Draft hunting regulations, including a ban on ”canned hunting”, will be published for comment early next year, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said in Cape Town on Tuesday.
”The unfortunate reality is that hunting, at present, is not well-regulated.”
Different provinces set different policies and had varying capacities to enforce them.
”There have been gaps and loopholes that have allocwed abuses like canned hunting to exist unchecked.”
Van Schalkwyk said a report, released to the media on Tuesday and coordinated by former environment affairs director-general Crispian Olver, had suggested norms and standards for hunting in South Africa.
One of the major recommendations is the prohibition of hunting of any animals that originate from intensive wildlife production systems or canned hunting.
Other recommendations include a ban on captive breeding, except for scientific and conservation purposes, and the prohibition of hunting in national and provincial parks.
”We will carefully examine these recommendations and the suggested norms and standards for hunting.”
Van Schalkwyk said he would publish a ”departmental draft of the norms and standards for public comment” early next year.
The next step would be to craft national hunting regulations based on these norms and standards, with the provinces.
He said the department wanted to act to ”eliminate rogue hunting practices, like canned hunting” and that was why a detailed regulatory system was necessary.
The report would make a significant contribution to the regulating of hunting.
Van Schalkwyk said it was clear from the panel’s first meeting that they would extend beyond their brief to examine canned hunting and trophy hunting.
Their focus expanded to include hunting’s importance to the economy, practices within the industry, and the impacts of hunting on conservation and biodiversity.
They also looked at developing norms and standards for the regulation of professional and recreational hunting, empowerment and research.
”Public inputs as well as commissioned research — 41 written submissions, 28 oral submissions, and four research papers — were considered by the panel.”
Van Schalkwyk announced the research project in his budget vote on April 6.
The report and recommendations were presented to the minister and MECs on Tuesday morning at Kirstenbosch in Cape Town. – Sapa