Canned hunting causes more concern

Paul Tully, a South African game ranger and canned hunting activist currently residing in England, contacted Fourways Review and stated that he was “saddened to see such an article which promotes visiting such highly unethical, cruel and deceiving facilities”.

To read the article Tully was upset about CLICK HERE

He said, “The captive lion industry in South Africa is a mess and these facilities are hugely debatable.”

Tully was also one of the orchestrators of the protest for the Campaign Against Canned Hunting outside the Lion Park in March. Canned hunting refers to the inhumane practice of shooting an animal which is trapped in an enclosed area at close range. Tully believes these big cat facilities forcibly remove cubs from lionesses so they can be petted and played with. He alleges that these lionesses are then forced to breed repetitively, while the cubs are sold off to hunters and other buyers who have even more sinister motives.

“Where do these lions go?” Tully asked.

“Nowhere. They cannot be released into the wild, but these facilities claim [they are bred for] conservation and research. This is simply a smokescreen and these lions serve no purpose to wild lion populations, nor research. This needs to stop before more people are injured or killed, and more lions are bred and killed in canned hunting.”

He insists that he is trying to educate people against hands-on interaction with lions in South Africa, because people think it’s acceptable to touch or interact with captive lions.

“It’s not. Promoting such facilities needs to be avoided, otherwise you are putting it into people’s heads that it is all okay. None of it is good nor ethical. So why is Fourways Review unashamedly promoting these facilities and calling them an ‘attraction’ to visit? This blatant misleading the public must stop.”

However, both Lory Park Zoo and the Lion Park expressed their dismay and felt that the assertions were unjust and tantamount to unnecessary public slander.

The Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (Gdard) also weighed in on the matter, categorically stating that both the Lion Park and Lory Park Zoo are in good standing with the department and that they are complying with all compulsory regulations.

“The department is not aware of any tourist facilities in Gauteng who breed animals for canned hunting,” said Gdard spokesperson, Andile Gumede.

The public focus has also shifted to the captivity, breeding and sale of wild livestock in the name of research and conservation, especially where hunting and illegal trade is involved. The shift began when an American TV network aired an investigative news piece about South African ‘Lion Whisperer’ Kevin Richardson. The news piece shed a one-sided light on the Lion Park according to chief operating officer, Rodney Fuhr, as he stated publicly in a press statement released after the TV news piece was aired.

Prior to the interview, Fuhr requested to know the intended content. He was sent a list of questions which would supposedly be asked concerning conservation and volunteering at the park, with absolutely no mention of the canned hunting allegations.

“I was misled from the start,” Fuhr said in the statement.

“No physical evidence was given that any of the lions from the Lion Park had been killed in such a fashion.

“In the absence of any reference to the subject in the questions, I certainly was not expecting to be grilled about cubs and canned hunting.”

Curator for Lory Park Zoo, Eddy van Eck, shared the same views on the allegations that they ‘breed cubs for the bullet’.

Van Eck invited Fourways Review to view all their permits and explained the protocols step-by-step and how they followed the regulations stipulated by Gdard, with the intention of proving just how transparently their entire operation is run.

“We will never be connected with a trade like that because we are completely against it,” Van Eck said firmly.

“We completely agree with these activists, we also want to see a stop put to canned hunting. But so much focus is being put on lions that big cats such as leopards, cheetahs and other feline species are being overlooked.

“Activists like Paul Tully, their hearts are in the right place, but their focus needs to shift to those who are actually responsible. We at Lory Park Zoo, refuse to be associated with such cruelty. We take utmost pride in our big cats and we have a strict policy of not selling or exchanging our big cats, including their cubs, to anyone.”

Although poaching and canned hunting practices are pertinent and highly topical at present, no conclusive proof has linked our local tourist destinations to canned hunting. It does not mean that the egotistical sport isn’t practiced, it just proves these popular tourist destinations are not involved.

Details: lionuncanned@gmail.com

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