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Lions’ Lives Under
Threat as Mpumalanga
Red Tape Bungles
Confiscation
(Cape Town, South Africa – 15 January, 2003) – Safety and sanctuary continues to
elude eight lions saved from the canned hunting industry as Mpumalanga Parks
Board (MPB) bungling forces them from their rehabilitation sanctuary today.
The Enkosini Wildlife Sanctuary and
the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW ) announced that, just three
weeks before a court hearing that could ensure the animals remain at the
sanctuary, the MPB plans to enforce an order to confiscate the lions to another
undisclosed location.
“This decision to move the lions is
unreasonable and unnecessary, and does not consider the lions’ best interests,”
said Kelcey Grimm, managing director of the Mpumalanga-based Enkosini Wildlife
Sanctuary.
“Why is it so urgent that the
animals health and well-being should be compromised when, in just three weeks
time on February 4th, a High Court application will review the MPB’s
decision not to give us permits to keep the lions at Enkosini and may well
overturn that decision allowing the animals to remain.
“The fact that the MPB is prepared
to go to all this trouble – incurring real health dangers for the lions, not to
mention costs – is representative of the worst kind of bureaucratic bungling
and certainly doesn’t give the impression that the MPB has the welfare of the
animals at heart,” said Grimm.
There are concerns that the
transport and tranquillising of the animals could affect them adversely.
The eight captive-bred lions were
destined for the brutal “canned” hunting industry. The animals were acquired
from a game farm in the Free State province and became the nucleus of the
Enkosini Wildlife Sanctuary and Rehabilitation Centre that is based outside
Lydenburg in Mpumalanga province.
Enkosini provides sanctuary and
protection for orphaned, injured, abused, confiscated and captive-bred
predators. In 2001 the MPB refused Enkosini’s application for the 8 rescued
lions to be imported into the province based on a 1997 moratorium prohibiting
new captive bred lion projects in the province.
Enkosini contends that it has met
all of MPB’s predator specifications including property size, electrified
predator fencing, micro-chipping and veterinary health certificates for all the
lions. It has challenged the MPB’s decision and has asked for a High Court
review to be held next month.
Dr Nthethe Raditapole, IFAW’s
Campaigns Manager Southern Africa, has strongly condemned the MPB’s intention
to confiscate the animals saying they were out of step with national
Government’s stance on the canned hunting industry.
“Mohammed Valli Moosa, South
Africa’s Minister of Environment Affairs and Tourism, has condemned the canned
hunting industry in the strongest possible terms.
“Here we have eight animals who are
literally refugees from the worst type of animal welfare abuses and the MPB is
denying them sanctuary and the right to rehabilitation and, in fact, wants to
subject them to the stress of this ill conceived move,” said Dr Raditapole.
“IFAW can only encourage the MPB to
cut through its own red tape and to put the welfare of the animals first – at
least until the outcome of the forthcoming court review has been heard and
concluded.”
Contact:
Christina Pretorius (IFAW): +27
(21) 424-2086; cpretorius@ifaw.org
Nthethe Raditapole (IFAW): +27 (21) 424-2086; nraditapole@ifaw.org
Kelcey
Grimm (Enkosini): +27 (82) 265 5955; enkosini@yahoo.com
For more
information visit www.ifaw.org