Category: 2015

PLETT has among its many talented citizens Ian Michler, special consultant and lead character in the full-length documentary Blood Lions. Launched in July, it has significantly ramped up the trophy hunting and predator breeding debate ever since.

The film has now been seen in over 170 countries and territories and has had 45 public screenings around the world, and National Geographic listed it as one of the 12 most powerful stories on conservation and wildlife in the last decade.

Already viewed by Australian and European parliamentarians, it is set for screening in Italian, Spanish and Finnish parliaments next year. In South Africa, Blood Lions has been showed to the Departments of Tourism and Environmental Affairs.

In addition, the President of Botswana along with various cabinet members have seen the film.

Australia banned the import of lion body parts into their country earlier this year, and has now been joined by France who recently imposed import restrictions on lion trophies. With further country initiatives underway, this number will grow.

The wider trophy hunting community has certainly taken notice of Blood Lions, with engagement taking place at various levels in different countries.

Particularly welcome was the outcome of the recent PHASA AGM (visit http:// phasa. co.z a/what-is-in-thenew s/pha s a-pre ss-rele a se/ item/682-position-paperon-captive-b red-lion- hunting.html), where a majority of members voted against captive breeding and canned hunting.

Here, recognition must go to the few operators who broke away to drive the causes of ethical hunting. The film-makers and their lawyers have seen off a High Court attempt to have the screenings stopped.

While the film is generating significant global attention, the foremost consideration has always been the campaign aimed at bringing an end to all exploitative breeding practices, as well as canned or captive hunting.

For anyone interested in conservation issues or lions, this is a film and discussion not to be missed. Please join Eden to Addo, Joan Berning and Ian Michler at The White House on December 28 at 7:30pm for a screening of the full-length documentary. There will be a cash bar and cash snack bar by the Nguni team.

Ian will conduct a full Q&A after the screening and discuss any aspect of the film, including feedback on his recent lobbying trip to the European Parliament and New York.

Visit www. edento addo. co.za for more information and email admin@eden toaddo.co.za or SMS 082 771 3744 to book.

As ‘n mens terugkyk op die jaar wat verby is, was daar gebeure wat in die natuurlike omgewing plaasgevind het wat ‘n vonk aangesteek het. Dit het hewige debatte ontlok, protesoptogte aan die gang gesit, aanlyn versoekskrifte laat posvat en Twitter- en Facebook-veldtogte begin.

Een so ‘n vonk wat ‘n veldbrand veroorsaak het, was die jagtog deur dr. Walter Palmer, ryk Amerikaanse tandarts en grootwildjagter, wat Cecil die swartmaanhaarleeu van Hwange in Julie vanjaar in Zimbabwe met ‘n kruisboog doodgeskiet het.

Honderde aanlyn versoekskrifte is in Augustus teen Palmer begin en duisende mense wereldwyd (baie in Suid-Afrika) het dit onderteken. Hulle het gevra vir die uitlewering van Palmer aan Zimbabwe, waar hy hopelik gestraf sou word. Hulle het sover gegaan om daarop aan te dring dat sy praktyk in Minnesota gesluit word. Hy is ook by sy huis geteister waar woorde soos “moordenaar” met rooi verf op die motorhuis se deure gespuit is.

Hoewel Palmer nie aan Zimbabwe uitgelewer is nie, is hy waarskynlik deeglik daarvan bewus dat hy een van die mees gehate mense in die wereld is. Aktiviste vergeet nooit nie.

So treiter Twittter-gebruikers Palmer steeds. Hulle breek gereeld op sy webblad in en sorg so dat hy nooit sal vergeet nie.

Cecil het die wereld weer aan die dink gesit oor trofee, sport- en biltongjag, veral in Afrika waar wild soveel werk skep as deel van die toerismebedryf. Begrippe soos “oneties” en “onvolhoubaar” het nuwe betekenis gekry. Mense vra hulle af hoe dit moontlik is dat trofeejag in dieselfde asem as bewaring gebruik kan word.

Op eie bodem word debatte gevoer oor die gonswoorde “volhoubare benutting”, wat ons eie Edna Molewa, minister van omgewingsake, so graag gebruik wanneer sy die handel in renosterhoring probeer regverdig. In 2016 word ‘n groot Cites-beraad in Johannesburg gehou en die internasionale oopstel van die handel in renosterhoring is op die agenda.

Lande wat bewaringsgesind is, lig reeds die wenkbroue oor hierdie Suid-Afrikaanse voorstel.

Die dokumentere rolprent Blood Lions het vanjaar ook opslae gemaak en die kwessie van geblikte leeujag in die kollig geplaas.

Die onetiese bedryf het lang tentakels en begin reeds wanneer leeuwelpies gebore word en mense toegelaat word om aan hulle te vat en met hulle te speel. Hier begin die geldmakery reeds. Welpies is oulik as hulle so klein is, maar dit is waar die doodskoot begin. Hierdie welpies word net geteel om in klein kampies gejag te word. Molewa het gou besef hierdie is ‘n warm patat en nou sit Senzeni Zokwana, minister van landbou, bosbou en visserye met die probleem: Wat gaan word van 7 000 halfmak leeus wat geen bewaringswaarde het nie? Wat eens bestempel is as die koning van die diere het nou die status van ‘n plaasdier.

Daar is baie omgewingskwessies wat in 2016 aandag moet kry. Van die belangrikste wentel om ons minerale.

Terwyl ons soveel energie bestee aan groot politieke gebeure wat ons aandag aftrek, word ons land stuk-stuk opgemyn.

The documentary film Blood Lions: Bred for the Bullet is making an extraordinary impact around the world. Even the European Parliament is sitting up and taking notice of the unholy alliance between lion breeding and canned hunting. The hunting industry is not enjoying the attention, and here in South Africa the Professional Hunter’s Association is turning against the purveyors of such practices.

The last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind for the makers and producers of Blood Lions, especially so for Ian Michler, conservationist, safari operator and special consultant to the hard-hitting documentary. It began with the first screenings at the Durban International Film Festival in Durban in July, and hasn’t stopped. Since then Ian has been in Brussels, Helsinki, Turku, London, New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Gaborone and Bogota to promote the feature film that digs deeply into South Africa’s predator breeding and canned trophy hunting industry. And an industry it certainly is, with more than 200 predator breeding farms raising lions for the bullet, the lion bone demand in eastern Asia, and the lucrative petting and voluntourism sectors.

Overwhelming support

I caught up with Michler on a short break back in South Africa before heading back into the fray, and was eager to ask him about the reaction of audiences around the world. “In a word, fantastic,” he responds. “Wherever we’ve been the reception has been overwhelmingly supportive, both of the film and the campaign behind it to end the breeding and canned hunting industry.”

“Even in the United States?” I ask. “Absolutely,” says Michler. “As you know, like here in South Africa, the States has a very strong trophy hunting lobby. But no one took us on at any of the screenings. Hunters know about the film of course and I know they are worried about at the groundswell of opinion against them. This comes through in social media and in other discussions within hunting groups around the world. Clearly Blood Lions and the events around the killing of Cecil in Zimbabwe have thrown their activities into the spotlight and they have been back-footed as a result.

“By contrast,” Michler continues, “while we have to deal with powerful pro trophy hunting voices in South Africa and the US, Europe presents itself rather differently. In Europe the trophy hunting lobby seems to represent the minority of hunters. In fact there is a strong sentiment against trophy hunting per se, not just the canned hunting element of it. European hunters are mostly after meat – what we would call the biltong hunters. We had hunters come to screenings of Blood Lions and they were completely in agreement with the film and the campaign.

Majority of SA hunters vote against canned hunting

Michler’s experiences “on tour” and at screenings in South Africa seem to have been remarkably similar. Public reaction to the documentary – outrage in fact – has been huge and the South African Professional Hunting Association (PHASA) have been squarely confronted by the less savoury aspects of their world. So much so in fact that their president admitted to the urgent need to rethink their “untenable” position on the matter of canned lion hunting. Well, the re-thinking has happened apace as PHASA certainly hasn’t wasted time in formally turning its back on the controversial practice of captive-bred lion hunting. At the association’s recent AGM a majority of its members voted to distance the association from the practice “until such time as the South African Predators Association could prove its conservation value to PHASA as well as the IUCN”.

Contravention means expulsion

PHASA also resolved that any of its members found to be involved in the hunting or marketing of captive-bred lions would face expulsion. Strong words and seemingly a victory for the Blood Lions campaign. But Michler is cautious. “Many of us have been on the issue of predator breeding and canned lion hunting for 15 plus years, and we need to remember that for all that time PHASA has pretty much thumbed their noses at any opposition. Most of South Africa’s lions spend their lives in captivity – only 30% are truly wild. The film tells the story of how lion breeding, canned trophy hunting, and increasingly the lion bone trade, are intertwined.

“Also, we must not forget that when in 2010 the predator breeders were successful in overturning a law aimed at banning canned lion hunting, PHASA were quick to jump on the bandwagon.

“Having said that, I completely welcome the about face on the part of PHASA since the release of Blood Lions. In fact, I would go so far as to congratulate the courage and commitment of the current leaders of PHASA to take on their own membership in this manner. Two members of PHASA deserve especial praise: Paul Stones and Garry Kelly have long led a debate around ethics within hunting circles, so much so that they were ostracized by their own organization and had to break away to form their own group. Although belittled at the time, they have carried the day.

Now for the real test

“But now comes the real test”, says Michler. “From now PHASA will be judged not on their statement but their actions – how they go about it from here. Are we going to see them actually take on errant members? Are we going to start seeing the collapse of canned hunting and the closing down of breeding farms? We wait to see. The point is that the hunting industry has had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the table to make this decision in the face of what the world sees as appalling, horrific, and without any conservation merit”

While Michler was abroad things took a bit of a bumpy turn back home. One of the farms featured in Blood Lions took action against the documentary’s producers for harming their reputation as a “sanctuary” and a lucrative voluntourism destination. “It must have been a little disquieting being so far from home when this was going on,” I ask Michler.

“Interestingly, we expected to be taken on by someone,” he replies. “We just weren’t sure which facility would do it. I expect there was communication amongst all of them in the run up to lodging the case. But the fact is that the judge threw the case out in its entirety and also awarded us all costs.

“But, yes, it was disconcerting. Our lawyers, Bowman Gilfillan did an outstanding job in presenting our case. Added to that, Pippa Hankinson – without whose determination the film would never have been made – and fellow producer Andrew Venter also did an excellent job in our defence.

Just asking the questions

“The reason we were confident we hadn’t overstepped the mark, and it is an important point to make, is that although we openly oppose the breeding and canned lion hunting industry and unashamedly want it stopped, the film doesn’t accuse individuals or places. The judge took the point that we simply ask legitimate questions and listen to the answers we are given.”

To do this, Michler and cameraman Nick Chevalier had to dig in some pretty sensitive and threatening places. “We had to,” Michler acknowledges. “This industry isn’t transparent, you know, it’s murky and deceitful. There has to be a reason as to how we have gone from a few hundred captive predators to 8,000 in 15 years. At the same time we also know that more than 800 lions have been shot annually in canned hunts. Where have they come from? Who is providing them? Yet if you go from farm to farm few admit to breeding and none will admit to supplying lions for canned hunts. I imagine what they do is put a so-called trading agent between themselves and the property on which a lion will be hunted. So it is easy for them to say with feigned indignation that ‘We don’t breed or hunt our lions’.”

Sustainable use or sustained abuse?

Michler believes that although Blood Lions has proved to be a catalyst for a rapid rethink about hunting and hunting ethics, he avers that it is part of a much bigger sea change. “The stage has been set. We have had decades of the trophy hunting arguments and hard-core sustainable use proponents being in the ascendency. But now there is a growing force within conservation and the wider public saying that we need to reassess our approach to wilderness and wild species. We see this not only in the response to Blood Lions and Cecil, but to poaching and the illegal wildlife trade too – indeed, in the way we treat the planet as a whole. There is a strong sense that a more considered stance is gathering momentum.

“I’m not saying that we need to throw out the whole concept of sustainable use but, as Will Travers of Born Free points out in the film, ‘we need to reinterpret it’. I agree wholeheartedly. Much of what we have seen over the past decade here in South Africa and all over is not sustainable use, but sustained abuse.

“I firmly believe that at end of the day the conservation, economic and community issues have nothing to do with it. The root of it is whether we choose to have an abusive relationship with the planet or not. And this is a deep-seated philosophical matter. The rest is all smoke and mirrors.”

Michler is the first to admit that the battle against the breeders and canned trophy hunting is far from over but hopefully, in the words of Churchill, “it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning”.

So where to next?

“Well, the presentation to the EU parliament has been the most significant to date so we plan to return in the new year to secure even more commitment. In particular we have been invited to talk to the governments of Spain, Italy and Finland. Once we can get some consolidation in Europe we’ll turn the focus to the United States. But while it is critical to get countries around the world to get legislation in place to ban the import of trophies, it is also vitally important to keep the dialogue open across the spectrum of conservation, political and hunting opinion. And then we also need to be bringing far greater awareness around the fraudulent conservation messages sent out by breeders and petting facilities.”

One of the greatest challenges seems to be to get the attention of the South African government. Its reaction to Blood Lions: silence. Rather strange given the fact National Geographic cited the documentary as one of the decade’s 12 top exposés of endangered and abused wildlife. But maybe not …

 Peter has a career in publishing and conservation spanning more than four decades. His most recent project has been the development of Untold Africa, a meeting place for intelligent, engrossing and entertaining dialogue for a global community of like-minded people – people who share a common passion for the wild places of Africa, the creatures that inhabit them, and the breadth of African culture. DM

Canned hunting is unethical. The practice has not reduced hunting pressure on wild lions. The marketing of breeding facilities and hunting operations confuses the conservation message and priorities, and results in a misdirection of funding that impacts negatively on wildlife. Captive rhino breeding and canned hunting would simply make matters far worse.

A judgement lifting the 2009 moratorium on domestic rhino horn trade was made in the Pretoria High Court last week. The judgement is considered a victory in pro-trade circles, but it may well lead to their defeat.

Applicants for the removal of the moratorium were rhino owners John Hume and Johan Kruger. The argument they won was that the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa “failed to comply with her obligation to properly notify the public about the proposed ban or to give members of the public a chance to make meaningful submissions.”

Hume also moved that, because he is the largest rhino breeder in South Africa, the Minister was obliged to give him personal notice of the moratorium, and that failure to do so renders the moratorium reviewable, and subject to be set aside. The Minister indeed did not follow proper procedure, and the judge rightfully set aside the moratorium based on this technicality.

But Judge Francis Legodi did not disagree with the Minister’s reasons for imposing the moratorium. He maintains that the moratorium is rational, reasonable, lawful and constitutional. In his judgement he states that, had it not been for the finding with regard to non-compliance with consultative process and participation of the members of the public, he would have found no unlawfulness in the introduction of the moratorium.

Rhino may owners have embarrassed the Minister, but they have also brought attention to the sound principles of her moratorium. Soon after the judgement, the Minister announced her decision to appeal, effectively suspending the execution of the judgement. Because of their actions, it is likely that they and other pro-traders will receive less support from the government in their efforts to lift International trade ban. And ultimately it is becoming clearer just how dubious their motivations are.

It is safe to assume that rhino owners are motivated by the international black market value of rhino horn, which is said to be as much as US$65,000 per kilogram. But, whether rhino horn is traded domestically or not, there is no legal entry for South Africa into the international market. As John Sellar, former Chief of Enforcement for the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species (CITES) explains, the Ministry of Environmental Affairs “cannot issue the necessary CITES documents for them to be transported for a primarily commercial purpose to, for example, China or Vietnam; which seem to be the countries most smugglers are heading towards for the moment.”

Even with legalisation of domestic trade, there would certainly be strict regulations and control. As Adam Weiz of WildAid quipped, “Hume is not going to set up a roadside stall selling rhino horn anytime soon.”

The only truly profitable course for traders would be to sell to the gangs running illegal poaching and smuggling networks. As Izak du Toit, a lawyer for a rhino owner, said: “We would sell to the poachers to prevent them from killing rhinos.” But at what price? If rhino owners intend to make a sizeable profit from selling horn, poaching rhinos might well be a more economical option. Fuelled by a legal domestic market where laundering of horn is simpler, it could in fact escalate the poaching crisis.

Opponents to trade may feel they are being forced in a certain direction. By overturning the ban, rhino owners might want to influence how nations vote at the CITES convention in Johannesburg in September 2016, where it is widely believed South Africa will seek authorisation for international trade in rhino horn. But this is extremely unlikely as the majority of voting nations are against lifting the ban on international trade. John Sellar, former Chief of Enforcement for CITES, says, “The impression I get is that most nations are extremely nervous about allowing such trade and vast numbers within non-governmental organizations will undoubtedly actively lobby against it.”

Sellar goes on to say that they risk alienating potential supporters, in and outside South Africa. “You will, for sure, encourage opponents to be more vociferous and you might even inspire those currently sitting on the fence to turn against you, on the basis that they’ll feel they are being forced in a certain direction.”

This appears to be a no-win situation for pro-traders. But it does not mean rhinos will be any any better off. Intensive farming of rhinos for profit will ultimately lead to domestication. A potentially legal course for rhino farmers is to profit from hunting operations. This perpetuates the avenue for laundering illegal rhino horn, and increases the potential for canned hunting of rhinos. This barbaric practice has drawn worldwide condemnation with the film exposé Blood Lions which highlights the horrors of captive lion breeding and hunting. The parallels between captive rhino and lion breeding cannot be ignored.

Protagonist of the film, conservationist Ian Michler says, “What this means for rhino as a wild species as we all know is that intensive farming for profit will ultimately lead to domestication. Blood Lions exposes the horrors and fraudulent conservation myths behind the farming model – we cannot have this entire process repeat itself with another iconic African species.”

Welfare conditions of animals kept in such facilities are deeply concerning. Canned hunting is unethical, and has not been proven to reduce hunting pressure on wild lions. The marketing of breeding facilities and hunting operations confuses the conservation message and priorities, and results in a misdirection of funding that impacts negatively on wildlife. Captive rhino breeding and canned hunting would make matters far worse. Promoting South Africa as an authentic, wild and rewarding destination is vital to tourism. The industry would suffer greatly if the perception of the country is one of a domestic feedlot where captive animals are slaughtered by unethical hunters.

Rhino owners like Hume have speculated on an investment that will almost certainly never see a proper return. It was a very dangerous plan from the get go, and its time to accept the losses and move on. If a rhino owner’s true motivation is to preserve the species, then the best course would be to sell or donate their rhinos to governments and organisations best equipped to protect the species in the wild. It would motivate the South African government and conservationists to focus their efforts, and send a clear message to criminals, and the world, that South Africans are not divided, that we are aligned in protecting our wildlife for prosperity. DM

Die leeujagbedryf het vanjaar wêreldwyd opskrifte gehaal ná die Amerikaner, Walter James Palmer, tot groot omstredenheid Cecil die Leeu in Zimbabwe geskiet het.

Op eie bodem het die dokumentêr Blood Lions dieD tonge laat klap. Hierin word daar gewys hoe leeus in haglike omstandighede leef én mishandel word. Geblikte leeujag lok ook groot omstredenheid uit met meer as 1000 leeus wat jaarliks op hierdie wyse geskiet word.

Kenners is dit eens: Dit is tyd om die leeubedryf in orde te kry. Daarom het die South African Predator Breeding Association (SAPBA) vir Prof Melville Saayman en sy span by TREES (Tourism Research in Economic Environs and Society) by die Noordwes-Universiteit se Potchefstroomkampus genader om na die waarde van die leeubedryf in Suid-Afrika te kyk. Dié studie, wat meestal op die hoofteelareas van Noordwes en Vrystaat gefokus gaan wees, gaan ook kyk hoeveel leeus daar in die bedryf is, want syfers wissel tussen 4000 en 6000.

“? Verbod op jag in Zimbabwe en die gepaardgaande verlies van inkomste vir Zimbabwiërs beteken dat sowat 2.3 miljoen kinders nou van nodige hulpmiddele ontneem is. Dit beteken dat die onderwyssektor daaronder ly, dit beteken dat brood uit hul borde geneem word. Dit beteken dat 2.3 miljoen kinders slegter daartoe af is en hul klaar lae lewensgehalte nóg verswak het oor ? ondeurdagte besluit deur die regering,” sê Saayman.

“Ons sien klaar dat stropery toeneem en ons sien reeds dat werkloosheid toeneem. Dit is nie ? gesonde situasie nie.”
Volgens Saayman het die Blood Lions dokumentêr die bedryf se prentjie ietwat skeef getrek, maar ook daarin geslaag om die kollig op misdrywe, wat uitgewis moet word, te plaas.

“Blood Lions het ? slegte indruk oor die bedryf geskep en een van ons uitdagings gaan wees om dit reg te stel. Daar is ongewenste praktyke wat die hele bedryf skade aandoen. Dit kan egter slegs aan ? paar persone toegeskryf word, maar dit ly tog daartoe dat daar wanpersepsies oor die bedryf geskep word. Daar is een of twee vrot appels in die leeuhok.”
Saayman sê verder dat Suid-Afrika se leeupopulasie ver daarvan is om gevaarligte te laat flikker, maar meer kan gedoen word om leeus effektief te versprei asook beter te benut.

“Ons gaan ook kyk waarheen gaan die oorskot leeus heen want daar moet gekyk word wat sal die beste vir die mark wees. Sommige van die leeus moet terug parke toe gaan en sommiges moet aan nuwe gebiede voorgestel word om die genepoel te verbeter. Ons het ? gesonde getal leeus in die land en danksy ons teelprogramme sit ons nie met ? gevaarsituasie nie, maar ons moet kyk na wat met die oorskot leeus gebeur,” verduidelik hy.

“Daar is verskeie moontlikhede wat die oorskot leeus betref. Hulle kan ? opvoedkundige doel dien, hulle kan ? groot rol in ekotoerisme speel, soos om met leeus te stap en soos genoem kan hulle rondgeskuif word om die genepoel in die land te versterk. Dan kan ons ook natuurlik leeus na lande waar daar ? tekort is uitvoer. Dit sal wel behels dat hierdie lande die versekering moet gee dat daar na die leeus gekyk sal word. Ons het dit in die verlede gedoen, maar toe word die diere gestroop.”

Saayman het ook SAPBA se toewyding tot die verbetering van die bedryf asook hul wedywering vir ? beter toekoms vir leeus in die land geprys: “Cecil het die bedryf baie seer gemaak. Blood Lions het die bedryf seer gemaak. Deur die beroep vir hierdie studie wys dit wel dat die bedryf ernstig is om vrot kolle uit te wis en dit sal tot voordeel van die hele bedryf wees.”

Wildlife presenter Michaela Strachan has discussed how her partner, Nick Chevalier, faced terrifying death threats while investigating the cruel trophy hunting of lions in Africa.

Nick Chevalier found himself in a dangerous confrontation when hunting operators turned on his undercover film crew in South Africa earlier this year.

“I’ll f***ing kill you. I’ll kill you. I tell you. I’ll kill you,” screams the hunter in a scene caught on camera.

Michaela told how Nick, her partner of 12 years, played down the deadly stand-off. Only when she first watched the resulting documentary film, Blood Lions, did she realise the danger he had been in.

She said: “It was far more dramatic watching it than when Nick told me about it. I knew he was going into quite a dangerous situation. And South Africa can be violent. But when I first saw the film, my reaction was: ‘Oh my God, you didn’t tell me about that bit.’”

Nick and the team were trying to expose “canned” lion hunting – the farm breeding of Africa’s greatest cats to be sold on for slaughter.

Their shocking film, which premieres in Britain this week, claims an astonishing 6,000 lions are currently caged in South Africa, bred to be shot by trophy hunters. Up to 800 are thought to be killed annually, mostly by US hunters who want to put a lion’s head on a wall at home and boast about how they bravely shot it in the wild.

But the film shows cubs are bred on farms, in some instances removed from their mothers at two or three days old, then hand-reared by humans before being sold – some to the hunting industry.

The business is growing so fast that experts predict a staggering 20,000 so-called “canned lions” could be in existence by 2020.

The phenomenon was first exposed by TV investigator Roger Cook in 1998. “That’s when I came across canned hunting,” said Springwatch presenter Michaela, “and, like everyone, I thought it had gone underground. I was not aware it had grown and is widespread in South Africa. And a lot of people do not know that it is legal.”

Campaigners hope the film will capitalise on the world outcry after the killing of Cecil the Lion by Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer this year.

The documentary follows US hunter-turned-investigator Rick from home in Hawaii to Benkoe, a hunting lodge near Vryburg in north-west South Africa.

The lodge claims: “At Benkoe Safaris, lion hunting is a challenge. It is a fair playing field for both lion and hunter where the lion is out on the loose.”

Benkoe’s website shows a series of gory pictures of gun-toting hunters, thumbs-up, parading dead carcasses of lions, zebras and buffalos. It states: “With more than 500 successful lion hunts we have the experience and expertise to partner with you on the ultimate hunting challenge. A wide range of lions is available.”

Benkoe owner Ben Duminy denies accusations of so-called “canned hunting” on his land. He does admit lions are bred in captivity and the fact that he operates trophy hunts not in the wild but in “semi-open” territory.

Shocking scenes show how, with a few online clicks, Rick is offered the chance to shoot a lioness he has singled out from pictures for US$5,400, which is about £3,500. Lionesses cost a tenth of males, which are revered for their dark manes.

Rick then travels to Benkoe where alongside undercover “friend” Nick Chevalier – who is videoing the trip – they are taken on a safari drive. After Rick demonstrates his shooting ability on a target board, they return to the lodge for a final briefing.

The investigators are working on a strategy to leave without killing a lion when Duminy comes storming to the lodge, threatening to kill the duo unless they leave immediately.

Although it is common for hunters to have their kill filmed, it is believed Duminy was suspicious of the professional nature of the camera crew.

The confrontation is caught on camera in dramatic footage.

Rick says: “How would you feel if someone twice your size threatened to kill you? I trusted Mr Duminy about as far as I could throw him. I think he had every intention of causing us serious harm if we had not left when we did.”

The undercover crew sped off Benkoe’s land, but with enough footage for the documentary to work.

Some canned hunting operations similar to Benkoe’s are linked to cub petting – another way in which farm-reared lions are exploited, say animal welfare campaigners. This involves people paying to have their photograph taken with cute baby lions.

Visitors are assured they will be cared for and released into the wild once they grow too big to be cuddled. But the harsh reality, according to the Campaign Against Canned Hunting, is that these lions are reared just so they can later be shot by rich tourists.

In most cases, animals are taken from their mothers at birth, causing extreme stress to both mother and cub. Kept in captivity just to produce offspring, the mothers are forced to give birth to two or three litters a year. Volunteers, including UK gap-year students, are duped into helping at lion breeding centres, believing these are genuine conservation projects.

The cubs become withdrawn and often suffer health complications.

A spokesman for Campaign Against Canned Hunting said: “No true lion sanctuary allows breeding in captivity for captivity. So there will never be cubs to pose with at a genuine lion sanctuary.”

Michaela, 49, who will attend the UK premiere of Blood Lions this Friday, lives in Cape Town, South Africa, with Nick and their 10-year-old son Ollie.

“It is a shame they did not get the gun in front of the lion and then say that they are not going to do it,” she says. “But I don’t think the film has lost impact. It is a dramatic scene and shows the aggression of the people. The overwhelming public opinion is that it’s time for this to finish. Why do people still want a lion on their wall? It’s absurd. Pigs and cows are farmed for meat. To do it for sport is so unnecessary.”

Will Travers, President of The Born Free Foundation , said: “This powerful film exposes the hideous, barbaric practice of breeding lions for hunters to slaughter in fenced enclosures – so-called ‘canned hunting’. It’s an industry that, until now, few knew about and it’s endorsed by the South African government. Blood Lions will change all that. Canned hunting relies on people with more money than sense killing lions for ‘fun’ – lions that have no chance of escape. It must be stopped – now!”

Benkoe declined to comment.

SIR – In a game-changing decision, the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy has banned the import of African lion hunting trophies.

This ban follows the tidal wave of public opinion against trophy hunting that followed the killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.

In a communication addressed to the Brigitte Bardot Foundation and dated November 12, Segolene Royal, the minister of ecology, has also expressed that her government would seek stricter regulations on the import of hunting trophies to the EU.

Furthermore, Royal declared that France will no longer issue re-export certificates for raw tusks and pieces of unworked ivory in an effort to combat ivory trafficking.

Teresa Telecky, director of wildlife at Humane Society International, said: “We applaud France for its decision to protect African lions by banning lion trophy imports. In the last five months, the public has become much more informed on the true nature of trophy hunting, that it does not contribute to conservation and is harmful to the survival of species in the wild.”

This news is followed by two other major announcements. First, Europe’s largest hunting fair – Jagd & Hund Dortmund – will cease all advertising and sale of canned hunts, in which trophy hunters pay to kill animals bred exclusively to be shot in a fenced in location.

And just a month after the world premiere of the film Blood Lions, which exposes South Africa’s canned hunting industry, it has been reported that the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa members have voted to “distance the association from captive-bred lion-hunting” until breeders “could prove the conservation value of this practice to both PHASA and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature”.

Die leeujagbedryf het vanjaar wêreldwyd opskrifte gehaal ná die Amerikaner, Walter James Palmer, tot groot omstredenheid Cecil die Leeu in Zimbabwe geskiet het.

Op eie bodem het die dokumentêr Blood Lions die tonge laat klap. Hierin word daar gewys hoe leeus in haglike omstandighede leef én mishandel word. Geblikte leeujag lok ook groot omstredenheid uit met meer as 1000 leeus wat jaarliks op hierdie wyse geskiet word.

Kenners is dit eens: Dit is tyd om die leeubedryf in orde te kry. Daarom het die South African Predator Breeding Association (SAPBA) vir Prof Melville Saayman en sy span by TREES (Tourism Research in Economic Environs and Society) by die Noordwes-Universiteit se Potchefstroomkampus genader om na die waarde van die leeubedryf in Suid-Afrika te kyk. Dié studie, wat meestal op die hoofteelareas van Noordwes en Vrystaat gefokus gaan wees, gaan ook kyk hoeveel leeus daar in die bedryf is, want syfers wissel tussen 4000 en 6000.

“? Verbod op jag in Zimbabwe en die gepaardgaande verlies van inkomste vir Zimbabwiërs beteken dat sowat 2.3 miljoen kinders nou van nodige hulpmiddele ontneem is. Dit beteken dat die onderwyssektor daaronder ly, dit beteken dat brood uit hul borde geneem word. Dit beteken dat 2.3 miljoen kinders slegter daartoe af is en hul klaar lae lewensgehalte nóg verswak het oor ? ondeurdagte besluit deur die regering,” sê Saayman.

“Ons sien klaar dat stropery toeneem en ons sien reeds dat werkloosheid toeneem. Dit is nie ? gesonde situasie nie.”
Volgens Saayman het die Blood Lions dokumentêr die bedryf se prentjie ietwat skeef getrek, maar ook daarin geslaag om die kollig op misdrywe, wat uitgewis moet word, te plaas.

“Blood Lions het ? slegte indruk oor die bedryf geskep en een van ons uitdagings gaan wees om dit reg te stel. Daar is ongewenste praktyke wat die hele bedryf skade aandoen. Dit kan egter slegs aan ? paar persone toegeskryf word, maar dit ly tog daartoe dat daar wanpersepsies oor die bedryf geskep word. Daar is een of twee vrot appels in die leeuhok.”

Saayman sê verder dat Suid-Afrika se leeupopulasie ver daarvan is om gevaarligte te laat flikker, maar meer kan gedoen word om leeus effektief te versprei asook beter te benut.

“Ons gaan ook kyk waarheen gaan die oorskot leeus heen want daar moet gekyk word wat sal die beste vir die mark wees. Sommige van die leeus moet terug parke toe gaan en sommiges moet aan nuwe gebiede voorgestel word om die genepoel te verbeter. Ons het ? gesonde getal leeus in die land en danksy ons teelprogramme sit ons nie met ? gevaarsituasie nie, maar ons moet kyk na wat met die oorskot leeus gebeur,” verduidelik hy.

“Daar is verskeie moontlikhede wat die oorskot leeus betref. Hulle kan ? opvoedkundige doel dien, hulle kan ? groot rol in ekotoerisme speel, soos om met leeus te stap en soos genoem kan hulle rondgeskuif word om die genepoel in die land te versterk. Dan kan ons ook natuurlik leeus na lande waar daar ? tekort is uitvoer. Dit sal wel behels dat hierdie lande die versekering moet gee dat daar na die leeus gekyk sal word. Ons het dit in die verlede gedoen, maar toe word die diere gestroop.”

Saayman het ook SAPBA se toewyding tot die verbetering van die bedryf asook hul wedywering vir ? beter toekoms vir leeus in die land geprys: “Cecil het die bedryf baie seer gemaak. Blood Lions het die bedryf seer gemaak. Deur die beroep vir hierdie studie wys dit wel dat die bedryf ernstig is om vrot kolle uit te wis en dit sal tot voordeel van die hele bedryf wees.”

The majority of the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa (Phasa) members have voted to distance the association from captive-bred lion hunting until such time as the South African Predators Association (SAPA) could prove the conservation value of this practice to both Phasa and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The lion-hunting industry caught global attention after Walter Palmer shot Cecil, a rare black-maned, collared lion in Zimbabwe. The documentary Blood Lions also showed audiences how lions live in terrible conditions and are abused.

The South African Predator Breeding Association (SAPBA) contacted Prof Melville Saayman and his team at Tourism Research in Economic Environs and Society at North-West University to investigate the value of the lion industry in South Africa.

This study, which will focus mainly on the main breeding areas of North West and the Free State, will also determine how many lions are part of the industry, as numbers vary between 4 000 and 6 000.

Saayman said South Africa’s lion population was far from showing problems but that more could be done to distribute the lions effectively and also to utilise them better. “We will also determine what must be done with the surplus of lions, because it has to be determined what the best will be for the market.”

He also praised SAPBA’s commitment to improving the industry and striving for a better future for lions in the country. “Cecil hurt the industry a lot. Blood Lions hurt the industry. The initiation of this study shows that the industry is serious about erasing the bad patches, and that will be to the benefit of the whole industry.”