Talle jagluiperds word oor die land heen as toeristetrekpleister aangehou. Maar die getal aanvalle wat voorkom, wys hulle is minder mak as wat hierdie ‘cheetah-ervaring-plekke ons wil wysmaak.

Dis is nie maklik om aan knaende joernaliste te verduidelik hoe- kom mak jagluiperds mense byt nie. Daar- om beny ek Clarke Smith, woord- voerder van KwaCheetah, nie sy werk nie.

Op 6 Augustus is ‘n twiet uitge- stuur wat st Aiden Fry, ‘n leerling van Cowan House Preparatory School, is aan die skouer gebyt toe ‘n jagluiperd by KwaCheetah teen die heining gespring en hom gegryp het. ‘n Oproep na die skoolhoof, Rob Odell, het dit dui- delik gemaak dié is nie bereid om oor die voorval te praat nie.

 Vyf dae later, ml verdere na- vraag, was daar ‘n verklaring van Smith, wat ook een van die direk- teure is van die Nambiti-wildre- servaat naby Ladysmith, waar KwaCheetah gehuisves word. Die verklaring lui dat die kat die seun se rug bygekom het, en hom ge- krap en gebyt het. Die seun is be- handel en is op die dag van die verklaring weer terug skool toe.

 Luidens die verklaring het geen jagluiperd van die projek voor- heen sulke gedrag getoon nie en kinders word nie in enige van die kampe toegelaat nie.

Volgens dr. Andrew Venter, wie se kind in dieselfde skool is, kan die mediese onkoste ml die voor- val R200 OOO beloop.

Maar dit eindig nie daar nie, st hy. Die dag voordat die kind ge- byt is, is ‘n 73-jarige vrou, Glen Dixon, en haar kleinkind by Kwa- Cheetah aangeval. Die vrou is teen die grond gegooi en aan haar arm en kop gebyt. Die kat se tande het haar skedel binnege- dring.

Volgens haar seun, Brett, is haar heup gebreek toe sy geval het. Met die skryf hiervan, is sy in die hoésorgeenheid.

“Ons is natuurlik vreeslik be- kommerd oor haar. Hierdie ding gaan haar lewe vir altyd veran- der,” st Brett.

Daar is meer: Dit blyk dat nog ‘n besoeker aan KwaCheetah, Lesley-Ann Marais op 28 Junie aan haar arm gebyt is tydens ‘n interaksie met die katte. Sy moes steke kry.

Toe ek die voorvalle aan Smith noem, het hy ingestem dat die vroeere verklaring ontoereikend was. Hy het ‘n nuwe een uitgereik wat die feit ingesluit het van ‘n “ouer dame wat omgegooi is deur dieselfde jagluiperd in die besig- tigingskamp”. Dit het ook genoem dat ‘n “vroulike besoeker ‘n krap aan haar arm en vlak bytmerke van ‘n ander jagluiper ” opge- doen het.

Die gedrag is, luidens die ver- klaring “strook glad nie met die aard van die betrokke jagluiperd en word ondersoek”. Die projek is ook nou gesluit terwyl die voor- valle bekyk word.

 KwaCheetah het duidelik pro- bleme met knabbelende jaglui- perds en Smith is heldhaftig besig met skadebeheer.

Toe maak ‘n kommerwekkende verslag oor ‘n luiperd sy opwag- ting. ‘n Informant wat nie haar naam genoem wil he nie, het e-pos (met foto’s) aangestuur van ‘n interaksie op die terrein.

 “Ons was in 2012 by KwaChee- tah met ons familie. Hulle het jag- luiperds, rooikatte, tierboskatte en luiperds in die kampe gehad. Die luiperds en jagluiperds was op die oog af ongemaklik met al die besoekers.

 “Die hanteerder was bekom- merd oor die luiperd, so hy het ‘n harnas soos vir ‘n hond aan die kat gesit voordat hy mense in- genooi het om aan hom te raak.

 “My familie wou nie ingaan nie, want hulle was bekommerd dat die kinders aangeval sou word. Die luiperd het herhaaldelik die hanteerder probeer bykom, en die het hom met ‘n kussing ge- slaan.

 “Die dier het erger geraak en die hanteerder het die paartjies in die kamp gevra om te gaan. Die hanteerder was erg omgekrap deur die hele ding en hy het ons vertel hy was van plan om die volgende dag weg te gaan.

“Hy se hy het sy base herhaal- delik vertel hy is ongelukkig met die situasie, maar hulle het gese alles is in die haak en hy moet voortgaan om besoekers in die kamp te neem.”

Met ‘n paar Google-soektogte het ‘n YouTube-video aan die lig gekom van ‘n jong toeris wat voor ‘n jagluiperd uithardloop en ‘n kartonboks sleep. Die titel van die video, gemaak deur die Ame- rikaner John Watson van Volun- teer South Africa, is “Getting Chased by Cheetahs”.

 “Dis ‘n ervaring sonder gelyke,” se hy. “Dis ‘n plek waar vrywilli- gers met jagluiperds kan rond- hang terwyl hulle in die natuur hervestig word.”

“Ek haat troetelplase,” se Wat- son vir die kamera, “maar hierdie is ten bate van die diere. Dit gaan ‘n “Mak” jagluiperd. regtig daaroor om ‘n verskil te maak.” En daar praat hy van Kwa- Cheetah.

Hy was beslis nie daarvan be- wus dat jagluiperds, soos alle roofdiere, geprogrammeer is om te jaag nie, en die verskil tussen ‘n kartondoos en ‘n sagte, pienk naelloper is bitter klein uit die oogpunt van ‘n jagluiperd.

 Volgens Smith se mediaverkla- ring is KwaCheetah in 2011 begin om bewaring van die bedreigde jagluiperds in Suider-Afrika te bevorder. Op hul webwerf skryf die eienaars “die hoofdoel is nie om jagluiperds aan dieretuine en soortgelyke plekke te verkoop nie, maar om die katte in die wil- dernis van Afrika te hervestig”.

Maar volgens ‘n bron het Kwa- Cheetah al die afgelope vier jaar nie die nodige permitte om jaglui- perds aan te hou of in die natuur te hervestig nie, al is dit kwansuis die hoofdoel van sy bestaan.

Die aanvalle het uiteindelik die KwaZulu-Natalse owerheid die afgelope week tot optrede aange- spoor. Alle kommersiéle bedry- wighede op die terrein is stopgesit.

Ek het probeer om hieroor dui- delikheid te kry by die eienaar van KwaCheetah, Rob le Sueuer. Hy se hy neem alle oproepe op, want hy wil nie he woorde moet in sy mond gele word nie en hy is allermins bereid om die kwessie te bespreek.

Om by al die regulasies oor in- teraksies met jagluiperd te hou, is ‘n kopseer. Volgens die KwaZulu- Natalse standaardprosedure vir wilde diere in ‘n rehabilitasiesen- trum, mag die diere glad nie aan die publiek vertoon word nie en niemand behalwe personeellede mag met hulle in kontak kom nie.

Voorts mag geen dier langer aangehou word as wat absoluut nodig is om die dier in die natuur te hervestig nie. Diere mag nie fisiek in toom gehou word nie. “Geen kettings, toue of dergeli- ke”, en geen huisdiere mag op die sentrum se terrein aangehou word nie. Op KwaCheetah se webwerf is daar verskeie foto’s van honde en ander huisdiere wat met die jagluiperds speel.

Help KwaCheetah dus, soos wat Watson aanvoer, regtig met bewaring?

 ‘n Verslag deur die Trust vir Bedreigde Natuurlewe (EWT) laat dit nie so lyk nie. Twee wyfie-jag- luiperds wat wild gebore is, is met die hand grootgemaak en toe teen sowat R400 000 deur die EWT en ‘n vennoot “wild ge- maak” Cre-wilded” is die term wat hulle gebruik). Hulle is toe aan Nambiti gegee om in die re- servaat vrygelaat te word. ‘n Man- netjie is ook teen sowat R100 000 gerehabiliteer en in die reservaat vrygelaat.

Volgens die EWT het hulle in Junie 2012 agtergekom die drie jagluiperds word in werklikheid in aanhouding gehou. Die verslag lui: “Mnr. Le Sueur het glo die jagluiperds vanaf Nambiti ge- bring, waarvan hy mede-eienaar is. Die jagluiperds en hul klein- tjies word aangehou vir geldelike gewin. Die rede is dat leeus hulle in die reservaat bedreig. Die hui- dige permitstelsel in KwaZulu-Natal laat nie toe dat wilde diere na aanhouding verplaas word nie.”

 Kelly Marnewick, EWT se be- stuurder van roofdier-bewaring, st die aanvalle verbaas haar glad nie. “Geen wilde jagluiperd het nog mense aangeval nie. Maar jagluiperds in aanhouding kan baie gevaarlik wees omdat hulle hul vrees vir mense verloor het.”

Die onlangse dokumentér Blood Lions laat geen twyfel oor die ver- band tussen troetelplase vir klein- tjies en die uiteindelike dood van leeus in geblikte jag en die ver- koop van hul bene vir Chinese “tierbeenwyn” nie.

Jagluiperds wat in aanhouding geteel is, volg ‘n ander lewens- pad, minder grusaam, maar word net soveel uitgebuit. Anders as leeus, is jagluiperds betreklik maklik om mak te maak (hoewel onmoontlik om tot troeteldier te maak) en dit maak hulle aantrek- lik vir menslike interaksie.

Die konvensie oor die interna- sionale handel in bedreigde spesies (Cites) klaSSifiseer jagluiperds as ‘n hoogs bedreigde spesie.

Daar is minder as 1000 jagluiperds in Suid-Afrika oor, met ‘n paar honderd wat aangehou word in 79 aanhoudingsplekke. Aanhouding en teel geskied onder die vaandel van bewaring en opvoeding. Die publiek word vertel die jagluiperds sal weer vrygelaat word of dat teling die spesie terugbring van die rand van uitwissing.

Volgens Marnewick is daar bit- ter min sentrums wat regstreeks betrokke is by bewaringswerk wat ‘n voordeel inhou vir die oorbly- wende wilde jagluiperds. Die res het slegs waarde as “opvoedver- maak”. Rehabilitasie behels dat diere vinnig deur die sentrum beweeg sonder enige kontak met toeriste of vrywilligers.

 Jagluiperds in aanhouding bring geld in vir hul eienaars. Dit kos sowat R300 vir ‘n volwasse besoeker om ‘n paar minute met een deur te bring en buitelandse vrywilligers betaal tot $2 OOO per week om te “help rehabiliteer”. Hulle hou gereeld aan om te betaal om “hul” jagluiperd te voer lank nadat hulle terug huis toe is.

 “Daar’s geen bewaringsnood om jagluiperds in aanhouding te teel nie. Dit het geen invloed op die werklike bedreiging nie: jag, ‘n gebrek aan ruimte en verkope aan aanhoudingsplekke. Die re- habilitasiesentrums’ kan ook bewaring skade aandoen deur genetiese wanbestuur (inteling),” se sy.

Om jagluiperds as toeriste-lok- aas te gebruik, is volgens haar on- eties en die teenoorgestelde van bewaring. “Die meeste van hier- die plekke moet gesluit word.”

Die KwaZulu-Natalse owerheid en KwaCheetah sit nou met ‘n ta- meletjie. As die sentrum nie ‘n permit kan bekom om jagluiperds in die natuur te hervestig nie, hoe kan hy sy voortbestaan as “reha- bilitasiesentrum” regverdig?

En as hulle dié permit kry, hoe kan hulle dit regverdig om jagluiperds wat in aanhouding geteel is, in die natuur vry te laat as dit skadelik is vir die bewaring van jagluiperds?

Keeping cheetahs as tourist attractions is widespread in South Africa. But, as a number of attacks have proved, they’re far less tame than ‘cheetah experience’ establishments would have you believe. As a series of attacks have proved, they can be downright dangerous.

Explaining to a persistent journalist why tame cheetahs are biting people is not easy, so I didn’t envy KwaCheetah spokesman Clarke Smith his job.

On 6 August a Tweet said a pupil from Cowan House Preparatory School, Aiden Fry, had been bitten on the shoulder when a cheetah at KwaCheetah launched itself at the fence and grabbed him. A call to the principal, Rob Odell, made it clear he would say nothing about it.

Five days later, following further inquiries, a press release from Smith – who is one of the directors of Nambiti Private Game Reserve near Ladysmith on which KwaCheetah is situated – said a cat had grabbed at the boy’s back, scratching and biting him. It added that the boy was treated and “is back at school today”. It noted that “none of the cheetah at the project has displayed behaviour of this nature before”, and that “children are not allowed in any of the enclosures”.

According to Dr Andrew Venter, whose child is at Aiden’s school, medical bills for the ‘bite and scratch’, could run to R200,000. But, he said, there was more. The day before this incident, a 73-year-old woman, Glen Dixon, and her grandson were attacked at KwaCheetah. The woman was thrown to the ground and bitten on her arm and head, the cat’s teeth puncturing her skull.

According to her son, Brett Dixon, her hip was broken in the fall and she requires reconstructive surgery to her ear. At the time of writing she was in intensive care. “We are of course extremely worried about her,” he said. “This will change her life forever.”

There was still more: it turns out that on 28 June another visitor to KwaCheetah, Lesley-Ann Marais, was bitten on her arm during an interaction. She had to receive stitches.

When I mentioned these attacks to Smith, he agreed the earlier press release was somewhat limited and issued another one which included the fact that “an elderly lady was knocked down by the same cheetah while inside the viewing enclosure” but it did not explain why her grandson was in the enclosure with her. It also mentioned that previously “a lady visitor had her arm scratched and suffered shallow punctures from a nip by a different cheetah”.

It noted that “this behaviour is totally out of character for the individual cheetah and is being investigated”. The project, he said, had now been closed to visitors while the incidents were being investigated.

KwaCheetah was clearly having problems with ‘nipping’ cheetahs and Smith was manfully running damage control. Then came a worrying report about a leopard. An informant, who did not want her name mentioned, e-mailed (with photos) about an interaction at the facility.

“We were at KwaCheetah with our family in 2012. They had cheetah, caracal, serval and a leopard in various enclosures and the cheetah and leopard were clearly agitated by all the visitors. The handler was particularly worried about the leopard so went into his enclosure to put what appeared to be a dog harness on him to control him before inviting people in to pet him.

“My family would not go in because they were worried about the children being attacked, as it kept going for the handler, who hit it with a pillow.

‘The leopard got more and more excited so he asked the few visitors who had gone into the enclosure to leave. The handler was really freaked out by whole situation and told us he was leaving Nambiti the next day.

“He said he had repeatedly told his bosses that he was very unhappy about the situation, but they kept saying it was fine and that he had to continue taking guests into the enclosure.”

Trawling Google for cheetah encounters, a YouTube video came to light which begins with a young tourist sprinting ahead of a cheetah and trailing a cardboard box. The title of the film, made by American John Watson for Volunteer South Africa, is Getting Chased by Cheetahs.

“It’s an experience like no other,” he says, “it’s a place where volunteers can mingle with cheetahs while helping rehabilitate them into the wild.

“I don’t like petting zoos,” Watson comments to camera, “but this is for the benefit of the animals. It’s about truly making a difference.” The facility is KwaCheetah.

He was clearly not aware that, like most predators, cheetahs are programmed to chase what runs and that the difference between a cardboard box and pink sprinting prey, in the mind of a cheetah, is a small one.

According to Smith’s press release, KwaCheetah was established in 2011 to support the conservation of vulnerable cheetah in Southern Africa. The website says “the main goal behind the project is not to sell cheetah to zoos or any other likewise place, but to release our cats back into the African wilderness”.

The release adds that “there are currently at least seven cheetah set to be released into the wild as part of a carefully planned phased release process once the relevant permits, which were applied for some time ago, have been received from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife”.

According to a source, for the past four years, KwaCheetah has not had permits to hold or release cheetah into the wild, its stated primary reason for existence. The attacks seem to have forced KZN Wildlife into action and this week it suspended all commercial operations at the facility.

I tried to get clarity on this from KwaCheetah owner Rob Le Seuer, but he said he was recording the phonecall, was not prepared to have words put into his mouth and was not prepared to discuss the issue.

Complying with regulations, however, is a problem for cheetah encounters. According to KwaZulu-Natal’s standards and procedures for keeping wild animals in captivity in a rehabilitation facility, no animals there may be displayed to the public, or have contact with people other than facility staff.

In addition, no animal may be held in a rehabilitation facility for longer than is required for successful rehabilitation and its return to the wild. It may not be physically restrained “by means of chains, ropes or the like” and no domestic animals are allowed onto the premises of a rehabilitation facility (the KwaCheetah website shows cheetahs playing with dogs and other animals).

So is KwaCheetah, as Watson suggests, truly aiding conservation and making a difference? A report by the Environmental Wildlife Trust (EWT) suggests otherwise. Two wild-born female cheetahs now at the facility were hand-reared then ‘re-wilded’ by EWT and a partner at a cost of around R400,000 and were given to Nambiti for release on the reserve. A male cheetah from a different mother was re-wilded at a cost of around R100,000 and also relocated there.

According to EWT: ‘In June 2012 [we] realised that these three cheetahs had been held in captive conditions by the Rob Le Sueur Cheetah Project [now KwaCheetah]. Mr Le Sueur had reportedly bought the cheetahs from Nambiti – in which he is a part owner. The cheetah and their offspring are currently being utilised for financial gain in a walk, pet and drive with cheetahs initiative. The reason given was that they were being threatened by lions on the reserve. The current permitting system in KwaZulu-Natal does not allow the movement of wild animals into captivity.”

EWT carnivore conservation manager Kelly Marnewick said she was not surprised at the attacks. “Wild cheetahs have never been reported to attack humans,” she said, “but captive ones can be very dangerous, having lost their fear of humans. They are often bored and associate humans with food.”

The recent film Blood Lions leaves no doubt about the cynical relationship between cub petting, walking with young lions and their eventual demise in ‘canned’ hunts, followed by sale of their bones for Asian ‘tiger bone wine’.

Captive-bred cheetahs have a different, less gruesome trajectory, though no less exploitative. Unlike lions, cheetahs are fairly easily tamed in captivity (but never domesticated), making them attractive animals for human interaction. They are currently listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora as threatened with extinction (Appendix 1).

In South Africa there are fewer than 1,000 cheetahs, several hundred of them captive in 79 facilities. Containment and breeding is usually done under the banner of conservation and education. The public are told the cheetahs will be released into the wild or that breeding is bringing the cheetah back from the brink of extinction.

According to Marnewick: “Very few facilities appear to be directly involved with any type of conservation work that directly benefits the free-roaming cheetah population through funding or field projects. The rest appear to have value only in terms of ‘edutainment’. Rehabilitation needs to have cheetahs move through fast and not have tourist or volunteer contact.”

Beyond the cost of meat and housing them, captive cheetahs make money for their captors. It costs around R300 for an adult to spend a few minutes with a cheetah and foreign volunteers can pay between $1,000 and $2000 a week to help ‘rehabilitate’ them by handling them and ‘teaching’ them to hunt. They often continue to pay to feed ‘their’ cheetah after they return home, trusting they are helping to re-wild it.

Marnewick disagrees with the value of their endeavours. “There’s no conservation need for cheetahs to be bred in captivity as they do not address the key threats to cheetahs: persecution, lack of space and sale into captivity. Furthermore, these institutions can have a negative impact on conservation through the sourcing of wild animals to supply captive populations, as well as through the risk of genetic mismanagement (inbreeding,) and providing the wrong conservation message.”

According to Marnewick, using cheetahs as ‘tourist bait’ is unethical and exploitative and antithetical to conservation. “Most of those outfits should be closed down.”

Both KZN Wildlife and KwaCheetah now have a complex conundrum to deal with. If the facility doesn’t get a permit to release cheetahs, can they justify their claim that they’re rehabilitating them?

And if they do, can they justify the release of captive-bred cheetahs into the wild despite the findings of a respected conservation organisation that this would be detrimental to cheetah conservation?

Trophy hunting has been the subject of much media attention amid the backdrop of declining populations of big game animals in Africa. But is a blanket ban really the answer?

At the end of June 2015, a Zimbabwe lion known as Cecil was wounded by a crossbow bolt shot by American dentist Walter Palmer.

Sometime later Cecil was shot and finally killed.

The media attention that followed made it clear that many people were unaware of the realities of modern-day African hunting.

In fact, if you have enough money and are so inclined, you can legally hunt pretty much any African animal, including lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and hippo.

You’ll need the right permits and it’s subject to quotas and regulations but if you do it by the book, then it’s perfectly legal. And once you’ve killed it you can export the “trophy” home.

‘Moral objection’

Following Cecil’s death, many have called for a blanket ban on trophy hunting. Calls for a ban come from a number of different directions.

For some, there is a moral objection to the killing of animals for pleasure, for others an understandable emotional response to images of hunters posing with their kills or concerns over conservation.

But calls for a blanket ban on trophy hunting fail to take into account the complex relationship between hunting and conservation.

Some trophy kills are hard to justify no matter which side of the fence you sit on. Leopard for example are a CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Appendix I species.

As the human population in Africa expands, conflict between humans and wildlife increases

Such species are threatened with extinction and the commercial trade in wild-caught specimens is illegal. Despite this, it is still possible to hunt one “on trophy” (subject to quotas) for personal, non -commercial purposes.

Another hunting practice that has come under the spotlight is “canned hunting” of lions. There is considerable confusion between, and conflation of, trophy hunting and canned hunting. Canned hunting, where captive bred lions are released into small enclosures to be hunted in a “no kill no fee” arrangement, “hits the bottom of the barrel” according to Will Travers, President of wildlife charity the Born Free Foundation.

Poor welfare

Largely based in South Africa, the welfare issues involved in canned hunting, which include severe over-crowding and inadequate access to food and water, have recently been exposed by environmental film maker Ian Michler in his film Blood Lions.

However, as lion conservation expert and author of Lions in the Balance: Man-eaters, Manes and Men with Guns, Professor Craig Packer, says: “These animals are not part of the wild population and so, there’s no real immediate impact on conservation… I view canned hunting mostly as an animal welfare issue.”

Many sought-after trophy animals, such as kudu and impala, are maintained in large numbers across Southern Africa, especially South Africa, within large, fenced, privately-owned reserves.

Animal numbers need to be controlled to prevent over-stocking and over-grazing. Surplus animals are harvested for meat but larger males can generate far more revenue if they’re taken by a trophy hunter.

The taking of trophy animals in such reserves is of limited conservation concern and the money generated helps to pay for the management that is required to keep reserves in good condition.

In fact, the impact of trophy hunting depends on the species and the region being considered. So the past few decades in South Africa have seen a landscape-level replacement of cattle farming with wildlife farming.

As a consequence: “Southern Africa’s seen large scale recoveries of wildlife in the 20th century, built around hunting,” says Rosie Cooney, who heads the IUCN Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group.

Trophy hunting of many species was, and continues to be, vital in funding this reversal and a blanket ban there is neither needed nor desirable.

It pays, it stays?

This “consumptive utilisation of wildlife” model (“it pays it stays”) also works well in some other regions. The Bubye Valley Conservancy in Zimbabwe for example has more than 400 lions and one of the most important populations of rhino still in existence.

The Conservancy is funded entirely by hunting and, according to the reserve manager Blondie Leathem, a ban would be “devastating”.

However, trophy hunting is not always beneficial for wildlife. Over-harvesting can clearly have a detrimental effect on numbers.

Also, trophy hunters select large males and this can have more profound effects on the breeding dynamics of animals in that region. These problems are greatest when land is not stably owned and a “tragedy of the commons” (when everyone harvests as much as they can for short-term gain) can result.

It is tempting to suggest that hunting could be replaced by tourism and in some places this is indeed the case. However, as Rosie Cooney points out, tourism is only possible in regions that “are accessible…a few hours generally from a major hub…with good roads”.

They also need to be safe, “lacking in dangerous diseases….and politically stable”. There needs to be the infrastructure to look after tourists and you need capital to invest in it. Many hunting concessions operate successfully in areas where none of these conditions are in place, at least for now.

The pro-hunting argument is simple. Hunting provides revenue that directly funds conservation. Anti-hunters often claim that this hunting-conservation link doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. The problem in deciding whether hunting is beneficial or not is that both sides are right.

How can both sides be right? The answer to that lies in the fact that Africa is not a single entity.

Different countries and even regions within those countries have different histories, geography, politics, governance, infrastructure, economics, population demographics and tribal politics. In some regions hunting is vital for conservation. In such regions “it pays it stays” works and a ban would be detrimental to wildlife.

In other regions, hunting could be replaced or at least supplemented by tourism. In still other regions, and certainly for some species, a ban on hunting could be a sensible move for conservation. A “one size fits all” solution is not what is required.

Last wilderness

In fact, Prof Craig Packer says that across Africa overall “neither trophy hunting nor phototourism is sufficient to cover the costs [of conservation]”.

Whilst these activities can and do work in some places, he thinks that “we need to move away from the standard model of wildlife conservation in Africa, which has always been ‘wildlife must pay its own way'”. Overall, the approach doesn’t generate enough money and consequently, “we’re seeing dramatic losses of wildlife numbers throughout a lot of Africa.”

It is interesting that the killing of a single lion by a wealthy, white, American attracted so much attention.

As Will Travers explains: “I don’t think we should fool ourselves that it’s all about trophy hunting. Lions are threatened by habitat loss, habitat fragmentation…human activities that disperse and displace lions [and] the loss of prey species.”

There are few true wildernesses left, and as the human population in Africa expands, conflict between humans and wildlife gets ever greater. Far more lions are killed by cattle herders defending their livestock and their families than by trophy hunters. Don’t forget, in the UK, we long ago killed our apex predators so that we could sleep soundly.

To conserve wildlife we need to find ways to protect animals from people and people from animals. We also need to find ways to ensure animal populations are more valuable alive in the long-term (even if that means sustainable harvesting) than dead in the short-term.

Conservation is an extraordinarily complex problem but it is also one of the most significant problems we now face. The solution will not be found in knee-jerk responses driven by emotion and fuelled by social media.

Prof Adam Hart is professor of science communication at the University of Gloucestershire. He presents Big Game Theory on BBC Radio 4 at 20:00 on Tuesday 1 September.

The impact of the new documentary film Blood Lions on audiences is such that additional screenings have been arranged in Cape Town.

Tickets sold out over all three days of the film’s launch in Cape Town’s Labia theatre last week, and additional screenings have been arranged in Cape Town for Friday 28 August and Tuesday 1 September. Proceeds from ticket sales will go towards the campaign to stop captive hunting and breeding. Tickets can be booked on webtickets for the 28th of August and the 1st of September.

Aside from influencing public opinion, the film is having a marked affect on the hunting industry in South Africa with a call by the president of PHASA (Professional Hunters Association of South Africa), after viewing the film, for a review of lion hunting.

The Africa Geographic team and I attended the first screening in Cape Town. Despite having reported on canned hunting and lion breeding relatively often, the film had a profound affect on me. Not only are scenes very graphic in nature, but candid interviews give valuable insight is given into the mindsets of breeders, hunters, government officials and tourists who have been duped into contributing to the brutal industry by paying to pet cubs and walk with lions. Understanding these mindsets is crucial in achieving a ban of canned hunting, and the challenges involved are apparent in a dramatic scene in which the undercover film team are accosted by a hunting operator – only they keep the cameras rolling.

The lengths to which director and filmmaker Nick Chevalier, conservationist and journalist Ian Michler, and Rick Swayze – an American who poses as a trophy hunter – have gone to to expose this industry is remarkable, as is the determination and passion of first time producer Pippa Hankinson who brought the Blood Lions team together.

 

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.

Blood Lions, the explosive documentary that’s attracting a lot of attention since it premiered at the Durban International Film Festival in July, has announced further screenings around the country and in Australia

Kevin Richardson (aka The Lion Whisperer) urged people to go see the film for themselves.

Blood Lions exposes the breeding of lions and the canned lion hunting industry in South Africa – where at least two to three captive bred or tame lions are reportedly being killed in these “canned” hunts on a daily basis in South Africa.

We are apparently the only country where lions are bred for commercial reasons. Hundreds more lions are allegedly slaughtered each year for the lion bone trade. (Bloodlions.org quotes the annual figure as having risen from 287 in 2010 to over 1,000…as lion bones are being used increasingly to replace tiger bones in traditional Chinese medicine.)

The 85-minute documentary, directed by Nic Chevallier and Bruce Young, hopes that by exposing the industry it will bring pressure to South Africa to “stop breeding lions for the bullet”.

 

This article was written by Derek Joubert and was published online by Africa Geographic on 28 August, 2015

Based on one of the most common suggestions I receive and usually not very politely I would like to make an open invitation here-the offer is to stalk a buffalo with a professional hunter, stay in the camp and do everything that a hunter would do but without any killing- on each successful stalk you will take a photo and pay an appropriate trophy fee for doing so…a buff will cost you around 3000 dollars-1000 of this will go direct to local government-10 days of this activity will cost you 1250 per day-the camps are very basic as most of this cost goes into the running and management of the area-you will also pay a community fee of 1000 per person (just to boost effort) – we will expect you to photograph at least 6 or seven other animals after appropriate stalking efforts-your entire safari will cost about 20-25000 a large proportion of which will go towards protecting  and managing the area and wildlife- you will put into the local economy everything that a hunter would and can claim all the tags but nothing will be shot-please will all interested people inbox me and if we can get 100 people to pay these fees we will be able to effectively manage an area that’s otherwise protected and managed by barbaric hunters.

Read More: https://africageographic.com/blog/dereck-joubert-responds-to-a-hunter-on-the-economics-of-hunting/

Adam Cruise says that of six nations, SA ranks highest in terms of most lion trophies exported.

Given that in Africa wild lions are in catastrophic decline, the latest International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) figures suggest that fewer than 20,000 remain. It may come as a shock to discover that as many as 10,000 of the continent’s iconic big cats were legally hunted and exported as trophies in the ten years ending in 2013.

The vast majority of these lions were bred in captivity for the purpose of hunting. The mostly American and European sports hunters took the lions to their home countries as trophies – mounted heads or skins for their collections.

The tally for hunted lions is likely even higher than 10,000, says Dereck Joubert, wildlife filmmaker and National Geographic explorer-in-residence, because not all hunters take trophies. Some hunt just for the sport.

Six African countries where lions still range freely – South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia and Tanzania – were analysed using the official CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) trade database, which lists animal and plant products exported and imported internationally.

Kenya and Botswana are two lion-range countries notably omitted from this list. Both countries have outlawed trophy hunting in an effort to boost lion populations, although Botswana only recently adopted this measure.

Even though the IUCN red list of threatened species lists lions as vulnerable (facing a high risk of extinction in the wild), African range lions in all six countries are listed by CITES under Appendix II, which means lion products may be exported under a permit system. Permits are granted “if the relevant authorities are satisfied that certain conditions are met, above all that trade will not be detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild.”

SOUTH AFRICA TOPS LIST

Of the six nations, South Africa ranks highest in terms of most trophies exported. The country has registered a staggering average of 748 lion trophies exported per year.

Tanzania is next with an annual average of almost 150 lion trophies, followed by Zimbabwe and Zambia (each between 60 and 70 a year), Mozambique (22) and Namibia (less than 20 a year). Botswana, before banning trophy hunting in January 2014, tabled an average of 10 trophies each year.

The figures are not 100 percent accurate as there are a number of discrepancies that creep into the database, such as countries reporting the number of permits issued but not the actual permits used. However, the figures give a general idea of just how impactful trophy hunting is on lions.

Country         Exported Trophies    Estimated Wild        Estimated Captive

2003-2013              Lion Population[1]    Lion Population

South Africa     7,487                       2,100                       Approx. 7,000

Tanzania         1,408                       15,600                      –

Zimbabwe       688                          850                          –

Zambia           635                          1,150                       –

Mozambique   219                           2,700                      –

Namibia         185                           600                         –

[1] Based on latest figures from LionAlert.org

 South Africa tops the list, but most of the lions hunted for trophies (two thirds of the country’s total lion population) are what the government terms ‘captive bred’ or ‘ranch’ lions. According to a spokesperson for the South African Department of Environment, less than 10 wild lions are hunted in South Africa a year.

Currently in South Africa there are almost 200 breeding facilities where lions are raised exclusively for trophy hunting. The big cats are kept in small enclosures and are habituated to humans, making them easy targets for hunters. The practice has come under fire recently with the release of the film Blood Lions. As Ian Michler, the documentary’s main narrator, says “it’s about breeding wildlife as intensively as they can, as quickly as they can, to make as much money as they can.”

ZIMBABWE’S LIONS GONE IN A DECADE

Zimbabwe’s situation is worse because trophy hunting involves vulnerable wild lion populations.Researchers, co-ordinated by a team at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and partially funded by National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative (BCI), revealed in 2012 that wild lion populations in that country “are in trouble”.

Almost 700 lion trophies were legally exported during the decade under review, but the current population, according to the 2012 survey, stood at only 850. This suggests that, at the current rate and if lion numbers don’t increase, which is unlikely, in another decade trophy hunters alone will have wiped out nearly all remaining lions in Zimbabwe.

In Zambia an average of 65 trophies are exported each year. According to another 2012 research paper, most parks are registering free-falling numbers of lions. A park like the 3,866-square-kilometre Liuwa Plains National Park has just three individuals.

The collapse of their lion population prompted Zambian authorities to ban trophy hunting of big cats in 2013. Zambian tourism and arts minister, Jean Kapata, cited big cat numbers “too low to have a sustainable hunting industry.” However, the country lifted the ban earlier this year. According to a recent CNN report, it was “because the government needed the money to fund conservation”.

Things look only marginally better in Mozambique and Namibia. Namibia exports less than 20 lion trophies per year. But that country’s lion population is considerably smaller at just 600 individuals. It indicates hunting still has a detrimental impact on the population as a third of the current total number during the decade was exported as trophies.

In Mozambique, lion numbers in the Niassa Reserve, the country’s largest game park, may be increasing. This is according to Colleen Begg of the Niassa Carnivore Project, an NGO working to conserve large carnivore populations there. She said in an email to the Associated Press in July that it was because of the heavy poaching of elephants, which has provided “the carnivores with a bounty of carcasses to eat as well as vulnerable elephant calves to hunt.”

RAPID DECLINE

However, farther south lions are disappearing rapidly. A study of lions in the northwest Tete Province of Mozambique in 2013 suggests 185 lions in the region, down from the 2009 survey of 295 lions. The Gorongosa National Park that once had over 200 lions now has less than 30 individuals. In recognition of the country’s fast declining numbers due to trophy hunting, CITES has enforced an export quota on lions since 2012.

Tanzania has the largest wild lion population of all African nations. Still, almost 1,500 lion trophies have been exported in the decade following 2003 with overall numbers declining alarmingly. In the Katavi National Park, for example, 1,118 of the big cats were counted in 1993. By 2014 there was not a single lion remaining.

Lion expert, Professor Craig Packer of the University of Minnesota, found the results of their research in 2009 that the trophy hunting rate of big cats throughout Tanzania “had consistently been too high”. Packer predicted that the future population of lions in Tanzania would be seriously decimated unless fewer big cats were killed by trophy hunters each year.

Another problem with trophy hunting, as Jeffrey Flocken, North America Regional Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), says, is that “hunters are not like natural predators. They target the largest specimens, with the biggest tusks, manes, antlers, or horns.”

According to Andrew Loveridge of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCru) at Oxford University, a scientific group specialising in wild carnivores, sport hunters go almost exclusively for adult lion males. This has caused a decline in numbers of adult males in the total lion population.

Loveridge says that “hunting predators on the boundaries of national parks causes significant disturbance and knock-on effects” such as infanticide when new males entered the prides.

According to the 2015 IUCN Red List analysis on lions, which Packer co-authored, there is concern that current management regimes in terms of trophy hunting have contributed to an astonishing decline of 42 percent of the continent’s total population.

The CITES listing of lion is currently undergoing a periodic review. The IUCN survey for 2015 has recommended a change in categorisation for African lions from vulnerable to endangered. If that happens CITES may be prompted to list lions under Appendix I, but as is the case with the other species on the same listing, it does not guarantee the days of hunting lions for trophies will soon be over.