practices. It is now incumbent upon the breeders and hunters as well as the South African authorities to respond accordingly” it stated.

Safari Club International, a hunting outfit, has described the US restriction as “blocking US hunters from participating in sustainable use conservation”.

Pieter Potgieter, the chairman of the SA Predator Breeders Association, says they have their own plans to demonstrate the conservation value of captive bred lions.

“This does not include money paid to organisations in exchange for a permit. We’re in the process of negotiating with the USFW to convince it that captive lion breeding makes a very important contribution to the conservation of wild lions, but they are still considering that.”

Ashe stressed that lions “are not in trouble because of responsible sport hunting” and writes how the USFW has also received applications from US hunters that hunted or will be hunting in Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe for permits to import sport-hunted lion trophies.

THE US will no longer allow lion trophies to be imported from captive lion populations in South Africa, describing this as a “major step” for the conservation of the species across Africa.

Writing in the Huffington Post yesterday, director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW) Dan Ashe said it “cannot and will not allow trophies into the US from any nation whose lion conservation programme fails to meet key criteria for transparency scientific management and effectiveness”.

Last year, the US announced it had changed the rules relating to the import of lion trophies into the country, now requiring US hunters to obtain an import permit before the hunts take place.

But Chris Mercer, of the Campaign Against Canned Hunting, suggested this was “at the very least, a clever public relations coup”.

“USFW can claim to be protecting lions, which it is not, can claim to be supporting weak African conservation structures, which it is not, and can claim to be controlling the hunting industry, which it is not.”

Other than “adding a layer of bureaucracy” to the paperwork of foreign hunters and “infuriating hunting thugs, nothing will change on the ground”. “Canned lion hunting will continue unabated,” he suggested.

Foreign lion hunters had already found a way around this restriction, by employing “pay to play” tactics which would see hunters donate to a lion research organisation in return for a permit to import his tame lion trophy.

“In that way, he proves that the ‘hunt’ will ‘enhance the survival of wild lions’ as required by the new rule,” said Mercer.

Blood Lions, a campaign to outlaw captive lion hunting and canned hunting, applauded the US move, however.

“So many people and organisations from around the world have become part of the campaign to end these unethical practices because they also believe they have no place in conservation,” it said.

Cape Town – South Africa is one of the world’s most iconic wildlife destinations, recently hosting the vitally important CITES 17th Conference of Parties at the beginning of October this year.

While the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora was undoubtedly meant to be a sharpened arrow in the bow against global illegal wildlife trade and hunting, a rather unfortunate blow has been dealt with this video shared with Traveller24, filmed just down the road from the Sandton Convention Centre where more than 3 500 delegates from 183 member state countries got together to discuss ‘game-changing’ policies to protect the world’s most endangered species.

But the historical and cultural traditions of muthi medicine is not a game and there appears to be no real urgency to try and change the way it is managed or regulated by those mandated to do so in South Africa.

raditional medicine has been described globally by the World Health Orgnisation as “the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.”

And while traditional medicine in South Africa has for a long time been seen as “marginalised”, SA law and policy has attempted to recognise and regulate it to ensure “all medicines – regardless of their source – are safe and effective.”

One of the world’s largest travel websites, TripAdvisor, announced on Tuesday that they, alongside Viator, will no longer sell tickets to attractions where endangered animals are being exploited or held in captivity.

This decision and major breakthrough came after numerous petitions and campaigns put TripAdvisor on the spotl to use their influence as a leader in the travel industry to stop promoting cruel animal attractions such as elephant riding, swimming with dolphins in captivity and petting endangered species like tigers.

With the new changes and with endorsements from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) TripAdvisor is committed to use its reach of 350 million monthly visitors to better education in wildlife tourism and be a portal for travellers.

“TripAdvisor’s new booking policy and education effort is designed as a means to do our part in helping improve the health and safety standards of animals, especially in markets with limited regulatory protections,” said Stephen Kaufer, president and CEO, TripAdvisor.

“At the same time, we want to celebrate those destinations and attractions that are leaders in caring for animals and those in the tourism industry who help further the cause of animal welfare, conservation and the preservation of endangered species. We want to thank the dozens of trade groups, academics and nongovernmental organizations who helped us design our path forward as a company.”

Several top accredited trade groups, conservation organisations, academics, researchers and tourism experts have partnered with the company to create and launch a new education portal by early 2017.

Every animal-related attraction listed on TripAdvisor will be identified with a “PAW” icon that will link to the education portal. The content of this education portal will help inform travellers about the standards of care for wild, captive, and endangered species in tourism and educate about the conservations implications with points of view from thought leaders such as the Global Wildlife Conservation, Asian Elephant Support, Pacific Asia Travel Association and academic leaders in the sciences of animal conservation and animal welfare like Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU).

Locally the issue of animal interactions has been centred around the canned lion industry with the release of documentaries such as Blood Lions. As a means to recognised the potential pitfalls of the animal interaction and voluntourism conservation industry South Africa’s Fair Trade launched a new set of guidelines to help them avoid the dark side of voluntourism.

The new Fair Trade Tourism criteria does not allow for any physical interaction by tourists or volunteers with a range of captive animals, including all large and medium sized carnivores, big cats, elephants, rhinos, large apes, hippos, ostrich, crocodiles and venomous snakes. They also do not allow for tourists or volunteers to interact with any child or vulnerable person unless this takes place under continuous, qualified adult supervision.

Dr Tom Moorhouse, a senior researcher at WildCRU shared, “We are convinced that research into the choices of tourists and their impacts on the welfare and conservation of wild animals is a powerful tool for enabling tourism to deliver greater benefits for wildlife.”

 The following changes and amendments were made to TripAdvisor and Viator’s booking policy concerning animals:

TripAdvisor and its Viator brand will no longer sell tickets to, or generate booking revenue from, specific attractions where tourists come into physical contact with captive wild animals or endangered species, including but not limited to elephant rides, “swim with” programs where tourists touch or ride on dolphins, the petting of captive wild or endangered species, etc.

For attractions that can provide evidence that they are in-policy, but were impacted by today’s decision, TripAdvisor and Viator will implement an appeals process to re-establish ticket sales to certain experiences that may have been excluded through our booking policy update.

And while People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) strongly opposes any and all activities that makes profit from animals in captivity, including zoos and aquariums, tourists will still be able to book some animal attractions on TripAdvisor and Viator.

The policy includes several exemptions, including:

– Domestic animals, eg horseback riding, children’s petting zoos with domestic animals like rabbits, etc.

– Aquarium touch pools used for education purposes where tourists are under the supervision of zoo, aquarium and or wildlife officials.

– Feeding programs where tourists are under the supervision of zoo and or wildlife officials; and

– Voluntourism programs for endangered species preservation at zoos, aquariums or sanctuaries where it is possible that there might be some level of physical interaction with an animal.

Ms Shaw of PETA said, “TripAdvisor’s competitors and others within the travel industry will take note of this, and we hope and expect that many other companies will follow.”

This announcement is a win for wildlife; with creating awareness and informing tourists about the impact of their travel activities on the environment and how they can be more responsible tourists the prize is just getting better and bigger.

TripAdvisor is certainly living up to its tagline of “Know better, book better and go better”.

Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, supported by Four Paws International, delivered 545 130 petitions from around the world to the Minister of Environmental Affairs.

He also handed over a letter calling on her to act against canned lion hunting.

In his address at the presentation, he said that while growing up he was taught that his ancestor, King Shaka, used to set aside land where hunting was not allowed to protect wild animals.

As a young iNkosi, Buthelezi worked with conservationists, including Dr Ian Player and Nick Steele, persuading the people to actively protect wildlife.

As chief minister of the KwaZulu government, he established South Africa’s first department of environmental affairs.

Throughout the years he has spoken at the World Wilderness Congress, received international conservation awards, served as patron of the Wildlands Conservation Trust and founded the Tembe Elephant Park.

He has also had many conversations with Sir Laurens van der Post and Lawrence Anthony about the plight of South Africa’s wildlife.

‘But I have never been so deeply affected as I was by the film ‘Blood Lions”.

‘The IFP has supported the fight against canned lion hunting for several years.

‘We have asked why, when there are only 3 200 wild lions left in South Africa, there are 7 000 captivebred lions being kept on some 200 farms?

‘They are not being kept for research and they are not being kept for conservation.

‘There has never been a single successful relocation programme of captivebred lions into our parks or reserves.

‘These lions are tame, human-imprinted and genetically contaminated. Breeding lions in captivity makes no contribution whatsoever to securing the future of our lions,’ said Buthelezi.

He said the only reason for captive breeding is money.

Weak legislation

Legislation on canned lion hunting is weak, ambiguous and full of loopholes, enabling the continued hunting of captivebred lions who have been taught to trust humans and, indeed, to come when we called, to them.

Legislation prohibits hunters from shooting captivebred lions in a small enclosure, but it allows them to shoot captivebred lions if they are first released into a bigger area, despite the fact that, stripped of their instincts, they still have no chance of survival.

Government has a responsibility to tighten legislation to offer full protection to our lions.

Support against canned hunting growing

‘I was encouraged by the news this past week that the 2016 World Conservation Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature has lent its support to a motion tabled by seven NGOs that seeks to end the hunting of captivebred lions and other predators, and to end the practice of captive breeding for.commercial, nonconservation purposes in South Africa,’ said Buthelezi.

The IFP wants captive breeding of lions restricted to registered zoos and registered facilities that demontsrate a clear conservation benefit.

The status of lions should be upgraded from Vulnerable to Endangered. This will afford them the greater protection they so desperately need.

Lion bone trade

‘Eight years ago, 60 individual lion bones left South Africa’s shores.compared to three years ago when 1 094 lion carcasses were exported.

The ‘legal trade’ in lion bones is exploding.

 ‘My friend, Lawrence Anthony said, ‘Until we allow all living creatures their place in the sun, we can never be whole ourselves.”

Lawrance Anthony was one man who went into Iraq when others were fleeing, to rescue the starving lions imprisoned in the palace of Saddam Hussein’s son.

His courage is an inspiration, reminding us that we as individuals can and must act on our conscience,’ Buthelezi said.