Month: July 2015

In an unprecedented move, the Professional Hunters’ Association of South Africa (PHASA) has been told that its “position on lion hunting is no longer tenable”.

In an email sent to PHASA members on Friday, the organisation’s president, Hermann Meyeridricks, asked for a review of its policy on the matter ahead of its next annual general meeting.

He notes that PHASA has made “little demonstrable progress” in getting government and predator breeders to “clean up” the country’s lucrative but controversial captive-bred lion hunting industry and “to improve its standards and conditions to a generally acceptable level”.

More than 95% of the lions killed by trophy hunters in South Africa are not wild, but ‘produced’ specifically for the purpose. Some 6000 to 8000 lions are currently estimated to be held in captivity in between 150 and 200 breeding facilities, most of them in the North West Province and the Free State. The animals are released into relatively small camps as little as four days prior to being hunted.

While PHASA has traditionally supported the industry, a growing number of professional hunters have expressed their disapproval of its practices.

Meyeridricks’ letter comes in the wake of a stakeholder meeting called by the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, to discuss the industry, and the release of a hard-hitting documentary on the issue, called Blood Lions, which premiered to a standing ovation at the Durban International Film Festival last week.

He acknowledges that opposition to the hunting of bred lions is no longer confined to “just a small if vociferous group of animal-rights activists”, but that “the tide of public opinion is turning strongly against this form of hunting” regardless of whether it is referred to as ‘captive-bred hunting’ or ‘canned hunting’.

European allegedly paid €50,000 for chance to kill tourist attraction, who was found headless after being shot with a bow and arrow and tracked for 40 hours

Authorities in Zimbabwe are trying track down a Spaniard who allegedly paid park guides €50,000 (£35,000) for the chance to kill Cecil, one of Africa’s most famous lions, who was the star attraction at the Hwange national park. The creature was found skinned and headless on the outskirts of the park.

The 13-year-old lion was wearing a GPS collar as part of a research project that Oxford University has been running since 1999, making it possible to trace its last movements when it was tricked into leaving the park and shot with a bow and arrow. The hunters then tracked the dying animal for 40 hours before they killed it with a rifle.

Bait, in the form of a freshly killed animal, was used to tempt Cecil out of the park, a technique commonly used so that hunters can “legally” kill protected lions.

“Cecil’s death is a tragedy, not only because he was a symbol of Zimbabwe but because now we have to give up for dead his six cubs, as a new male won’t allow them to live so as to encourage Cecil’s three females to mate,” said Johnny Rodrigues, head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force. “The two people who accompanied the hunter have been arrested but we haven’t yet tracked down the hunter, who is Spanish.”

The Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association admitted that its members were involved and that the case was being investigated. It claims it was a private safari and therefore not illegal, but the government insists that the lion lived on the reserve and came under its protection.

The Oxford University study was looking into the impact of sports hunting on lions living in the safari area surrounding the national park. The research found that 34 of 62 tagged lions died during the study period. 24 were shot by sport hunters. Sport hunters in the safari areas surrounding the park killed 72% of tagged adult males from the study area.

Dr Andrew Loveridge, one of the principal researchers on the project, said that “hunting predators on the boundaries of national parks such as Hwange causes significant disturbance and knock-on effects” such as infanticide when new males enter the prides.

Police are seeking the lion’s remains among the country’s taxidermists. The Spanish conservation organisation Chelui4lions has written to Cites de España, the body that oversees the import of endangered species, asking it to prevent the importing of Cecil’s head as a trophy.

“From 2007 to 2012 Spain was the country that imported the most lion trophies from South Africa. During this period it imported 450 heads, compared to 100 in Germany. Europe needs to ban these lion hunting trophies altogether,” said Luis Muñoz, a Chelui4lions spokesman.

“What hunter, what sort of demented person, would want to kill a magnificent adult lion, known to and photographed by all the park’s visitors?” Muñoz said. “We’re ashamed of the fact that in Spain there are rich madmen who pay for the pleasure of killing wild animals such as lions.”

Bryan Orford, a professional wildlife guide who has worked in Hwange and filmed Cecil many times, told National Geographic that the lion was the park’s “biggest tourist attraction”. Orford calculates that with tourists from just one nearby lodge collectively paying €8,000 per day, Zimbabwe would have brought in more in just five days by having Cecil’s photograph taken rather than being shot by someone paying a one-off fee of €50,000.

The incident, which occurred earlier this month and has only just come to light, has caused outrage in Zimbabwe, coming only days after the ZCTF revealed that 23 elephant calves had been separated from their herds in Hwange and exported to zoos in China and the United Arab Emirates. The Zimbabwean government insists the trade is legal and measures are in place to guarantee the animals’ wellbeing.

This article was amended on Sunday 26 July. An earlier version said Cecil had been wearing a GPS collar since 1999. It should have said that the GPS project has been running since 1999. A reference to elephant cubs has also been corrected to calves.

More than 95% of the lions killed by trophy hunters in South Africa are not wild, but ‘produced’ specifically for the purpose.

In an unprecedented move, the Professional Hunters’ Association of South Africa (PHASA) has been In an email sent to PHASA members on Friday, the organisation’s president, Hermann Meyeridricks, asked for a review of its policy on the matter ahead of its next annual general meeting.

More than 95% of the lions killed by trophy hunters in South Africa are not wild, but ‘produced’ specifically for the purpose. Some 6000 to 8000 lions are currently estimated to be held in captivity in between 150 and 200 breeding facilities, most of them in the North West Province and the Free State. The animals are released into relatively small camps as little as four days prior to being hunted.

While PHASA has traditionally supported the industry, a growing number of professional hunters have expressed their disapproval of its practices.

Meyeridricks’ letter comes in the wake of a stakeholder meeting called by the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, to discuss the industry, and the release of a hard-hitting documentary on the issue, called ‘Blood Lions’ , which premiered to a standing ovation at the Durban International Film Festival last week.

He acknowledges that opposition to the hunting of bred lions is no longer confined to “just a small if vociferous group of animal-rights activists”, but that “the tide of public opinion is turning strongly against this form of hunting” regardless of whether it is referred to as ‘captive-bred hunting’ or ‘canned hunting’.He notes that PHASA has made “little demonstrable progress” in getting government and predator breeders to “clean up” the country’s lucrative but controversial captive-bred lion hunting industry and “to improve its standards and conditions to a generally acceptable level”.told that its “position on lion hunting is no longer tenable”.

Public opinion is against lion hunting, says the president of SA’s Hunters’ Association, and changes must be made for a more acceptable policy.

The president of the Professional Hunters’ Association of South Africa (Phasa) has asked the association to reconsider its position on lion hunting, which he has described as no longer tenable and a risk to both the reputation and survival of professional hunting in South Africa.

In a letter recently circulated to association members, Phasa president Hermann Meyeridricks noted that the campaign against trophy hunting has intensified around the canned or captive-bred lion hunting issue since Phasa’s current policy on lion hunting was adopted at its annual general meeting in November 2013.

Broadly, Phasa’s current policy recognises the legality of and demand for captive-bred lion hunting, and the association is working with the predator breeders and government to improve standards and conditions to a generally acceptable level. However, “we have made little demonstrable progress on this front”, Meyeridricks said.

“Broader society is no longer neutral on this question and the tide of public opinion is turning strongly against this form of hunting, however it is termed,” he said. “Even within our own ranks, as well as in the hunting fraternity as a whole, respected voices are speaking out publicly against it.”

“Against this background, I have come to believe that, as it stands, our position on lion hunting is no longer tenable,” said Meyeridricks. “The matter will be on the agenda again for our next annual general meeting, and I appeal to you to give it your serious consideration so that together we can deliver a policy that is defensible in the court of public opinion.”

Most recently a documentary entitled Blood Lions was screened at the Durban International Film Festival. The film is said to “blow the lid off claims made by the predator breeding and canned hunting industries”.

‘Rogue elements’ must be rooted out

In conjunction with the film, a Blood Lions campaign has also been launched with the aim of putting an end to this practice where, “at least two or three captive bred or tamed lions are being killed in canned hunts each day in South Africa. Hundreds more are slaughtered annually for the lion bone trade”, according to the campaign.

“Currently, almost 8 000 predators are being held in cages or confined areas and none of this has anything to do with conservation. If we don’t act now, that number could well be over 12 000 within the next few years,” says the campaign’s website.

On July 17 Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molelwa convened a stakeholder engagement meeting to address issues of lion breeding and hunting.In a subsequent press release, the department said all industry role-players present at the meeting conceded that “rogue elements” were operating within the lion breeding and hunting industries, and needed to be rooted out.

The department said it is prohibited to hunt a lion in a controlled environment or while it is under the influence of a tranquiliser. It is also prohibited to hunt a lion using poison, snares, air guns, shotguns, or by luring it with scent.

Illegal hunting damaging the legal industry

“The organisations [that were] present agreed that the illegal hunting of lions was damaging the legal industry,” the press release said. “However, it was noted that provincial conservation authorities have taken a proactive stance with regards to rooting out illegality.”

Participants agreed to the establishment of a forum to investigate a number of issues related to the lion industry in South Africa. Meyeridicks said the release of the film had raised the public profile of the issue even further, but was not necessarily what triggered his appeal to Phasa members. “It was always our position that the current policy is not where we wanted to end, it is where we wanted to start. And it was always going to be up for review from time to time.”

In the letter to Phasa members Meyeridricks said that with some airlines and shipping lines refusing to transport hunting trophies, Phasa had to face the fact that the lion issue was putting at risk not only the reputation of professional hunting in South Africa, but its survival.

According to Phasa’s website, airlines that have recently banned the transportation of hunting trophies include Emirates, Qatar and Lufthansa.

South African Airways (SAA) last week reversed its decision to embargo the transportation of rhino, elephant, tiger and lion trophies. The embargo was originally implemented following incidents of false declarations and the submission of falsified documents for the shipment of some hunting trophies. It was lifted, effective immediately, after consultation with the department of environmental affairs and commitments that compliance and inspection areas would be strengthened, SAA said in a statement.

Johannesburg – The president of the Professional Hunters’ Association of SA has called for an urgent review of the body’s policy on lion hunting.

Since its policy was adopted in November 2013, the campaign against trophy hunting has intensified, and especially against canned or captive-bred lion hunting.

Association president Hermann Meyeridricks said: “While we are not completely against lion hunting at this point, it is time to revisit our position.”

The issue would be addressed at the association’s general meeting at the end of the year.

“We took the view that our position was a stepping stone to cleaning up the captive-bred lion hunting industry.

“We made it clear that it was certainly not our final word on the hunting of lions.”

Calls for a ban on the hunting of lions bred in captivity are gaining momentum, according to Meyeridricks.

“From my dealings with the media and the community, it has become clear to me that those against the hunting of lions bred in captivity are no longer just a small if vociferous group of animal rights activists.”

“Broader society is no longer neutral on this question and the tide of public opinion is turning strongly against this form of hunting, however it is termed.

“Even within our own ranks, as well as in the hunting fraternity as a whole, respected voices are speaking out publicly against it.”

Also, with a number of airlines and shipping lines refusing to transport hunting trophies, Meyeridricks said the association had to come to terms with the fact that the lion issue was putting at risk the reputation of professional hunting in South Africa as well as its survival.

“I have come to believe that, as it stands, our position on lion hunting is no longer tenable,” he said.

Pretoria, 24 July 2015 – Hermann Meyeridricks, president of the Professional Hunters’ Association of South Africa (PHASA), is asking the hunting association to reconsider its position on lion hunting.

 In a letter emailed to PHASA members today, Meyeridricks says that the campaign against trophy hunting has intensified around the canned or captive-bred lion hunting issue since its current policy on lion hunting was adopted at its AGM in November 2013.

 “We took the view that our position was a stepping-stone to clean up the captive-bred lion hunting industry and made it clear that it was certainly not our final word on the hunting of lions,” he says.

 “From my dealings with the media and the community, it has become clear to me that those against the hunting of lions bred in captivity are no longer just a small if vociferous group of animal-rights activists.  Broader society is no longer neutral on this question and the tide of public opinion is turning strongly against this form of hunting, however it is termed.  Even within our own ranks, as well as in the hunting fraternity as a whole, respected voices are speaking out publicly against it.”

Meyeridricks says that with some airlines and shipping lines refusing to transport hunting trophies, PHASA has to face the fact that the lion issue is putting at risk not only the reputation of professional hunting in South Africa but its very survival.

 “PHASA’s current policy on the issue is, broadly speaking, that it recognises the legality of and demand for captive-bred lion hunting, and is working with the predator breeders and government to improve its standards and conditions to a generally acceptable level.  We have made little demonstrable progress on this front,” he says.

 “Against this background, I have come to believe that, as it stands, our position on lion hunting is no longer tenable.  The matter will be on the agenda again for our next annual general meeting and I appeal to you to give it your serious consideration, so that together we can deliver a policy that is defensible in the court of public opinion,” he says in the letter.

For further information contact Hermann Meyeridricks, PHASA president, on 083 303 0498.

The Born Free Foundation on Wednesday applauded the international premiere of the hard-hitting documentary‚ Blood Lions‚ which “blows the lid off the predator breeding and canned hunting industries in South Africa”.

Last year alone‚ according to the foundation‚ more than 800 captive lions were shot in South Africa.

According to the film makers‚ Blood Lions “shows in intimate detail how lucrative it is to breed lions‚ and how the authorities and professional hunting and tourism bodies have become complicit in allowing the industries to flourish”.

Will Travers‚ president of the international wildlife charity said‚ “South Africa’s failure to address the canned hunting industry has emboldened those who make a living out of the death of lions bred‚ raised and slaughtered on a ‘no kill‚ no fee’ basis.

“The canned hunting industry is unnatural‚ unethical and unacceptable. It delivers compromised animal welfare and zero education. It undermines conservation and creates a moral vacuum now inhabited by the greed and grotesque self-importance of those who derive pleasure in the taking of life.

“Blood Lions lays bare the truth behind the canned hunting industry that‚ far from contributing to the future survival of the species‚ may‚ in fact‚ accelerate extinction in the wild‚ leaving behind a trail littered with rotting corpses of its helpless and hopeless victims‚” Travers said.

Blood Lions‚ directed by Bruce Young and Nick Chevallier‚ premiered at the Durban International Film Festival at 6pm on Wednesday.

 

Approximately 1,000 lions are being shot annually in what we call canned or captured hunts

DURBAN – A South African documentary against the canned lion hunting industry has been causing a stir since it premiered at the Durban International Film Festival last week.

Blood Lions captures a journey inside the heart of an industry where predators are bred, for hunting in confined spaces.

It’s believed to generate around R100-million every year. Producers are pleased after three years of making the documentary. Blood Lions is expected to make distribution soon.

A hard-hitting documentary that explores the breeding of predators and canned lion hunting in South Africa was released at the 36th Durban International Film Festival earlier this week. The 85-minute film follows the work of Garden Route-based safari operator and environmental journalist, Ian Michler, who has been researching and writing about canned hunting practices for 16 years. The film tracks the journey of Michler and American hunter Rick Swazey, who buys a lion online and then travels to South Africa to see how easy it is to shoot it.

Many well-known conservationists and animal welfare experts are interviewed in the documentary, providing a compelling narrative that exposes the horrors behind the multimillion-dollar industry and interrogates claims made by breeders of predators that their actions are in the interests of conservation.

Produced in South Africa by Regulus Vision in collaboration with the Wildlands Conservation Trust, Blood Lions is directed by Bruce Young and noted filmmaker Nick Chevallier. It will be screened at film festivals worldwide and thereafter shown in parliaments in Europe and in the Australian parliament.

The Blood Lions campaign, which aims to bring an end to canned hunting and exploitative breeding of predators on farms across South Africa, will also be given a significant boost by the film’s release. The practice of breeding lions for the sport of hunting them under captive conditions is still legal in South Africa. Minister of environmental affairs Edna Molewa claims canned hunting is banned but that “captive” hunting is legal if the animal hunted is not tranquillised.

Many conservationists, however, disagree. They claim the reference to “captive” hunting is an attempt to hide the reality that, in Michler’s words, “lions are still being bred in captivity to be shot in captivity”. According to Michler’s research, approximately 1 000 lions are being shot annually in South Africa and about 1 100 are killed for the burgeoning lion bone trade in the East. There are about 7 000 lions in cap- tivity across South Africa and as few as 3 000 left in the wild.

Michler says canned lion hunting continues to grow in South Africa and that the Eastern Cape is one of the hubs of the industry. Late last year Port Elizabeth’s Seaview Predator Park was refused its annual rates rebate after the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality accused it of participating in “canned hunting” by selling lions to the Cradock hunting reserve and Tam Safaris, and selling tigers to South Africa’s leading bone exporter, Letsatsi la Africa in the Free State.

“The captive breeding industry has no conservation and rehabilitation value whatsoever,” Michler says. He adds that no recognised ecologist or conservation agency is in support of facilities where predators are bred. Michler has taken the campaign against canned hunting abroad, and has visited the Australian and European parliaments to raise awareness of the practice. As a result, the Australian government placed a ban on the importation of all parts of lions earlier this year.

He is hoping Europe and the US will soon adopt a similar stance. “I hope Blood Lions will show that this type of behaviour should not be associated with progressive-thinking societies, and as a result governments, tourism agencies and ethical professional hunting bodies will act to close down the practices,” he said.

For more information and dates for upcoming screenings of the film, go to http://www.localhost/blog-post-data – or visit the site for the campaign against canned hunting at https://uououhface- book.com/BloodLionsOfficial

Durban – Blood Lions, a new documentary film delivers a damning verdict on the rapidly growing South African industry that breeds, hunts and trades lions in captivity.

Blood Lions, a hard-hitting, locally-produced movie which premiered at the Durban International Film Festival this week, presents a comprehensive behind-the-scenes investigation sure to shock anyone concerned about wildlife conservation and animal welfare.

The film follows South African conservationist Ian Michler as he visits some of the 200-odd facilities estimated to house approximately 6 000 to 8 000 captive-bred lions throughout the country.

Most of the owners claim to be involved in conservation, research, education and tourism, but Michler reveals the true motivation behind the business: supplying lions for the lucrative hunting industry. “It’s just about the money,” he explains. “It’s about breeding wildlife as intensively as they can, as quickly as they can, to make as much money as they can!”

While government continues to insist that there is no such thing as canned hunting in South Africa, they are involved in little more than semantic chicanery, arguing that commercial hunting of captive-bred lions is acceptable even if the lions in question are simply mass produced under appalling conditions with no other purpose than to fall to the bullets of wealthy trophy hunters.

Blood Lions exposes a number of additional revenue streams of the captive-lion industry: a booming trade in lion bones to practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, well-meaning volunteers who pay thousands of rands to work on lion farms but are unaware that most of the cubs they help to raise are destined for the trophy hunting market and similarly uninformed tourists who visit facilities where they can pet and walk with lions.

The South African government has actively promoted this industrialisation of lion breeding, hunting and trading through laws and regulations that elevate market mechanisms and profits to a position of prime motivators in the name of conservation.

Blood Lions is a must-see film that does a sterling job of debunking the fairy tales peddled by the captive lion lobby and makes a strong call for a ban on captive breeding and trophy hunting to stop us from straying any further down this dangerous road.