The 1st of September will see the first screening of the controversial documentary, Blood Lions, overseas. The film will be screened in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne – Australia. The Australian Government has long supported the Blood Lions view of banning canned hunting and predator breeding.

A lead character in the film and outspoken journalist, Ian Michler, said: “In March 2015, Australia and Minister Greg Hunt took the lead in the fight against the horror practices of predator breeding and canned hunting when they acted to ban the importation of lion trophies. It is absolutely fitting then that the first international screenings of Blood Lions take place here. I look forward to meeting the members from the hunting fraternity, who I can only assume would want to see the film to learn more about why the world has responded so strongly against these practices.”

Producer and driver behind the film, Pippa Hankinson, said: “We are overwhelmed by the extraordinary support that Blood Lions has received in Australia, and we are delighted to have been afforded the opportunity to screen the film by our friend and campaign partner, Donalea Patman of ‘For the Love of Wildlife’. Donalea played a significant role in Minister Greg Hunt’s ban on the importation of lion body parts into Australia in March this year. We are grateful to Minister Hunt and applaud him for leading the global movement to end canned hunting forever.”

When partner in conservation, Donalea Patman – Founder of ‘For the Love of Wildlife’ was asked why she got involved with Blood Lions, she said: “I met Pippa several years ago and we have always shared a deep love for lions and the need to do more. When I came back to Australia I vowed to step up and really contribute. My organisation, ‘For the Love of Wildlife’ has been working with the Australian Government in getting the ban on lion trophies and lion body parts into Australia. This came into force on March 13 this year. The first country in the world to introduce such a ban.

In October 2014, Pippa organised for Ian Michler to come to Australia to attend the Australian Parliament with myself and economist Roderick Campbell where we briefed the Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt. Both Minister Hunt and Jason Wood MP pledged to have a screening at Parliament House in Canberra when the Blood Lion film was completed. Of course, we can’t miss the opportunity to screen in other cities whilst the Blood Lions team are in Australia – so we are also screening in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.”

With the screening in Parliament the Blood Lions team hope that those that opposed the ban (a disallowance motion was tabled by pro-hunter Senator David Leyonhjelm on 12 August to try and overturn the ban announced on March 13) will get to see why Minister Hunt created a global first by implementing the ban, as a direct response to captive breeding and the canned hunting industry.

“We also need to make sure that Australian’s are aware of the industry – many have never heard of canned hunting’” said Patman. “Many young Australian’s participate in volunteering at these reserves totally unaware. I’ve spoken to many people who are literally traumatised after they discover the truth as they are animal lovers and thought they were contributing to conservation.”

Andrew Venter, CEO of Wildlands and Executive Producer said: “Blood Lions exposes the cons of Lion breeding and hunting in South Africa. Over 900 lions are hunted each year, with 99% bred for the bullet. They are hand-reared by paying volunteers that believe they are saving “Africa’s Lions”. 4 days after their release from a life in captivity they are considered wild and can then be shot by hunters looking for a guaranteed kill; or slaughtered for the Lion bone trade to China. We have to stop this barbaric and fraudulent practise and believe that Blood Lions will help us do this. Creating awareness through this film across the world is an absolute honour, and Wildlands are very proud to be a part of this movement.”

Patman attended the Blood Lions premiere on the 22nd of July at the Durban International Film Festival – South Africa, and said: “I believe the film is honest and beautifully crafted. It delivers the truth with a compelling storyline of multiple contributors yet isn’t softened and is still explosive. Total credit to the producers for getting a brilliant balance of emotion and impact.”

Australian Screening Schedule –
1 September Luna on SX, Fremantle Western Australia, 18h30
4 September UTS, Guthrie Lecture Theatre Sydney, 18h30
7 September University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 19h00
Bookings at www.eventbrite.com.au

Eco-Tourists pay to raise cubs for slaughter

YOUNG eco-tourists from abroad are paying up to R50 000 to raise “orphaned” lion cubs so they can be rehabilitated into the wild – not knowing that the lions are actually mass-bred in captivity, then sold off for canned hunts.

The illegal trade in South African wildlife is also rife, with Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa saying yesterday that the country was battling to contain rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park, with l2 poacher groups active at any given time.

 Environmentalist Pippa Hankinson, who recently produced Blood Lions, an investigative documentary on the farming of lions in South Africa, said: “The volunteers arrive at OR Tambo Airport and are taken to the lion farms. Some become suspicious when they see so many ‘orphans’ on the farm, or that nearly 30 cubs are in one enclosure.

“But their questions are met with aggression.”

British volunteer Keeton Hill said he had booked through an agency and was placed at Ukutula, a lion park in North West province, where he spent two weeks looking after cubs.

 “We were told the lions were orphaned,” he said, “and that some were selected for research purposes while the older lions were released into the wild.”

He was alarmed by the number of newborn cubs at the facility and the lack of guidance the volunteers received.

His attempts to find out what really happened to the lions were met with “rude replies”, and when he wrote and asked what had happened to one particular lion called Kevin, an Ukutula employee allegedly replied, “none of you[r] damn business”.

Hankinson’s suspicions were first raised a few years ago by the “obvious inbreeding” at a li- on breeding facility she visited.

She conducted research for a year, then brought a group of investigative filmmakers on board. They found that:

• Cubs are taken away from their mothers just days after birth to force the lionesses into another reproductive cycle;
• Tourists are charged to pet the cubs or walk with lions (up to R600 for half an hour) while the volunteers are actually paying to help raise them; and
• Once the cubs reach adult- hood, they are used for hunting. The hunter gets the head and skin, and the bones (worth up to R26 000 per carcass) are shipped to Asia as traditional medicine.

Environmental lawyer Cormac Cullinan said legislation to curb the practice was lacking because nobody had envisaged that lions would be farmed in an industrial production process to produce skins, bones and trophies.

He said lions fell under legislation aimed at protecting biodiversity, but now that they were being bred on farms, they fell be- tween legislative cracks.

Ian Michler, a researcher for the documentary, said by the late 1990s there were fewer than 1 000 large predators (mainly li- ons) in captivity but today, “there are between 6 000 and 8 OOO”.

 In 2013, the total income generated by species fees through trophy hunting was about R122-million. Hankinson said this should be viewed against a back- drop of more than R90-billion generated by inbound tourism.

Ukutula owner Willie Jacobs refused an interview by the film- makers, but told Times Media: “We are a purely research and educational facility and, yes, we do have a programme where guests interact with the animals. We do this to pay our bills.”

 In Pretoria yesterday, Molewa said there had been a 27% increase in poachers entering the Kruger Park to poach rhino.

As of August 27, 749 rhinos had been poached in South Africa this year, with 544 poached in the Kruger Park. In the same period last year 716 were poached.

 About 138 arrests have been made this year, compared to 81 last year.

Young ecotourists from abroad are paying up to R50,000 to raise “orphaned lion cubs” so they can be “rehabilitated into the wild” – without knowing that the lions are actually mass bred in captivity, then sold off for canned hunts.

The illegal trade in South African wildlife is also rife, with Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa revealing yesterday that the country is battling to contain rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park, “with 12 active poacher groups at any given time”.

Environmentalist Pippa Hankinson, who recently produced Blood Lions, an investigative documentary on the farming of lions in South Africa, said: “The volunteers arrive at OR Tambo Airport and are taken off to the lion farms. Some become suspicious when they see so many ‘orphans’ on the farm, or that nearly 30 cubs are in one enclosure. But their questions are met with aggression”.

Keeton Hill, a volunteer from Britain, said he booked through an agency and was placed at Ukutula, a lion park in North West province where he spent two weeks looking after cubs.

“We were told that the lions were orphaned,” he says, “and that some were selected for research purposes while the older lions were released into the wild”.

He was alarmed by the number of new-born cubs at the facility, and the lack of guidance the volunteers received.

His attempts to find out what really happened to the lions were met with “rude replies”, and when he wrote and asked what had happened to one particular lion called Kevin, an Ukutula employee replied, “none of you(r) damn business”.

Hankinson first became suspicious a few years ago by the “obvious in-breeding” at a lion breeding facility she visited. She conducted research for a year and then brought a group of investigative filmmakers on board. They found that:

Cubs are taken away from mothers just days after birth to force the lionesses into another reproductive cycle.
Tourists are charged to “pet the cubs” or “walk with lions” (up to R600 for half an hour) while the volunteers pay to help raise them.
Once they reach adulthood, they are used for hunting and while the hunter gets the head and skin, the bones (up to R26,000 per carcass) are shipped to Asia as ingredients for traditional Chinese medicine.
Environmental lawyer Cormac Cullinan said legislation to curb this practice is lacking because “nobody envisaged that lion would be farmed in an industrial production process to produce skins and bones and trophies”.

He says that “lions fall under legislation aimed at protecting biodiversity and certain species”, but now that they are being bred on farms, they fall between legislative cracks.

Ian Michler, a principal researcher for the documentary, said that by the late 1990s, there were fewer than 1,000 large predators (mainly lions) in captivity but today, “we know there are between 6,000 and 8,000”.

Molewa said in a statement that although hunting in South Africa “does not directly contribute to conservation projects, trophy hunting, as does local hunting, is very important for conservation because hunting contributes a considerable amount to the economy of South Africa”.

The department said that in 2013, the total income generated by species fees through trophy hunting was about R122 million. Hankinson says this should be viewed against a backdrop of more than R90 billion generated by inbound tourism into the country.

Ukutula owner Willie Jacobs refused an interview by the filmmakers but told The Times: “We are a purely research and educational facility and yes we do have a programme where guests interact with the animals. We do this to pay our bills”.

Piet Potgieter, head of the Predators Association of South Africa, said the film’s allegations and footage “were total bull” and did not respond to further questions.

– In Pretoria yesterday, Molewa said there has been a 27 percent increase in poachers entering the Kruger park to poach rhino.

As of August 27, she said, 749 rhino had been poached in South Africa so far this year with 544 poached within the Kruger Park. In contrast, 716 rhino were poached by the same period last year.

About 138 arrests have been made this year, compared to 81 last year.