South Africa is to ban the hunting of animals bred in captivity or living in or near national parks after the practice known as ”canned hunting” was condemned by a panel of conservationists.
Trophy hunting by wealthy white foreign tourists is a booming industry, but the animals are usually put in small enclosures and have no opportunity to escape, says the panel’s report, which concluded that the practice is ethically unsavoury and that captive breeding except for scientific and conservation purposes should also be banned.
Many small game parks have sprung up recently in South Africa to encourage trophy hunting. Last year, the report says, an estimated 6 700 tourists killed nearly 54 000 animals, including 200 lions, 5 500 kudus, 45 leopards, baboons, giraffes, elephants, hippopotamuses, mongooses, porcupines, warthogs and zebras. Prices ranged from R166 for a pigeon to R166 500 for a white rhinoceros.
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk, a keen hunter, said on Tuesday that the government will introduce new legislation to salvage South Africa’s reputation as an international centre for wildlife.
”The public response has been overwhelming on an issue that is loaded with emotion and sentiment,” he said.
Documents provided to the expert panel by the Traffic wildlife-trade monitoring network provided details on the extent of the trophy-hunting business. Breeders, it was said, are using crossbreeding and genetic manipulation to introduce exotic animals, such as albino lions, and the ”zonkey” — a cross between a zebra and a donkey.
This, said the panel, could have devastating implications for long-term biodiversity in South Africa if it were allowed to continue.
”This is something that no civilised country can continue to tolerate. We want to stop the approach of ‘anything goes’ in terms of hunting and crossbreeding. Some practices which have been developed over years and decades are distasteful and despicable,” said Van Schalkwyk.
The panel concluded that hunting is an integral part of South African life but there should be more controls, greater self-regulation and a concerted attempt to transform the white-dominated hunting industry into a multiracial business that benefits more sectors of society.
UDM welcomes report
The United Democratic Movement on Wednesday welcomed the report on hunting.
”The report apparently validates our concerns about the hunting of animals which are protected by the state with taxpayers’ money,” UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said in a statement on Wednesday.
Holomisa said his party had raised the matter at the beginning of the year, especially with regard to the hunting of animals in the ”buffer zones” around national parks.
”We are pleased that in a relatively short time our concerns have resulted in an inquiry … We were shocked that private individuals could be making millions by orchestrating the hunting of protected animals coming from our national parks.
”Such a situation would be the destruction of a national asset for the distinct personal gain of a small group,” he said.
The panel also recommended in the report that where fences between private land and national and provincial parks have been removed, that ”limited hunting can be allowed, subject to the agreement of the conservation authority in charge of the park, the establishment of a proper management plan, and scientifically based off-take”.
Holomisa said issues raised by the report are complex and deserve further proper debate.
”The UDM urges the minister to table the report before the relevant parliamentary committee in order for constructive discussion on these issues to take place. If necessary, further public hearings could also be called,” he said. — Sapa, Guardian Unlimited Â