I thought this report in the African Hunting Info newletter might be enlightening as to what is going on in the debate. I print it below without comment

Regards, Peter
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Business Day (Johannesburg)
GUEST COLUMN October 28, 2005

By Dr. Olver Johannesburg

SA's hunting industry is estimated to be worth about R1,2bn. A considerable portion of this economic value is derived from overseas professional hunters and domestic recreational hunting.

The industry is a sizeable role player in the rural economy. About 17-million hectares of land are used for wildlife production. There are currently about 9000 wildlife production units, which have resulted in about 6000 direct jobs in sport hunting and about 63000 jobs on wildlife production units. Every year, about 54000 animals are hunted. SA is an attractive destination for hunting because it also offers a diverse range of species -- about 60 species.

But the industry has been tarnished by recurrent reports of unethical practices such as "canned" lion hunting; the use of baiting and traps; tracking and killing by dogs; and methods of hunting that lead to unnecessary suffering by animals. There has also been an increase of alien species being introduced, and the genetic manipulation of traits (such as novel colouration of animals that give them a freakish look), contributing to the less-than-savoury image of the industry.

Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk established a panel of experts from a wide range of disciplines to investigate different aspects and practices within the hunting industry with a view to making policy recommendations and presenting a draft set of national norms and standards. The panel handed its report to the minister on Wednesday. The core of the report relates to the balance that needs to be struck between economic interest, conservation objectives and the ethical treatment of animals. The panel felt the latter two were most neglected.

The wildlife industry in SA is the most privatised in Africa, and has been operating commercially for almost 40 years. The combination of no clear national norms and standards, a fragmented system of permits and enforcement at provincial level and the lack of voluntary compliance in the professional and recreational hunting industry has led to its state of dysfunction.

The most perturbing theme in the panel's report is the extent to which commercial interests override conservation objectives and have compromised the humane and ethical treatment of animals.

The report calls for a more interventionist role from government, to ensure that hunting and wildlife production are aligned with conservation objectives and ethical practices. The first entails a clear delineation between intensive forms of production and extensive systems.

Intensive forms of production need to ensure that the mass introduction and production of eland, springbok and other species is made no different from livestock production, and places these forms of production where they belong -- in the agricultural sector. The production of wild animals is largely to provide alternative sources of protein to the meat industry and should never have been confused with the conservation sector.

Meanwhile the primary goal of extensive production includes the management and protection of habitats and sustaining a diversity of wildlife. Private investors enter this segment to provide consumptive and non-consumptive services to the tourism sector. Hunting is often a way of generating and diversifying income sources as the management of wildlife production units is costly.

The lack of a clear distinction between intensive forms of production, and extensive systems is at the heart of the systemic problems in the industry.

"Canned" lion hunting occurs because the intensive production of lions in captive breeding systems was once thought to contribute to conservation as more lions are reproduced. But the monetary returns derived from hunting have encouraged the breeding of lions and other animals so that they can be hunted. Provinces where there are numerous captive breeding facilities are most active in "canned" lion hunting, particularly North West and Free State.

The key objective of the report is to reassert the importance of conservation in the wildlife industry.

The panel has recommended far-reaching proposals for the industry. These include, among others, that no hunting be permitted on intensive production systems and that these be treated as alternative forms of agricultural production; that captive breeding be permitted solely for conservation and not hunting; and that a ban be imposed on all forms of "canned" hunting.

Finally, the panel has recommended a complete overhaul of the permit- and quota-determination system so that it is more in line with the national Biodiversity Act, and a scientifically determined process of determining species off-take, or quotas, should play a more prominent role in the permitting system, backed up by monitoring and compliance.

National intervention is needed because the right of ownership and access to the country's wildlife and its consumptive use should come with responsibility, and should encourage private landowners and investors to play a greater role in its conservation.

Dr Olver was chairman of the panel of experts on professional and recreational hunting, and Fakir was the research co-ordinator for the report to the minister.

The following points/questions does not necessary reflect my viewpoint on this subject.

A very well known person once said to me, altghough he does not agree with canned Lion hunting it does take the pressure off the wild Lions.

Why are there canned Lion hunting? There was a demand for it, fopreign hunters wanted a short hunt because they were not prepared to pay the price for a long hunt and they wanted a guarentee on the Lion or whatever animals they wanted. Why was it allowed in the first place? GREED

Why did the goverment allow captive Lion breeding? Economic reasons? Because of the demand for canned Lions more and more captive breeding operations started. Why was'nt it stopped years ago, instead NC made rules on the land size they may be hunted on and how long they must be on the land before they may be hunted.

Why did Nature conservation allowed genetic manipulation?

Why did Nature Conservation allowed game ranchers to import species into habitats where they do not belong, Blesbok and Black Wildebeest into Limpopo province, to name just a few.

One of the reasons for a lot of the problems is because every province got its own legislation, we need a holistic NC legislation.

What about green hunts, where the same animal is darted continiously, what effect does it have on the animal?

I think this enquiry came 10 years to late, it should have been done a long time ago. We need to get our hunting industry on the right tracks and make sure the greenies cannot point a finger to us.

Jaco,
Well spoken!

Husky

now add this to it- I had a call from a friend last week. He has booked a hunt in S.A. for: Black maned lion, lioness, dart a rhino, gemsbuck and a couple of other antelope. he's hunting bringing his wife, son and his wife. all this for 25,000 including trophy fees. I explained to him just what he's getting into and what it would all be about, but he's got his mind set.

Butchloc,
That is exactly my point, while there is a demand, nobody will stop canned hunting. No problem with the Gemsbok.

Hunting must always be ethical, one of the criteria is that the animal must be in his natural enviroment and must have the chance to escape from the hunter. A man raised animal does not have the chance of escaping, it is used to human beings and trust them.

The hunter must test his/her skills against the animal.

I don't understand. What is the difference with the Gemsbok? They are all raised on high fenced farms or ranches. Same with all of the antelope species. They all exist behind high fences folks, with the exception of those few areas that are free ranging from the national parks onto reserves. You all fail to realize what is at stake here. It is not just the "canned" lion hunts. Wake up to that fact. By the way the bunny huggers and greenies are going to point their slimy fingers at you anyway, JUST BECAUSE YOU HUNT, PERIOD.

The diference is that antelope are born on the farm, they are not kept in a small enclosure and they do not get used to human beings, they live a free live. Anybody that thinks it is easy to hunt plainsgame on a farm where they was born, must first try it. They have everything in their favour, they are still wild animals. I have hunted on many farms, depending on the wind and other factors, you sometimes just do not get a chance on the animals.

What is canned hunting, the animal is bred in a very small enclosure and get used to human beings. The animal is bought and is set free a day or two before it is hunted. The animal is totally disorientated, it does not know the area and therefore usually stay in the area where it is released. That is canned hunting or put and take hunting. It is not ethically, it is a easy kill. That animal does not have any chance of escaping from the hunter.

Maybe I should have qualified that if the Gemsbok was born on the farm or at least had spent a long time on the farm it is fine to hunt him. If I did not make myself clear in my previous post, I apologise for that.

Jaco, I agree with you, I really do, but what I am pointing out is that these new "regulations" or those sought by your officials as they have stated them in the news reports are going to go well beyond the "canned" lion hunts. They are the nose of the camel under the tent as far as restrictive regulations go for hunting in South Africa. Most plains game and antelope that I have hunted in South Africa (35+) have been raised in high fenced areas. Yes, they were not raised in a cage and then released, but they are captive bred and live behind high fences and most of them are part of a breeding program. Whether it is deemed "intensive" or not will be up to the discretion of your government officials and those who cry loudest against hunting and the "humane and ethical" treatment of animals. You folks in South Africa must wake up now. Be very wary of these new regulations. Band together and make every effort to ensure that the new regulations are as least restrictive as possible. Otherwise you will find yourselves in a losing position on safari hunting and foreign clients. Look at what your SA Police regulations on firearms has already done to discourage hunters from the RSA.

What this all comes down to is the reasons we allow these animals to be. One set of issues is economically-based and the other is conservation-based.

Some people believe that the only reason non-domestic animals should be able to take up resources is because they can be worth money if they are hunted or otherwise killed ("if it pays, it stays".) If one only measures the worth of an animal in economic terms, it doesn't take too many steps of logic to to get to the point of easily justifying canned lion "hunts," cross-breeding blesbok and hartebeest, or introducing animals to areas outside of their traditional range.

On the other hand, there are those of us who believe the animal has an intrinsic worth, whether it can be hunted or not (like the black rhino in Africa or whooping cranes in the US), that it is an integral part of its native environment. I fall in that camp and for that reason did considerable research before hunting in the East Cape a few years ago to see what species on offer actually belonged there. It's also why I wouldn't hunt exotics in Texas, or anywhere else, if you paid me.

Having said that, I believe that as a practical matter any game management plan, in Africa or the US, has to take both groups of issues into consideration: especially in Africa where many people's livelihood could be at stake.

Use Enough Gun,
Firstly I like your name. I agree with you on a lot you say. To get the full story one must read the whole submission by the team of experts and all the submissions by the various groups. It is a lot of reading, I haven't completely read through everything. Most of the submissions came from the hunting fraternity and only one or two from the animal rights groups.
Overall most of the groups made very positive suggestions on how to regulate hunting.

Some of the practise that will definately be stopped is:

Canned hunting
Captive breeding of predators
Green hunts.
Baited hunts
Hunting with dogs

The submitted report is overall very positive with seemingly good intensions. The various hunting organisations are working together to ensure that our hunting rights are protected. I am a member of two of the organisations partisipating.

wihntr,
You got some very vald points. A animal's value should be much more than just to be killed.

Jaco: So as it states, that means that all green hunts for Rhino will stop, right? Does that mean also mean that all Leopard hunts will stop as well since they are baited hunts in South Africa? In other words, all cat hunts will be gone in the RSA period. Am I understanding that correctly? So, no more Leopard or Lion since both are baited hunts for the most part? What about Rhino? Other than the green hunts? (For both black and white-where the only real huntable populations exist as they do in South Africa)

Use Enough Gun.
I recieved an EMail from a PH in RSA stating Lion Hunting in RSA will end soon. Middle of 06
it will be history. He said nothing of the other
cats.

quote:

We need to get our hunting industry on the right tracks and make sure the greenies cannot point a finger to us.

That is delusion in the first degree. Greenies hate all hunting PERIOD!

Further, I'm not of a mind to let the "purists" of the world set my standards. It's not a damn religion.

Invader66: I'm just going off of Jaco's report. If they end all baited hunts, they will end all cat hunting period, leopard, and free ranging lion, since those are baited hunts. What might be left would be gone as well if they also ban hunting with dogs. So what does that leave you with the cats and cat hunting? It leaves you with no cat hunting whatsoever. Also no more green hunts of rhino, and no more hunts of captive bred animals, which means whatever the government decides captive bred means that is what it means. Just today the Safari Press sent out their take on it and the people at Safari Press are alarmed as well. This isn't a joke. This is very serious business and the sooner that most of us take it that way and do what we can to lessen its impact the better off we are all going to be. Now they are saying that all animals have five rights. They are also saying that animals have the right to be treated ethically and humanely. They are saying that conservation was not really considered sufficiently in the mix of things dealing with hunting before. If these things don't alarm all of us then I don't know what will. This does not mean that it will only be limited to South Africa. As you know, things like that have a tendancy to spread like Cancer and Aids. I know of whom you speak (the PH) on lion, and take his word as money to the bank. If you want lion in South Africa, free ranging like he offers, go now or in the very next few months.

It was long past pumpkin time, so I went off to sleep.

I will post a couple of extracts out of the recomendations from the Group of Experts

Hunting metods
The Panel established that there are a variety of methods of hunting and their suitability was assessed in light of the principles of the humane treatment of animals and fair chase.

All the hunting methods would be in contravention of the principle of the humane treatment of animals where hunters are not able to display the required proficiency in the particular method deployed at the time of the hunt.

Animal welfare organisations have reported, however, that bow hunting yields the greatest number of casualties because it requires exceptional skills and experience.

Bow hunting is practised predominantly with a modern compound bow and arrow, but also with traditional bows which require a higher skill level and a successful � a humane hunt is largely dependent on the hunter�s ability and competence. Bow hunting is rapidly gaining popularity as an acceptable alternative hunting method both in South Africa and in the region. In South Africa, this growing popularity is largely attributed to the restrictions imposed by the Fire-arm Controls Act. The equipment associated with bow hunting is freely available and, unlike fire-arms, is not subject to any licensing system. Bow hunters are therefore able to purchase a bow and, in essence, hunt immediately thereafter.

The Panel established that some of the provinces have policies on bow hunting while others do not. In light of the concerns raised particularly by the animal welfare organisations about bow hunting, the Panel recommends that national guidelines be established, which can then be adopted by the provinces so that there is a uniform approach to bow hunting. Guidelines would stipulate draw mass (taking into consideration kinetic energy, momentum and Tissue Penetrating Index), acceptable hunting techniques, bow types, arrows and arrowheads, un/acceptable practices concerning the hunting of nocturnal animals, big game and aquatic species, acceptable practices concerning arrow placement, professional hunter intervention and other issues (hunting distance, and hunting aids), the application of exemption of dangerous animals and qualifications required to bow hunt. Furthermore, the Panel endorses the view that bow hunting should not be allowed for the hunting of large, thick�skinned species (crocodiles, rhinoceros, hippopotamus and elephants) and large predators. Furthermore, since a higher wounding rate is associated with a bow and arrow than with a rifle, it should be mandatory to destroy the wounded animal with a rifle or other means in the shortest possible time. Lastly, the Panel recommends that the Ezemvelo�s bow hunting proficiency grading system be reviewed for the feasibility of its replication in the other provinces.

Two other controversial methods of hunting that were addressed were green hunting and hunting with packs of dogs. Both were considered to be in contravention of the principle of the humane treatment of animals.

In terms of green hunting, the Panel is of the opinion that the repeated darting of an animal for commercial purposes is an unacceptable practice. However, when darting takes place for bona fide research under direct supervision of a veterinarian, a skilled marksman must undertake the task. The main purpose of darting should be for scientific research, rehabilitation (treatment) and translocation purposes; it should never be for commercial gain. The Panel noted that while some of the provinces have policies on green hunting, others do not and it is recommended, as with bow hunting, that these policies be reviewed and that uniform guidelines are supplied to the provinces, which they can then incorporate into their current or new policies.

In terms of hunting with dogs, the Panel was of the view that the use of dog for tracking and retrieval of a hunted (dead or wounded) animal is an acceptable practice. Hunting by means of packs of dogs is considered an inhumane practice and should be prohibited. Prohibitions on any other methods that are also in contravention of the principle of humane treatment of wild animals are recommended. This would include canned hunting and the use of traps, snares and poison.

The last set of hunting methods that the Panel considered did not negate the principle of the humane treatment of animals, but rather infringed on the principle of fair chase. Methods such as bright lights, luring sounds, the use of bait and hunting from vehicles were believed to detract from the principle of fair chase and the Panel recommends the prohibition of these methods. The Panel also found that there is an onus on industry associations to ensure that its members are not making use of these methods.

The Panels vision on exemted farms are that the owner Must manage it

1.1.1 Intensive and extensive wildlife production systems

There are considerable differences between extensive and intensive wildlife production systems. An extensive system contains largely self sustaining indigenous wildlife populations on natural habitats with minimum human intervention. Intensive systems, on the other hand, are reliant on human intervention, and are considered as agricultural production systems. The role of hunting differs accordingly. In the former, the hunting industry has created the basis for many livestock production units to convert to extensive wildlife production, and hunting is both a revenue-earner and a tool to support conservation management objectives. As a result of the economic opportunities presented by potential trophy animals, the Panel has found that there is a tendency for these economic objectives to override the conservation management objectives. The Panel therefore recommends that each extensive wildlife production units be obliged to draw up and implement a scientifically-based management plan that sets out its conservation management objectives and that hunting quotas be established in accordance with these management plans. The Panel further recommends that nationally uniform guidelines on the format and methodology for these management plans be drawn up for the provinces to distribute to the owners of the extensive wildlife production units.

Now this part is good news. At last they recognise that they make it difficult for overseas hunters to bring in their own rifles

Those individuals wishing to bring their own fire-arms into the country must obtain a permit to do so and the Act sets out the requirements for obtaining a permit or permits. Analysis of the Act indicates that while the Act imposes strict administrative requirements on fire-arm owners and foreign hunters, there are no conflicts between this Act and current hunting legislation. It appears rather, that implementation of the Act could be improved and may, for instance, require more efficient processing of applications for the ownership and import of fire-arms and more efficient procedures at international airports for clearing the import of fire-arms of foreign hunters quickly and efficiently as long as the necessary documentation is provided

As far as I can establish only the Animal Anti Cruelty Legue (AACL) submitted a report.

They should consider the following

Set up training camps to teach Lions to catch their prey humanely

Have workshops teaching the Wild dogs not to start eating their prey while still alive

Leopard hunting and Lion hunting will still be allowed in RSA. A Lion is relative easy to find as they are more boundry stricken than the other cats. How one will be able to hunt Leopard without bait remains to be seen.

Rhinos will still be available for hunting depending on Cites permits, but green hunts looks as if they will be banned.