05/03/2021
BREAKING NEWS: In a landmark announcement this weekend, the South African government has backed the recommendation to bring an end to captive lion breeding for the purposes of tourist activities such as cub petting and canned hunting. The recommendation is the result of a two-year, high-level panel that set out to investigate whether the captive lion breeding industry holds any conservation value, and whether the industry is harmful to the public image of South Africa.
"What the majority report says with regards to captive breeding of lions, is that we must halt and reverse the domestication of lions through captive breeding and keeping," environment minister Barbara Creecy stated. "We don't want captive breeding, captive hunting, captive petting, captive use of lions and their derivative."
The Kevin Richardson Foundation attended the Parliamentary Colloquium on Captive Lion Breeding in 2018 and applauds the government’s decision as well as accepts the findings of this report. A lot of resistance is expected from the players whose livelihoods will be affected by this decision, and without doubt, the implementation of the findings will take significant time to turn into action and is likely to be held up in legal proceedings, as has occurred previously in efforts to bring an end to the captive breeding industry. Supporting efforts to bring an end to captive lion breeding and canned hunting is one of the Foundation’s four key pillars, and we look forward to the day when this pillar is officially removed from our mandate. In the meantime, we celebrate that the writing is officially on the wall, and although patience will be required, it is only a matter of time until we see the end to this unnecessary and cruel industry.
Link to full statement by Minister Creecy: https://www.environment.gov.za/speeches/creecy_releaseofhlpreport_pretoria?fbclid=IwAR1Jhfdie_6pClIGQnzPf4bRvd8rB4FAvK8YlTrGRA98QL14KXD6Y9CdvhE
