Date: 23 June 2009
Posted by: Yolan Friedmann, CEO Endangered Wildlife Trust and Lex Hess, predator biologist

Dear Lex

Thanks for your reply.

I have not seen this specific article so am not sure about the context but agree with you that there is no ecological *****or***** conservation basis for hunting lions. Only a financial one. I also fully agree with you that the public has a very distorted impression of what the truly threatened species are. On Radio 702 yesterday I made a big point of saying that in fact the Lion is as threatened as the Cheetah and that Cheetah are not in fact Endangered, but that both species are Vulnerable. I think that a lot more attention needs to be paid to getting the ‘truth’ out there.

With regards to Lion hunting in east Africa, Packer et al just published a very worrying paper on the trends in Lion populations as a direct result of hunting, they hunt a LOT more lions in that part of the world and it certainly is very worrying. Right now in SA however, we have to be very strategic. Our new Minister for Water and Environmental Affairs has made it very clear that she supports and wants to expand hunting (across the board, not for Lions only) which is also worrying. We need to tackle this carefully if we want her to even hear our concerns on any aspect of hunting.

So in short, I take your point about Lion hunting specifically and no, we do not promote it. In fact most people who know me personally know I don’t support any forms of hunting and am an ardent vegetarian to boot, so I find all of this quite distasteful. However, we need to be careful about the battles we pick and with whom.  We will however, be more careful in how we say things and will not imply that we support Lion hunting in the future. I believe that as public sympathy for Lions has increased substantially as a result of this ‘canned’ issue, future attention drawn to the plight of the species will be well received and that we may be able to use to the benefit of Wild Lions one of these days too.

Please keep the feedback coming, it is always useful!

Kind regards

Ms Yolan Friedmann
CEO: Endangered Wildlife Trust
Tel: 27 (0) 11 486 1102
Fax: 27 (0) 11 486 1506
Email: yolanf@ewt.org.za
Web: www.ewt.org.za

Date: 23 June 2009
Posted by: Lex Hes, predator biologist

Hello Yolan,

Many thanks for your thorough response.

I am pleased that this issue has not been selected over and above the many other important issues you mention, and am aware of the enormous amount of good work being conducted by EWT on carnivore conservation.  I also agree fully with you that the wildlife breeding business in SA is an abuse of our wildlife.

I also most certainly do not condone the practice of canned lion hunting.  What worries me is that the emotions stirred up by this issue have led to overwhelming media coverage on this issue with little ****or**** no coverage on the serious problem of the loss of our wild lion populations.  I give slide presentations on this issue to various audiences and most members of my audiences are shocked and taken aback when they hear that lion populations may have declined by up to 85%.  In other words, very few people are aware of this problem which indicates a lack of publicity for it.

Unfortunately, your sentence: “The Endangered Wildlife Trust is not against legal, ethical forms of sustainable use and recognises the role that hunting plays in many conservation programmes.” is set in the middle of an article that is very specific to lion hunting and I, and I am sure many other readers, took it to indicate your approval of sustainable hunting of lions.  I feel that EWT needs to clarify this.  There is no ecological ****or**** conservation reason that wild lions should be hunted in any way.

I also fully understand that the reasons for the decline of lions is complex and not just because of hunting, but hunting DOES play a role and if we can remove this pressure, then that would be one less thing to worry about.

I would like to see much more emphasis on the part of media and conservation organisations on the serious plight of our wild lion populations and on the role that hunting plays in their decline.

Sincerely,

LEX HES.

Date: 23 June 2009
Posted by: Yolan Friedmann, CEO Endangered Wildlife Trust and Lex Hess, predator biologist

Dear Lex

Unfortunately I cannot reply to everyone to whom you sent this email as their addresses did not come through. Those whose addresses I have, have been copied herein.

I appreciate your feedback and welcome the opportunity to comment back.

We are not selecting issues and have certainly not ‘chosen’ this issue over other real threats to a number of species – lions included. In fact we are very involved in dealing with a number of issues relating to wild ****or**** free ranging carnivores such as surveys and censusing, human-wildlife conflict prevention and law enforcement and compliance monitoring. We are also looking at trade issues across a number of species including carnivores. We have spent very little “time and money” on this issue when compared to the time and money we spend on other issues. It does not however mean that we should not address what is without a doubt, a despicable abuse of wildlife in South Africa.

I would also argue that the issue of canned hunting is hardly an emotional smokescreen ****or**** a “stupid emotional debacle” and if anyone can begin to condone the business of breeding wildlife in captivity for sport hunting, it would be a sad day for humanity. It is also not unusual for many predator breeders to trade in wild caught animals so the impact on wild populations is also potentially quite big.

It is also incorrect to extrapolate from our position statement on ethical sustainable utilisation – which is very general and not lion specific – that we condone the killing of wild lions and I would ask you to re-read the statement. Whether we like it ****or**** not, South Africa has a legal hunting industry which saw between 2 and 4 wild lions hunted per year in SA in the past few years. This is hardly accountable for an 85% decline in the lion population and we need to be clear about what is causing this decline. The reasons for the decline in lions elsewhere in Africa are complex and are largely beyond our scope of work ****or**** mandate, even though we do work in our neighbouring countries on a number of predator issues through our partners.

We cannot turn our backs on the inappropriate conduct of certain ‘wildlife ranchers’ in South Africa. We would incur far more wrath if we did. Many of these ‘breeders’ are involved in illegal trade, catching free ranging animals for breeding, and a range of other ‘sins’ against wildlife. Furthermore, they are also threatening to ‘release’ these animals into other populations and this threat is potentially very damaging to South Africa’s wild lions. Raising the issue of petting zoos, canned breeding operations and false ‘rehab’ centres in the public eye will go a LONG way to reducing the public support (inadvertently) for these forms of ‘utilisation’ and has already made a significant difference to the public perception of lion parks etc. Most of which are covering for traders and breeders. Finally, we are working with a number of other conservation NGOs and have caucused opinion from a wide variety of conservation organisations who support us and feel the same.

To end, we have not ‘selected’ this issue over others but will not simply turn a blind eye and pretending that this kind of abuse is not happening every day in South Africa.

We welcome feedback and are happy to discuss our activities with anyone, so again, thank-you for your email.

regards

Ms Yolan Friedmann
CEO: Endangered Wildlife Trust
Tel: 27 (0) 11 486 1102
Fax: 27 (0) 11 486 1506
Email: yolanf@ewt.org.za
Web: www.ewt.org.za

One Response to “Canned hunting – a public responsibility”