Born Free Foundation - Keep Wildlife in the Wild

03/12/2010

After 4 years of legal wrangling regarding the abhorrent practice of ‘canned hunting’ of lions in South Africa, the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa gave their final verdict on Monday, 29 November, 2010.

Distressingly, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the lion breeders.  The sad result of this inexplicable decision is that canned hunting will continue to be legal in South Africa.

What is Canned Hunting?

Canned hunting operations captive-breed lions for the purpose of shooting them for sport.  The South African Predator Breeders Association (SAPBA) has 123 members who between them have approximately 3,000 captive-bred lions in their facilities. 

These captive-bred lions are put into enclosed areas, making it impossible for them to escape from the hunters.  The so-called hunter can’t fail to make a kill, hence the term ‘canned’ hunting because the lions are said to be ‘in the can’.

In 2008, (the most recent year for which we have full records), CITES recorded that 707 captive-bred lions were exported from South Africa as trophies.  This number could well increase following Monday’s ruling.

The Canned Hunting Court Case

The South African Minister of Environmental Affairs published new Regulations in 2007, which imposed a 2-year 'wilding rule' that would require captive-bred lions to be ‘self-sufficient’ for 2 years before they could be shot. 

SAPBA took the South African Government to court in order to fight this decision.  They felt it would be impossible to abide by these new Regulations. 

Judges in South Africa took the view that the chances of 'rehabilitating a captive-bred lion' to self-sufficient status were 'at best, very unlikely' and therefore the Minister's actions in seeking to impose the 2-year wilding rule were irrational.  The breeders have therefore won, and lions will continue to be bred for the express purpose of being shot in this horrific manner in South Africa.

Could there be an Impact on Wild Lions?

There is ominous evidence emerging of a diversification of the captive lion breeding / canned hunting industry.  It seems that a new ‘output’ from this industry may be the supply of lion bones to meet Asian medicinal demand for big cat parts and derivatives. 

Many are expressing serious concerns about the impact this trade could have on wild lion populations – as with many traditional medicine products, the wild-sourced products are often much more desirable to consumers.

Wild lions in Africa are already under serious pressure from numerous threats including shrinking habitats, reduced availability of prey and conflict with humans.  Many fear that this new threat could be the final nail in the coffin for many wild lion populations.

What can you do?  Adopt a lion!   Or you could even build a lion-proof Boma!