Month: May 2016

THE Blood Lions campaign continues to go from strength to strength both locally and abroad. And in recognition of this, the film and campaign have been honoured twice in the last few months.

In April, Plett resident Ian Michler travelled with producer Pippa Hankinson and executive producer Dr Andrew Venter to New York to attend a gala fund-raising event that lauded them for Blood Lions, alongside Dr Craig Packer – one of Africa’s most experienced lion scientists.

This was followed by the film winning a Genesis Award from the Humane Society, USA, of which films such as The Cove, Blackfish and Virunga have been past winners.

Ian also spent a week in Washington DC in March to attend the National Geographic sponsored Environmental Film Festival where Blood Lions was being screened.

On both these trips, Ian and his fellow campaign leaders were involved in presentations and discussions lobbying government officials and the wider conservation community, as well as members of the travel industry.

Late in May, Ian heads back to the USA to at-tend Telluride Mountain-film (www.mountainfilm. org/festival) – one of the world’s most acclaimed environmental festivals.

And then later in the year, the campaign swings back to Europe where there will be parliamentary screen-ings in a number of coun-tries including Spain, Italy and Finland.

The European campaign was given a massive boost recently when The Neth-erlands became the third country after Australia and France to ban the importation of lion trophies.

Locally, after the Conservation Lab held at Spier in Stellenbosch recently, almost every major safari and ecotourism operator committed to supporting a pledge against all predator breeding and the range of exploitative tourism activities using lions and other predators.

The film was screened at Indaba in Durban last weekend, and will also be represented at WTM in London during November.

Many leading ecotourism and safari companies, including Africa Geographic, came together during the Conservation Lab at Spier Wine Estate to call for an end to exploitative wildlife activities.

his comes in the wake of the recently released feature documentary Blood Lions that has brought the horrors of predator breeding, canned hunting and a variety of other exploitative activities to the world’s attention. The film is a compelling call to action to have these practices stopped.

Star of Blood Lions Ian Michler says, “Conservation Lab was an incredible opportunity to network with the wider safari and conservation community. As a result of discussions leading up to and during the event, the vast majority of safari operators attending have agreed to support a statement condemning predator breeding, canned hunting and the range of exploitative activities, such as cub petting and ‘walking with lions’, associated with these industries. This statement is a huge boost to the global campaign to end these activities. In addition, they are also showing their support for the legitimate predator conservation community and those operators offering responsible tourism activities.”

The undersigned African-based safari and eco-tourism operators support Blood Lions and its aims. Whilst predator breeding and canned hunting practices are currently confined to southern Africa, these operators stand together as a pan-African industry – joining their voices with the global call for having them stopped.

These companies strongly request that the respective authorities take note of the mounting global opposition to these practices and begin a process of shutting them down.

The established predator research and scientific community do not recognise any of the breeders or operating facilities as having conservation merit. In marketing themselves, breeding facilities confuse the conservation messages and priorities, specifically with lions, which in turn results in a misdirection of vital funding that negatively impacts wild lion populations.

There is sufficient evidence to show that their activities put additional pressure on wild lion populations: intensive breeders have illegally acquired new genetic stock from the wild, and the burgeoning lion bone trade remains a risk because of an illegal demand for bones from wild lions.

There is a deep concern about the welfare conditions of the animals kept in these facilities. Canned hunting does not reduce the hunting pressure on wild lions and is unethical.

Furthermore, the companies commit themselves to the following:

– To not book or otherwise support any breeder or operator that contributes to the cycle of breeding, exploitation and senseless killing of predators. This includes all petting and ‘walking with lion’ facilities.

– To continue support and promotion of the formal conservation community in their endeavours to secure the survival of Africa’s predators in the wild. Without wild lions and the rest of the predator guild extant in functioning ecosystems, there will be no African tourism industry; a calamitous situation for many economies.

– To continue in endeavours towards wildlife conservation and economic development across Africa.

– To continue supporting an ethical and responsible interaction with Africa’s wilderness and wild animals.

– To continue promoting Africa as an authentic, wild and rewarding tourism destination.

We invite all operators to join us in committing to these pledges. To do so, please contact Blood Lions on info@localhost/blog-post-data.

Thank you Honourable Chairperson and Minister. Let me say at the outset as the IFP, we support this budget vote. Environment, bio-diversity and conversation is very close to our hearts, as it is to the heart of our leader, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, MP, who recently received an international award for the role he has played in promoting bio-diversity and conservation over the years.

Honourable Chairperson, Honourable Minister, you raised the issue of ocean spaces earlier on, as well as the 22 Marine Protected Areas (MPA’s). I want to focus two minutes of my time on Marine Protected Areas and bring to your attention the fact that there are some regulations that are soon to be promulgated, in about 18 months or so, with regard to MPA’s and marine conservancy areas. Now there are certain disputes Chairperson that have arisen in the Clansthal and the Aliwal Shoal areas, where the Conservancies have now been pitted against the Rock Anglers and the Line Fishermen. What we would like you to do Honourable minister is to get a report from Mr Xola Mkefe who has been very sensible in his approach; He was there making presentations and you would find that some of the objectors or some of those who are supporting the regulations are not supporting it for the sake of protecting the marine resources but rather for personal and selfish interests. They want the privileges that they gained pre-1994 to be entrenched through regulation. I am glad Honourable Minister that you are nodding your head in agreement!

In this particular area, there are people who claim that they have rights right up to the high water mark, Admiralty rights. These were rights that were granted to them in the days of the Queen, hundreds of years ago, and we must not allow this to happen at the expense of bona fide Line Fishermen and Rock Anglers. They cannot destroy the marine resources. It is the trawlers and the big commercial fishing vessels that are depleting our fishing reserves; they are de facto responsible for destroying our fishing grounds.

Honourable Minister, I also request that you investigate notice boards that the Conservancy has put up and I took a photograph of the notice board which says: ‘You are in the Marine Conversation Zone, Marine Living Resources Act 1998. Please do not fish or remove any marine life in this area. Please help us preserve this area as a marine nursery and regeneration zone’. Now people come there unsuspecting, and they think it’s an official marine notice and they are really intimidated by it. Please look at this very, very carefully because we cannot allow these privileges to be maintained.

Chairperson, in the one and a half minutes that I have left I also want to raise the issue of the captive-bred or canned-lion hunting. Recently, as a party, we marched with other people in support of a total ban in South Africa of the barbaric practice of captive-bred or canned-lion hunting. Together with the Honourable Chief Whip of the ruling party and members of the portfolio committee I attended a movie called ‘Blood Lions’, where we saw how unscrupulous people in certain parts of the province make money from getting hunters from America and other parts of the Western world to shoot these helpless, domesticated and drugged lions and make a fortune for themselves. I am going to be so bold from this podium to even suggest, madam minister, that there could be officials at different government department levels who are aiding and abetting some of these people to make the kind of money that they earn in dollars and I put it to you that this is a matter that requires further investigation.

There is an organisation called Four Paws who have received over 500,000 hard-copy signed petitions which call for a ban of canned lion hunting. These petitions will be presented to Parliament soon.

Lastly, Chairperson, on the question of Rhino which is another South African treasure under severe threat by poaching syndicates, we require the most stringent protection and criminal sanction and we are glad that recently you have had a team out there assisting in apprehending these perpetrators.

The CITES Conference of Parties will be taking place in Johannesburg towards the end of September, 2016, and we really would like South Africans to support calls to upgrade our Rhino to appendix 1.

Let this be the year that South Africa continues to take a stand on behalf of its environment and animals.

Once again we support this budget vote.

AFTER the international outrage at the cynical killing of Cecil the Lion last year, and the unethical practices exposed in the film Blood Lions, which blew the lid off South Africa’s lion-breeding industry, some of Africa’s largest safari and ecotourism operators have come together to call for an end to these activities.

The signatories of the statement “strongly request that the respective authorities take note of the mounting global opposition to these practices, and begin a process of shutting them down”.

South Africa is home to an estimated 6 000 to 8 000 captive-bred lions. The majority of these animals are raised for the lucrative trophy-hunting industry, frequently in so-called “canned hunts”.

The captive-bred lion industry attracts unsuspecting volunteers and tourists who pay to raise and pet lion cubs or walk through the bush with juvenile animals, most of them destined for the hunter’s bullet. The industry also feeds the international trade in lion bones, an ingredient in traditional Asian medicine.

The opposition to the industry was expressed in a statement released at the We Are Africa Conservation Lab, a meeting of some of the biggest names in African travel and conservation. The signatories commit themselves not to support “any breeder or operator who con-tributes to the cycle of breeding, exploitation and senseless killing of predators”, including “all petting and ‘walking with lion’ facilities”.

“Many of the individuals and companies that have signed this statement have long been leaders in conservation and ecotourism,” says South African conservationist Ian Michler, the main protagonist in Blood Lions. ”
To have such a large number of significant players stand against an issue sends a powerful message – one that clearly says the breeding and commercial exploitation of predators has no place at all in ethical tourism or sound conservation.”

According to Beks Ndlovu, who first exposed Cecil’s killing and is chief executive of African Bush Camps in Zimbabwe, the captive-breeding industry has been operating dishonestly for many years, portraying itself as being concerned with conservation, and supposedly raising animals to be reintroduced into the wild.

“It has become clear that what started as a rescue and capture industry has now become an extremely profitable business that deceives well-meaning people into thinking their contribution is a positive one,” he said.
In so doing, he believes that the industry has diverted funds from ethical tourist operations and genuine conservation efforts. “The ultimate impact of this fraudulent industry is that it creates an illegal market for the trade in key wildlife species, and threatens the very survival of those animals in the wild while posing a serious threat to the sustainability of tourism.”

Describing the effect of the captive-breeding industry as “cancerous”, Ndlovu applauds the initiative, to which African Bush Camps is a signatory Michael Lorentz, chief executive of the safari company Passage To Africa, agrees with Ndlovu’s assessment.

“Their final purpose is creating as many profitable opportunities as they can off these animals – it’s consuming the same animal many times over, none of which is for the well-being of the animal, or indeed for conservation.
“It’s important that ethical safari operators convey the right message to tourists: that we are transparent, that we don’t greenwash and emotionally manipulate, that we offer experiences that engage with conservation in a meaningful way” says Lorentz.

“It is vital that the predator breeders, canned hunters and pet-ting facilities, as well as the authorities know and understand that the Blood Lions campaign is a global one, supported by almost every recognised conservation agency and responsible tourism operator” Michler explains.

“This statement adds to the momentum building against these practices. We hope at some stage the authorities realise the extent of the opposition, and that they have far more to gain by acting than by not doing anything.”
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Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom, in his appearance in Blood Lions, acknowledges that the captive lion-breeding industry has damaged Brand SA.

The question that remains is whether his government has done enough to counteract the negative international image being created of South Africa, and to root out the industry’s unethical operators.

The recently released feature documentary Blood Lions (www.localhost/blog-post-data) has brought the horrors of predator breeding, canned hunting and a variety of other exploitative activities to the world’s attention. The film is a compelling call to action to have these practices stopped.

We, the undersigned African-based safari and eco-tourism operators support Blood Lions and its aims.

The group includes many leading non-consumptive safari and ecotourism companies across southern and east Africa. Whilst predator breeding and canned hunting practices are currently confined to southern Africa, we stand together as a pan-African industry in joining our voices with the global call for having them stopped.

And we do so for good reason:

• The established predator research and scientific community do not recognize any of the breeders or operating facilities as having conservation merit.

• In marketing themselves, breeding facilities confuse the conservation messages and priorities, specifically with lions, which in turn results in a misdirection of vital funding that negatively impacts wild lion populations.

• There is sufficient evidence to show that their activities put additional pressure on wild lion populations: intensive breeders have illegally acquired new genetic stock from the wild, and the burgeoning lion bone trade remains a risk because of an illegal demand for bones from wild lions.

• We are deeply concerned about the welfare conditions of the animals kept in these facilities.

• Canned hunting does not reduce the hunting pressure on wild lions and is unethical.

We strongly request that the respective authorities take note  of the mounting global opposition to these practices and begin a process of shutting them down.

Furthermore, we commit ourselves to the following:

1. To not book or otherwise support any breeder or operator that contributes to the cycle of breeding, exploitation and senseless killing of predators. This includes all petting and ‘walking with lion’ facilities.

2. To continue our support and promotion of the formal conservation community in their endeavours to secure the survival of Africa’s predators in the wild. Without wild lions and the rest of the predator guild extant in functioning ecosystems, there will be no African tourism industry; a calamitous situation for many economies.

3. To continue in our own endeavours towards wildlife conservation and economic development wherever we operate across Africa.

4. To continue supporting an ethical and responsible interaction with Africa’s wilderness and wild animals.

5. To continue promoting Africa as an authentic, wild and rewarding tourism destination.

We invite all operators to join us in committing to these pledges. To do so, please contact Blood Lions on info@localhost/blog-post-data