Government called to honour commitment to end SA’s captive lion industry
· Citizen
Animal welfare and conservation organisations have called on government to honour its 2024 commitment to phase out the commercial captive lion industry.
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Four Paws South Africa, Humane World for Animals South Africa, Voice4Lions and Blood Lions, at a conference on World Lion Day on Monday, outlined the practical steps needed to ensure that SA’s current captive lion population is the last generation bred for commercial exploitation.
Years of recommendations await implementation
Blood Lions’ Louise de Waal said the industry came into the spotlight in 2018, when parliament’s portfolio committee for environmental affairs recommended the industry be shut down.
“This led former environment minister Barbara Creecy to form a high-level panel to review policies and practices on captive lion management, breeding and hunting.
In 2020, a panel of about 20 experts compiled a six-page report, which was approved by Cabinet and the National Assembly.
“The majority of recommendations on captive lions were to reverse the domestication of our captive lions and immediately halt the sale of captive lions,” said De Waal.
In April 2024, Creecy gazetted the Policy Position on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Elephant, Lion, Leopard and Rhinoceros.
“For nearly three years, it has gone through all due processes and was sitting on the current minister’s desk for propagation before ministers were reshuffled,” she added.
This has led to uncertainty due to the lack of progress.
Industry remains largely operational
Four Paws director Fiona Miles said there was a significant gap between the policy intentions and reality.
Government has committed to phasing out the industry, yet captive lion breeding remains legal and the industry remains largely operational, Miles said.
“Closing that gap is now a critical challenge, because until policy commitments are translated into implementation, lions will continue to be born into an industry that government itself has recognised does not form part of SA’s future wildlife vision.
“As we commemorate World Lion Day, we call for urgent action to turn years of consultation, recommendations and commitments into tangible change for lions,” she said.
Thousands of lions remain vulnerable
Voice4Lions’ Linda Park said despite Creecy’s announcement that SA would phase out the commercial captive lion industry, the industry remains fully legal.
“The reports that emanated from the high-level panel and ministerial task team provided a positive way forward yet, years later, we are still waiting for a result and the industry continues to thrive.
“Since November last year, no progress has been made towards implementing the necessary policy changes to bring this commitment into effect. This has left about 8 000 lions vulnerable to continued breeding and commercial exploitation,” she added.
Calls for a decisive government response
According to Blood Lions’ Stephanie Klarmann, the government has an opportunity to take decisive action and demonstrate global leadership in animal welfare, biodiversity governance and reliance on evidence-based decision-making by ensuring their commitment was translated into action.
Humane World for Animals’ Matthew Schurch called on current Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment David Maynier to continue the process of ending the captive lion breeding industry by prohibiting the establishment of new captive lion breeding facilities and prohibiting the breeding of captive lions.
“These measures would send a clear signal that SA is committed to a new approach to the management of captive wildlife,” he said.
“The coalition remains committed to working collaboratively with the minister, his department, stakeholders and the public to achieve a responsible, science-based and humane transition away from the commercial captive lion industry,” Schurch said.