Predator Breeders win appeal
November 29 2010 at 01:53pm



The SA Predator Breeders' Association on Monday partly won a Supreme Court of Appeal case regarding the trophy hunting of captive lions - commonly called “canned hunting”.

The SCA held the minister of environmental affairs at the time did not take a “rational decision” when he determined that captive-bred lions had to fend for themselves in an extensive wildlife system for 24 months, before they could be hunted.

In the high court the predator breeders challenged the inclusion of lions as a listed large predator in the Threatened or Protected Species Regulations, and the 24-month period in which captive-bred lions had to fend for themselves before they could be hunted.

The SCA said there was no doubt the minister was entitled to take into account “strong opposition” and “revulsion” in public opinion to the hunting of captive lions. Nevertheless, his 24-month decision should have been based on a rational foundation.

“The evidence proves that he did not do so.”

The judgment also held that on the premise upon which the application and the appeal were argued, the association had achieved substantial success.

Relief sought by the predator breeders on other aspects of the regulations in their appeal were refused. - Sapa

Aside from the PR ramifications about Canned Lion Hunts, what exactly is the problem?

How does it differ from the Canned Plains Game Hunts in South Africa?

How many Wild Lions are spared because of the innate laziness of most African Client Hunters who chose a one day canned hunt over a Fair Chase Hunt?

I had a guy at our local SCI Chapter tell me he shot 21 animals in only 11 days on a South African Safari How does this differ from a Canned Lion Hunt?

We had a guy on this Forum awhile back who is, I think, respected or at least liked here admit that he was in a vehicle and they forced a Cape Buffalo against the corner fence on the property he was Hunting so he could shoot it. He showed pictures and got a lot of congratulations from some posters.

How is this different?



How is this different?

What does this decision mean? Will canned lion hunting still go on? Does it throw it back to the Ministry to determine a more reasonable time lions must be released before they can be hunted? What time limit does the Predator Breeders association want?

I would hope that the SA Predator Breeders' Association prevails.

I say that not because of any endorsement of canned lion hunts TODAY.

But the long term future of the Lion is so tentative that we do need hunting alternatives to be fostered and developed into "wild-like experiences". Otherwise our grandkids will only read about cat hunting.

I know how the majority of you feel about this subject, but think about the 20-30 yr horizon and the impact of human population and land use conflicts.

Lions cannot co-exist with farming and humans in close proximity. African governments have to be shown that they are worth ($$$) preserving, under the best circumstances possible. As long as the every day black man is measured in part by the number of wives and children he can amass we are going towards extinction of sport hunting.

Rich

http://www.lionalert.org/pages...0wild%20hunting.html


Article regarding "canned" vs. wild lion hunting.

Lion ruling bitter news - SPCA
2010-11-30 21:31



Bloemfontein - A Supreme Court of Appeal ruling in favour of the SA Predator Breeders' Association concerning hunting captive-bred lions was disappointing, the NSPCA said on Tuesday.

"Bitter news for lions," National Council of SPCAs spokesperson Brenda Santon said in a statement. On Monday the court held the minister of environmental affairs did not take a rational decision when he determined that captive-bred lions had to fend for themselves in an extensive wildlife system for 24 months, before they could be hunted.

Santon said this meant the 24-month re-wilding period, as stipulated in the Threatened and Protected Species Regulations to prevent "canned hunting", could not be enforced.

Santon said nearly all lions hunted in South Africa were raised in captivity.

In the High Court the predator breeders challenged the inclusion of lions in the regulations, and the 24-month period in which captive-bred lions had to fend for themselves before they could be hunted.

The SPCA believed breeding predators in captivity for hunting should never have been allowed in the first place.

"The SPCA is concerned about the welfare of more than 4 000 lions currently kept in captivity."

Lack of adequate legislation and the issuing of permits to allow for the keeping and breeding of lions had contributed to the problem. She said now the non-profit organisation had to police the welfare of captive animals, as well as the spin-offs from the trade, such as lion cub petting and walks with lions.

In a statement, the breeders' association said the judgment brought an end to a four-year court battle that could have been prevented if proper consultation between the environmental affairs department and its members had taken place.

"Unfortunately we were forced to go to court in order to protect our interest, business rights and properties from being expropriated by an ill-informed decision."

The association said it strived to do business in a legal and ethical way.

"We will do our utmost to enter into proper negotiations with the department to find an amicable solution for the hunting and breeding of lions, that is in the best interest of the animals and the sustainability of the captive-bred lion in South Africa," the statement read.


- SAPA

I'm with Gator1 on this, I don't see any real problems with canned lion hunting aside from bad PR. It's a different type of hunt than a wild lion, but if the hunter just wants a panthera leo in his/her trophy room then the end result is the same. The logic, to me, is similar to the scimitar oryx thing in Texas. Shooting scimitar oryx in Texas isn't going to help or hurt the wild population's numbers, yet, somehow, their existence in Texas means they should be governed by the laws over in the Sahara desert (CITES 1 protection). Everyone in the USA could have a pet scimtar oryx, they would still be extinct in Africa.

A lot of this seems like the slippery slope of one type of hunting getting banned that sets a precedent to ban other types of hunting.

I'm seeing this now in a positive way too. Mature lions (and lionesses) being offered for trophies and no cubs die as a result of the loss of a pride male.

Something tells me this is good for wild lion prides in the long run.

Ann,

I believe you are over-thinking the situation and am a little suprised you seem to be coming down on the side of canned lion hunts. The people (I won't call them hunters) who shoot canned lions are NOT the same folks who are shooting lions in Tanzania, Zim, etc.

Eliminating canned lion hunts won't put more pressure on the resources in other countries. It could concievably drive prices higher, but we seem to have hit near the ceiling for a lion hunt lately.
Lion quotas are low, but generally filled throughout the countries with free ranging populations. The quotas won't magically go up if canned hunts are banned in RSA. While i find canned hunts distasteful at best, I take a live and let live attitude to most of these ethical questions. The ethics police are always willing to find fault somewhere, and it gets us nowhere. That said, I'd be perfectly happy to see RSA enforce its ban on canned lion shooting. These aren't hunts, and only paint all hunters in a negative light.

Bill

Seriously Bill, I wholeheartedly agree with you. The problem is there are more people with lots of money who can afford lion trophy fees than there are, older, wild animals. Wild populations cannot meet this need.

A killed wild male means all cubs in that pride die.... Wild pops perhaps need a 'break' to build up prides in true safari areas. Plus, remember, a lot of people who can afford lions want huge MGM manes which pen raised felines have more so than wild lions.

Those clients are not interested in so much 'the experience' than the trophy room result for which to brag upon.

I also don't have a problem with the canned hunting, in that its livestock.

If you want to shoot a canned lion, you are cheating yourself out of the experience. I don't care if your lion is higher in RW or SCI, you didn't go out and hunt him in his native environment.

As to eliminating canned hunts not reducing pressure, how can it not?

There are a certain sub group of rich folks who want to have a lion mount or skin. They will pay for a 6 figure tanz hunt if that's the only way to get it, and have whatever shenanigans happen to get him. This is where the canned hunters mostly come from- to be honest, I really doubt many who shot a canned lion didn't know or suspect that all was not natural with their hunt, but deliberately didn't look to closely. They got their cat within 3 days, what a great hunter they were, etc.

I don't see canned hunting improving the quota elsewhere, but if you take a certain number of high rollers out of the equation, the price will have less inclination to go up.

Besides, anything that SPCA says is bad can't be all bad....

quote:

Plus, remember, a lot of people who can afford lions want huge MGM manes which pen raised felines have more so than wild lions.

quote:

There are a certain sub group of rich folks who want to have a lion mount or skin. They will pay for a 6 figure tanz hunt if that's the only way to get it, and have whatever shenanigans happen to get him. This is where the canned hunters mostly come from- to be honest, I really doubt many who shot a canned lion didn't know or suspect that all was not natural with their hunt, but deliberately didn't look to closely.

I can think of a few hunters who have both wild lions and canned lions. In every case, the mane on the canned lion far exceeds that of their wild counterparts. And these aren't "lazy" hunters either, they do all sorts of tough and wild hunts (and many of them). My guess is their logic for shooting a "canned" lion is the same as mentioned above. They wanted the MGM lion for their trophy room. They already had a handful of wild lions, the "wild" experience was probably a none-issue by that point for them.

Just saying ...