Scandalous Canned Hunting Statistics Reveal That Minister Van Schalkwyk Is Guilty Of Doublespeak
| Network News |
| Wednesday, 17 September 2008 12:02 |
| A recent written reply by the Director-General of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) to a question put in Parliament by the Democratic Alliance has once again sounded the alarm on the canned hunting industry in South Africa. With all the duplicity, fanfare and spin put out by Martinus Van Schalkwyk over the past few years, the general public, both local and international, cannot be criticised for thinking that canned hunting in South African is a thing of the past. But nothing can be further from the truth. Far from being controlled, the canned hunting industry, with active support from the government, is growing exponentially. And it is not only confined to the hunting of large predators - elephants, rhinos, buffaloes and antelope species are also hunted and killed in this way. The information released by DEAT confirms this. For example, 702 lions were killed for trophies in 2007. This means that since 2005 the number of lions killed by the canned predator industry has doubled, with most of the lions coming from the North West province (637), which, astonishingly, has eighty lion farms! Over the past year provincial and national DEAT spokespersons have been at pains to promise lion breeders that the industry is not geared for demise. As recently as 9 July 2008 the Deputy Minister, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, unequivocally assured them that “government does appreciate the existence of the industry and that there is no way that the regulations will eventually lead to the closure of the industry as the industry is an accepted part of the tourism experience package that South Africa markets.” (source) In contrast, attempts by ARA and others to persuade DEAT to support a plan that would address the ethical and welfare concerns of the predators still caught up in the industry has fallen on deaf ears. Animal Rights Africa (ARA) spokesperson Michele Pickover says that “this is more evidence that Van Schalkwyk continues to pander to the profit-driven bloodlust of the hunters and breeders". ARA wants to warn local and international tourists that it looks as if the South African government is trying to play them as fools. After the release of the Cook Report in 1997, which exposed canned lion practices in South Africa, there was a huge public outcry about canned hunting and its damaging ethical, ecological and biological implications. Public opinion favours an outright ban of this industry. ARA believes that by 2005 Minister Van Schalkwyk could no longer ignore the weight of public opinion and the real threat this industry poses to the South African tourism industry. But instead of banning canned hunting, it seems Van Schalkwyk and his colleagues are playing a double game. On the one hand, making public announcements that the government was going to “put an end, once and for all, to the reprehensible practice of canned hunting" (source) and that after 1 June 2007 there would be no more canned hunting of large animals in South Africa, while on the other hand providing the predator breeding industry with loopholes that will allow this reprehensible industry to continue and expand. Loophole One: The NEMBA Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) Regulations is flawed and inadequate legislation that does not ban canned predator hunting but merely attempts to regulate it. Loophole Two: Inexplicably postponing the implementation of TOPS from 1st June 2007 to February 2008 thereby giving the South African Predator Breeders Association the opportunity to challenge TOPS before it came into force. Loophole Three: Excluding lions from the definition for listed large predators of the TOPS legislation promulgated in February 2008, supposedly while the South African Predator Breeders Association court case against the Minister (which is likely to take years) is pending. ARA is extremely concerned about the safety of workers in the dangerous sustainable use industries of lion breeding and elephant back safaris. “We also find it unethical that when workers are killed by the predators being breed in these farms, the farmers merely sell off some lions as trophies to “compensate” the families of the deceased. Says Pickover: “Van Schalkwyk has often been quoted as saying that South Africa has a long-standing reputation as a global leader on conservation issues, but if this kind of unbending and staunch support for rampant sustainable use is what leadership and conservation is all about then the fate of wildlife, biodiversity and environmental management in South Africa is in VERY serious trouble.” Contact persons for ARA: Steve Smit +27 (0) 82 659 4711 Michele Pickover +27 (0) 82 253 2124 ARA email - info@animalrightsafrica.org ARA website – www.animalrightsafrica.org |
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