13 December
2006 - GOVERNMENT REAFFIRMS PROHIBITION OF CANNED
HUNTING - The department of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism, today confirmed that “canned lion
hunting will continue to be prohibited in terms
of the yet to be promulgated regulations on Threatened
and / or Endangered Species. The regulations,
which are part of giving effect to the Biodiversity,
of 2004 will come into law in March 2007, when,
the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
formally promulgates them.
The regulations, which were
preliminarily unveiled to the media at a press
conference in Johannesburg on 12 December 2006,
follows a three year period of consultation between
government, civil society, wild life industry
as well as animal welfare groups in South Africa,
and follows from reports and scientific reasoning
from a Panel of Experts appointed in January 2005
by Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk.
Reaffirming the government position,
Director General for Environment and Tourism,
said that “Whilst we endorse the notion of Sustainable
Use, the department shall never condone unacceptable
hunting practices nor doctrinaire conservationism,
including the so called canned hunting or purely
economic activities disguised as industry contributions
to wild life management strategies”
Regulation 14 specifically prohibits
the following activities:
This regulation specifically
prohibits the following activities, as far as
listed large predators are concerned, which were
allowed under permit previously, viz.:
the hunting of an animal that
is a put and take animal, that is a captive bred
listed large predator that is released in a property,
irrespective of size of the property, for the
purpose of hunting of the animal within a period
of six months (this is the definition of “put
and take” as it is contained in Regulation 1)
– captive bred is defined as – in relation to
a specimen of a listed threatened or protected
animal species means that the specimen was bred
in a controlled environment which means an enclosure
designed to hold specimens of a listed threatened
or protected species in a way that prevents them
from escaping, facilitates the intensive breeding
but excludes fenced land on which self-sustaining
wildlife populations of that species are managed
in an extensive wildlife system.;
hunting of listed large predators
in a controlled environment , that is within an
enclosure which facilities intensive human intervention;
hunting of listed large predators
under the influence of immobilizing or tranquilizing
agent; and
Hunting of listed large predators
released in an area adjacent to a holding facility.
In addition to the ban , the
draft regulations further makes provision on matters
relating to captive breeding of animals , put-and-take
practices , as well as sound approaches to managing
listed species regarded as damage causing animals
by both crop and stock farmers.
Ms Yako further said that the
regulations will for the first time create certainty
amongst all stakeholders, including provinces
and private game owners on their responsibilities
towards acceptable human treatment of animals
and broader responsibility towards our rich biodiversity.
Issued by Blessing Manale, Acting Chief Director:
Communications
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
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