A CALL by several non-government organisations (NGOs) to terminate the hunting industry of captive-bred lions at the 2016 International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress (WCC) that is currently underway in the United States, has forced South Africa to consider the motion.
The NGO’s expressed concern that there has been an escalation in lions being bred for the purpose commercial hunting. This follows last year’s outrage of the brutal slaughter of Cecil the lion, one of the most popular attractions at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.
Fiona Mills of Four Paws International, an organization that has been campaigning for the termination of canned lion hunting, said these lions often suffer ‘unnatural and unpleasant’ lives.
In 2014 over 1 000 lions were bred in captivity and killed for sport in South Africa, and there are currently over 5 000 of Africa’s iconic predators on ‘death row’.
However, the country has only agreed to consider the motion.
The deputy director-general of biodiversity and conservation, Shonisani Munzhedzi, said that hunting contributes to the conservation as well as economic growth, however “we also have a responsibility to preserve the resource base and ensure that the industry has a sustainable future”.
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