Category: 2015

In an already monumental year for Gary Player, the sporting legend’s charitable tournament of golf and giving, the Gary Player Invitational presented by Coca-Cola, raised a record R 6.2 million in donations and during its all-star auction dinner at the South African leg of the series at Sun City.

The Gary Player Invitational South Africa, which finds itself in its 16th year as the sport’s premier charity event, has raised more than R800 million across the world in an effort to help sustain the worthy causes supported by The Player Foundation. All proceeds raised from the event will go to charity beneficiaries – Wildlands in partnership with Qhubeka and Wings and Wishes.

“I am thrilled that once again we managed to raise a significant amount of money for our foundation,” said Gary Player. “The generosity was truly special and it’s a great privilege that such a substantial amount was raised under the umbrella of golf and giving.”

The Gary Player Invitational is frequented by international celebrities, prominent business executives and pro-golfers who gather upon Gary Player designed courses to team up in support of The Player Foundation’s contribution towards the betterment of others. With 2015 bringing Gary Player’s 80th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his career Grand Slam, this year was no exception as guests rubbed shoulders with the likes of Graeme Smith, Aaron Mokoena, Ronan Keating, Carly Booth, Roland Schoeman and Richard Sterne.

Presenting sponsor, The Coca-Cola Company are extremely proud of the partnership with Black Knight International and the results the tournament achieved over the years. “We are always excited to be involved in this premier charity golf event that celebrates the partnership of influential business and sports leaders to raise funds for beneficiaries supported by The Player Foundation. We recognise that healthy and thriving communities are critical to the sustainable future of our world. Uplifting vulnerable communities with focus on women and children is a shared goal for both The Player Foundation and Coca-Cola.”

The most sought-after auction item of the evening was The Masters fetching R 425 000 with other items on auction such has The Open, Wimbledon, Swarovski encrusted Rhino sculpture by Gadget Candy, The Gary Player Wildlife Collection by David Yarrow, UEFA Euro in Paris 2016 and many more.

“The support we have received from the Gary Player Invitational series truly has made a difference in the world,” said Marc Player, GPI series founder and CEO of Black Knight International. “From the professional golfers and celebrities to our sponsors, they make it all possible to change people’s lives.”

Non-profit foundation Empowers Africa is hosting a special screening of the new documentary film, Blood Lions™, which exposes the shocking captive lion breeding and canned hunting industry in South Africa. This will be the first public screening of the full 85-minute documentary in the United States.

The fundraiser will take place at The Explorers Club, 46 E 70th St, New York, starting with cocktails at 6:00 p.m. The special screening will be followed by a panel discussion on South Africa’s captive lion industry and its links to canned hunting, voluntourism and the burgeoning lion bone trade with Asia, featuring Dr Andrew Venter, CEO of Wildlands, Dr Luke Hunter, President of Panthera, and Ian Michler, Blood Lions™ consultant, and lead character.

“We are hosting this fundraiser to support the Blood Lions™ campaign to raise awareness and put a halt to this brutal and unethical industry,’’ says Krista Krieger, executive director of Empowers Africa. “If hunters, volunteers and tourists stopped supporting South Africa’s commercial lion breeders, it would go a long way towards closing their facilities down.”

According to leading South African NGOs Wildlands and Endangered Wildlife Trust, as well as the respected New York based NGO, Panthera, captive lion-breeding does nothing for lion conservation. Not a single captive-bred, hand-reared lion has been successfully released into the wild. Instead, every day in South Africa, two to three captive-bred, effectively tame, lions are killed in canned lion hunts. Helping to fuel this industry are eager volunteers who unwittingly pay up to $1,000 per week to hand-rear lion cubs that have been forcibly removed from their mothers after birth.

Says Dr. Andrew Venter, CEO of Wildlands: “The scale of the industry is huge, with some 4,000 lion cubs born in captive breeding facilities in South Africa each year. Unbelievably, in South Africa canned lion hunting is legal, generating some US $10 million per year.’’

Dr Luke Hunter, President of Panthera, says the growth in Asian demand for lion bones (used as a proxy for tiger bones in traditional Chinese medicines) has created yet another revenue stream. South African lion breeders export over 1,000 lion skeletons annually for the lion bone trade in Asia. Hunter says: “There is absolutely no medicinal value in lion parts – you might as well consume cow for all the health benefits of lion bone. South Africa’s legal trade only fuels the demand for big cat body parts, providing a ready market for cats poached in the wild.’’

In order to reserve a seat for the Blood Lions™ event on 2 December, a donation of $150 can be made for regular seating or a $250 for VIP seating. “All donations from the screening will be granted from Empowers Africa to Wildlands to support the Blood Lions™ campaign. Funds raised will be used to recruit additional NSPCA Wildlife Unit inspectors to prevent abuse in the captive lion industry and to support wild lion conservation in South Africa,” Krieger says.

“We are thrilled to be supported by Empowers Africa in New York,” says Blood Lions™ co-producer Pippa Hankinson of Regulus Vision. “It’s been four years since I embarked on this project and I am determined to see an end to this cruel industry. As Martin Luther King Jr. famously said: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

For tickets for the event, click here. http://bit.ly/bloodlions.

The internationally acclaimed film Blood Lions™ – Bred for the Bullet, has partnered with the Born Free Foundation to bring you the London premiere. The controversial film will be screened on the 27th of November at 19h00 at the Royal Geographical Society in London (1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR – Exhibition Road Entrance). For a small contribution of only £20 you can witness this ground breaking film.

“Blood Lions™ joins other films, like Gorillas in the Mist, Echo of the Elephants, The Cove (Taiji dolphins in Japan), Blackfish”— Born Free Foundation president, Will Travers says, “which have truly influenced the way we interact with wild animals.”

Lions bred for slaughter in South Africa is big business. The Blood Lions™ story is a compelling call to action to have these practices stopped. Blood Lions™ follows presenter, researcher and safari operator Ian Michler, and Rick Swazey, an American hunter, on their journey to uncover the realities about the multimillion-dollar predator breeding and canned lion hunting industries in South Africa.

“Being able to screen Blood Lions™ at the Royal Geographical Society with the Born Free Foundation as a partner is a great honour,” said Ian Michler – Presenter and Researcher for Blood Lions™. “The film and its messages continue to receive global attention, and this opportunity allows us to extend the discussion on a personal basis to include the British people and media.”

The Blood Lions™ team are implementing campaigns of awareness and action aimed at the general public; Government (both local and international) and provincial decision-makers; the scientific and conservation community (NGO’s); the tourism industry; the professional hunting bodies and the volunteer agencies. The Blood Lions™ team are also establishing two projects to feed funding into, namely – a Wild Lion Range Expansion Project and NSPCA (National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in South Africa) support.

“We are proud to partner with the Born Free Foundation for the UK premiere of our feature documentary in London later this month,” said Pippa Hankinson – Producer and driving force behind Blood Lions™. “The support that the film has received from across the United Kingdom has been phenomenal, and it is already playing a significant part in our campaign to create global awareness around the captive lion breeding industry in South Africa and to end the terrible exploitation of these lions.”

Andrew Venter, CEO of Wildlands and Executive Producer said: “Blood Lions™ exposes the cons of Lion breeding and hunting in South Africa. Over 900 lions are hunted each year, with 99% bred for the bullet. They are hand-reared by paying volunteers that believe they are saving ‘Africa’s Lions’. 4 days after their release from a life in captivity they are considered wild and can then be shot by hunters looking for a guaranteed kill; or slaughtered for the Lion bone trade to China. We have to stop this barbaric and fraudulent practise and believe that Blood Lions™ will help us do this. Creating awareness through this film across the world is an absolute honour, and Wildlands are very proud to be a part of this movement.”

Born Free Foundation president, Will Travers, concludes by saying: “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.”