South Africa on Sunday 2 May announced plans to ban the breeding of lions in captivity, either for hunting purposes or to allow tourists to pet lion cubs, to promote a more image ” authentic “ from the country.
This decision was taken in accordance with the recommendations of a commission charged by the government to examine the rules governing and governing the hunting, trade and captivity of lions, elephants, rhinos and leopards.
The commission says that “We must stop and reverse the domestication and captive breeding of lions”, said South African Minister of the Environment Barbara Creecy at a press conference.
“We no longer want captive breeding, hunting [d’animaux élevés] captive, cuddling [de lionceaux] in captivity, use of lions in captivity ‘, continued the minister, specifying that the commission asked that the measure be “Taken immediately to put an end to interactions between tourists and captive lions”.
Legal and supervised hunting continues
The decision, which has yet to be translated into law, is likely to arouse opposition from the highly lucrative captive lion breeding industry.
But the hunting sector is not affected by this decision. “Legal and supervised hunting of emblematic species permitted by the regulatory framework will continue to be authorized”, she stressed. The hunting of captive-bred lions has long been a controversial topic in South Africa.
Campaigns to ban the import of trophies from captive-bred lions have garnered growing support in the United States, Australia and several countries in Europe in recent years.
“The intention here is to make sure” that tourists interested in “The authentic hunt for wild animals” don’t go “Not to hunt animals which have been taken out of a cage”, she explained.