THE STAR

31 May 1997

Canned Lion Hunt
Not the Way to Lure Tourists

Television viewers in South Africa and Britain were shocked by the exposure of the 'canned lion' industry in a documentary, the Cook Report, screened to millions of viewers recently. And the report is starting to have an effect on South Africa's image abroad as a tourist location, according to Deon Viljoen, Executive Director of the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa). The video was an investigative report on the not uncommon practice of allowing trophy hunters to shoot game, in this case lion, in small enclosures, in some cases only 100 ha. These lions have often been bred solely for the purpose of landing up stuffed or hanging on the trophy hunter's wall and are often drugged before being shot.

One particularly gruesome piece of footage showed a lioness who had just been removed from her cubs. They were still feeding off her. She refused to leave the fence and was shot by a German 'hunter' virtually next to the fence. Canned lion hunting is, however, not a new phenomenon in South Africa. It has been going on for years, mostly with the full knowledge of the various nature conservation departments which have, until now, turned a blind eye to the problem. Mpumalanga, where the lioness was shot on Roy Plath's farm, has now put a moratorium on canned lion hunting. Plath is, according to the officials, the only lion farmer in the province. 'What happens to these lions now?' lion expert Gareth Patterson asked. Who is now accountable for these animals?

'The authorities who knew what was going on should be made to create a lion haven of at least 1 000 ha where these lions can live for their expected 20-year lifespan. They should be sterilised as well so that the problem will not be compounded,' he added. At a press conference arranged by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, David Barritt, its Africa Director, said the public could become involved by protesting to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Pallo Jordan, and by insisting that an independent body be set up to investigate this industry. 'If South Africans don't apply pressure and don't keep this pressure going, the whole industry will just lie low for a while and then flare up again,' Barritt warned. He added that the laws pertaining to hunting had to be changed. 'The law is a mess. Regulations are woefully inadequate and are poorly enforced,' he said.

But lions are not the only animals canned in South Africa. Fanie Roberts in KwaZulu-Natal offers canned animals of a different kind, according to investigators in South Africa who assisted the Cook Report team. There, for a price, you can order a tiger, a black leopard from North Africa, a jaguar, a cheetah, a leopard and even a puma, according to Crispian Barlow. 'Roberts told us that he was working in conjunction with the Pretoria Zoo on a breeding programme to produce white tigers. He told us we would not need CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) permits as these animals were bred here, and that he knew a taxidermist. Export papers for the animal we chose we would have to get ourselves,' Barlow added.

'The "hunters" of these trophy animals are often duped into believing they have shot a wild lion or other big cat. Meanwhile, these animals are more or less tame and have to be slightly doped so that they will not get up and walk too close to the hunting vehicles,' he said. Cheetahs were also apparently canned and shot under the most appalling circumstances. But it is not only the big cats that are canned. What about crocodiles, which are kept in unnatural surroundings and are then killed off to fulfil people's desires?

One conservationist said he knew of a farm where trophy 'hunters' were occasionally allowed to come and shoot a crocodile for their collection. Fedhasa's Viljoen warned of the damaging effect the canned lion industry would have on tourism. 'The tourist industry is already feeling the adverse effects of the crime wave in our country. With the international community exposed to the immense cruelty of the South African canned hunting industry, this effect can only be exacerbated,' he said. 'There are two main attractions for tourists. One is the country's cultural diversity, the other is the wildlife,' said William Ford of the Protea Hotels group. What will happen now depends on the launching of an independent investigation committee. But the canned lion farmers are not the only people who should be investigated - the authorities should also be looked at because they have known about canned hunting for years.

By Gien Elsas. Courtesy of The Star.