https://gulfnews.com/world/afr...-hunting-1.101997194


South Africa to end captive lion breeding for hunting

Breeders have two years to voluntarily withdraw from the sector and change business model

Published: April 03, 2024 17:56
AFP

Cape Town: South Africa on Wednesday laid out plans to phase out the captive breeding of lions for hunting purposes as the country moves to ban the controversial business.

The practice of breeding big cats to later have them shot by wealthy hunters typically paying thousands of US dollars has long been loathed by conservation and animal rights groups.


Hunters, usually foreigners, sometimes take home the head or skin of the killed animal as a trophy.

The South African government had already announced its intention to ban the breeding of lions for hunting in 2021 and an ad hoc panel has been working on the issue for the past two years.

“The panel recommended the closure of the captive breeding sector, including the keeping of lions in captivity, or the use of captive lions or their derivatives commercially,” Environment Minister Barabara Creecy told a press conference in Cape Town.



Breeders will have two years to voluntarily withdraw from the sector and change their business model before the ban kicks in.

The idea, which has faced strong opposition from representatives of the highly lucrative industry, was approved by the government last week but is yet to be translated into law.

The move comes with trophy hunting facing a growing backlash in the West.


Campaigns to ban the import of trophies have drawn support in the United States, Australia and several European countries in recent years.

“The industry is large and complex with a long history that is not aligned with both current international trends and domestic policy changes on conservation,” said Kamalasen Chetty, head of the ad hoc panel.

Between 8,000 and 12,000 lions are kept on about 350 farms across South Africa, according to estimates by animal rights groups that regularly denounce the conditions in which the animals are held.


The number of wild lions in comparison totals only around 3,500, according to the Endangered Wildlife Trust, a South Africa-based NGO.

South Africa breeds and has hunts for all of the other big game animals there. What makes lions so different?

quote:

Originally posted by buffybr:
South Africa breeds and has hunts for all of the other big game animals there. What makes lions so different?

This is the beginning of banning all captive breeding for hunting.

Captive breeding for butchering in their millions is ok though!

quote:

This is the beginning of banning all captive breeding for hunting.

Correct!

Looking at my pocket book, hunting a farm raised lion probably will be the only way i would be able to afford a lion hunt.

I am sure that the farm route on game animals will be put-in play in the near future. It is no different in my mind than mink ranchers in the USA.

The very sad thing is this is supported by some hunters???

Ridiculous.

quote:

Originally posted by buffybr:
South Africa breeds and has hunts for all of the other big game animals there. What makes lions so different?

Excellent point!

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:


Breeders will have two years to voluntarily withdraw from the sector and change their business model before the ban kicks in.

So, is the ban only on the breeding of captive lions?

Could a breeder for the next two years, breed all his lionesses and take the male cubs away, kill all the female cubs to force the lionesses back into estrus and breed them again to get more males?

Then the breeder could kill or sell off all his lionesses and have his adult male lions and a bunch of lion cubs to raise for hunts for the next 5-10 years?

There is a lot that is in the this law. There is even mentions of elephants, rhinos and leopards.

This is just the beginning.

quote:

Originally posted by LivingTheDream1:
There is a lot that is in the this law. There is even mentions of elephants, rhinos and leopards.

This is just the beginning.

Yes.

And practically hunting in South Africa is bred for hunting!

A friend and I hunted captive lions in the Kalahari last summer. We hunted two males and two females. The males had been on the property for 3 months and the females greater than 6 months. We did 20k steps in the sand each day. It was a lot of fun. We knew what we were doing and that they were not wild hunts. I shot mine in the eye as he was coming to us. The female bedded down and waited for us in tall grass. I shot her below the chin. It was fun and exciting and worth the price for sure.

If they depended on me for business, they would have had to stop this sad practice a long time ago.

I'm with you Mike. While there is no logical argument against the practise, the emotional arguments are overwhelming.
You can argue all day that there is no difference between shooting a farm bred deer or a cage born lion but that won't change the minds of 99% of the worlds population.
It is a bad advert for hunting everywhere and particularly bad for South Africa