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South Africa’s Live EXOTIC Big Cat Trade

South Africa breeds and trades a wide variety of exotic species, including predators like tigers, pumas and jaguars.

TIGER

Tigers once occurred throughout central, eastern and southern Asia but in the past 100 years they have lost 93% of their historic range.

This charismatic species is now listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species with only an estimated 3 500 tigers surviving in the wild.

JAGUAR

Jaguar’s native habitat is the South American continent and is the only living representative of the genus Panthera in this part of the world.

Their population decline is significant. It is suspected that we have lost at least 20-25% of mature individuals in the last 21 years. Jaguar are now listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.

PUMA

The puma’s historic range is the largest of any terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere and its distribution was all the way from Canada through the USA, Central and South America to the southern tip of Chile.

The puma is also a highly adaptable big cat and is found in a broad range of habitats – in all forest types, as well as lowland and montane desert. It is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

Leading MICE destination, KZN South Coast, hosts successful Conservation Symposium

This is an excerpt from an article written and published online by South Africa Today on 10 November, 2022

From 30 October to 5 November, the KZN South Coast played host to some 215 in-person and 219 virtual delegates from 22 countries worldwide attending the 2022 Conservation Symposium. Talks by leading experts, networking and discussions were held at the upmarket venues, Premier Resort’s Cutty Sark Hotel and Dream Hotel’s Blue Marlin in Scottburgh, while a number of local establishments welcomed delegates, showcasing the many tourism offerings of this top MICE and events destination.

“South Coast Tourism and Investment Enterprise [SCTIE] would like to thank everyone involved in the organisation of this groundbreaking event,” commented Phelisa Mangcu, CEO of SCTIE. “It was a privilege for the KZN South Coast to host such an important ecological conference, particularly considering the local biodiversity and reliance our tourism economy has on healthy ecosystems. The success of this event also places the KZN South Coast on the map as a leading MICE and events destination, and we look forward to hosting more conferences at our many great venues in future.”

Throughout the six-day conference, delegates gained valuable insight, and discussed possible solutions, on various aspects impacting conservation today.

South Africa’s Live Serval Trade

Serval is a medium-sized, strong yet slender cat that is known for its jumping ability. During the latter half of the 20th century, serval were considered near extinct in South Africa, primarily due to persecution as a damage-causing animal.

Through successful reintroduction of serval into many areas within its natural range, it is now considered to be Near Threatened and is a CITES Appendix II species.

Between 2010-2020, South Africa exported 1,016 live serval with the most majority (98.2%) being captive-bred. However, the export of 18 wild-caught serval for non-conservation purposes is a concerning trend.

Commercial Trade in Caracal

The high number of live caracals imported from South Africa worldwide for commercial purposes (n = 681) is extremely worrisome, especially to countries like China (n = 152), Malaysia (n = 64), Thailand (n = 66), and Vietnam (n = 43).

The commercial import of wildlife generally means that animal traders, wholesalers or brokers are involved, who will resell the animals within the region for profit. The final destination of these animals is frequently unknown.

The resale of wild animals imported under CITES for commercial purposes can happen without CITES resale permits and for ANY reason, including to zoos, breeders, pet traders, and laboratories. These animals can even be killed at their final destination and their body parts sold for profit.

Where do South Africa’s Live Exported Caracal Go?

The top 5 importing countries of live caracals from South Africa (2010- 2020) are:

China
United States
Germany
Thailand
Indonesia

China is yet again the top importer with 246 live caracals, mostly for commercial purposes (61.7%), zoos (30.9%), breeding in captivity (5.7%) and personal use (1.6%).

This breakdown of purposes to China also reflects the worldwide top import reasons for live caracal, as is shown in the graph.

South Africa’s Live Caracal Trade

Although caracal can be commonly found in the wild in South Africa, Botswana and southern Namibia, this slender mid-sized felid is considered rare throughout most of its range.

In South Africa, caracal is classed as Least Concern and the African populations fall under CITES Appendix II.

According to the CITES Trade Database, South Africa exported 1,058 live caracals between 2010-2020 to 39 countries globally. Most of these caracals were captive-bred, but 72 individuals were from wild origin.

Even though the capture and removal of wild caracals for captive breeding and trade is currently considered a minor conservation threat according to the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), it is concerning to see the high number of live caracals exported from the wild.

Commercial Trade in Leopards is Prohibited

Blood Lions, Predators in captivity, Captive predators , Illegal wildlife trade, Born To Live Wild, Lion bone quota South Africa #CancelCaptivity

Leopards are a CITES Appendix I species, which means that their commercial trade is prohibited.

DEFINITION: Commercial use under CITES means “….to obtain economic benefit” and is “directed towards resale, exchange etc”, e.g. import and resale through wildlife traders.

With that in mind, four live leopards were exported for commercial purposes from South Africa between 2010-2020 and 50 leopards were exported to zoos around the world, including 14 to zoos in China.

Besides the fact that wild animals are sentenced to a life in captivity in zoos, under often abhorrent conditions, questions around CITES export regulations for Appendix I species need to be raised.

Are zoos conservation and education facilities or are they commercial enterprises?

If zoos are commercial facilities, Appendix I species like leopard should not be allowed to be traded.

Where do South Africa’s Live Exported Leopards Go?

The top 5 importing countries from South Africa (2010- 2020) are:

China
Malawi
Egypt
Canada
Vietnam

A WILD PERSPECTIVE

An interesting importing country in this Top 5 is Malawi, where eight out of the 18 wild leopards were exported to from South Africa for the purpose of reintroduction into the wild in 2011 and 2012. African Parks translocated a total of six leopards to Majete Wildlife Reserve as part of the predator introduction programme.

According to the below paper some successes were achieved by the project, with all individuals surviving more than 2.5 years post-release. All but one female successfully raised cubs, and three of the leopards established permanent home ranges.

The full research paper can be accessed via ResearchGate here.

South Africa’s LIVE Leopard Trade

Although these solitary and secretive cats have a huge habitat range, according to the IUCN Red List, leopard is Near Threatened. South Africa’s TOPS list puts leopard in the Vulnerable category and CITES placed them in Appendix I, meaning that commercial trade, among others, is prohibited.

South Africa exported 74 live leopards during the period 2010-2020, of which nearly one quarter were animals from the wild rather than captive-bred. This is the highest proportion of wild live felids exported from South Africa during that time period.

Some of the threats that put pressure on wild leopard populations across Africa include habitat loss, legal and illegal trade in leopard parts, trophy hunting, and human-wildlife conflict.

Cheetahs Destined for International Zoos

The United States is another main importer of live cheetahs from South Africa with the main trade purpose being zoos and breeding in captivity.

Although many zoos will claim the need for captive breeding of the endangered cheetah for conservation purposes, none of these cheetahs will ever be returned to the wild.

Many of the cheetahs exported from South Africa have already been habituated through hand-rearing by paying volunteers and interactive tourism activities. These habituated animals go straight into the “Pay to Play” programmes that numerous zoos in the USA offer.

“Pay to Play” is exactly what it implies – paying visitors are allowed to pet and/or walk with these well-behaved “ambassador cheetahs”.

It is time to #CancelCaptivity