This is an excerpt from an article written and published online by SA People on 28 April, 2020

Wildlife campaigners from 339 organisations from around the world, including the Lion Coalition, Humane Society International, Blood Lions and Born Free Foundation, are calling on the World Health Organisation to release a formal position statement in support of a global ban on wildlife markets selling wild animals or products, in light of the risk to public health.

The groups have written a second  open letter to the WHO in response to a statement by WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calling on governments to “rigorously enforce bans on the sale and trade of wildlife for food”, but falling short of calling for a global prohibition despite the risk of COVID-19 and future zoonotic diseases.

At a media briefing on April 17 Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “Wet markets are an important source of affordable food and livelihood for millions of people all over the world. But in many places, they have been poorly regulated and poorly maintained.

“WHO’s position is that when these markets are allowed to reopen, it should only be on the condition that they conform to stringent food safety and hygiene standards. Governments must rigorously enforce bans on the sale and trade of wildlife for food.”

“WHO has worked closely with the World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, to develop guidance on the safe operation of markets. Because an estimated 70% of all new viruses come from animals, we also work together closely to understand and prevent pathogens crossing from animals to humans.”

Read More: https://www.sapeople.com/2020/04/28/wildlife-experts-unite-to-urge-who-to-support-global-ban-on-wildlife-markets/

This is an excerpt from an article written by Dr Ross Harvey and published online by Conservation Action Trust on 23 April, 2020.

The legal global wildlife trade is worth roughly $300 billion. Of more than 31,500 listed terrestrial birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, approximately 5,500 are traded. Research predicts that a further 3,196 species may be traded in the future, placing a possible 8,775 species at risk of extinction. 

Serious attempts to regulate the trade in wildlife and plants began in 1973. And in 1975 the Convention on International Trade in Endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora came into force. It now boasts a membership of 183 parties. 

A great deal of controversy surrounds the purpose and efficacy of the convention. But its original text recognises that:

“Wild fauna and flora in their many beautiful and varied forms are an irreplaceable part of the natural systems of the earth which must be protected for this and the generations to come.”

With many species now at risk of extinction, questions are being raised about the sustainability of the global wildlife trade and whether it can be reliably regulated or not. 

Read More: https://conservationaction.co.za/media-articles/what-is-the-wildlife-trade-and-what-are-the-answers-to-managing-it/

This is an excerpt from an article written by James Fair and published online by Monga Bay on 13 April, 2020

Wildlife conservation and animal welfare groups say the COVID-19 pandemic ought to spell the end for one of South Africa’s most controversial businesses: the captive breeding of lions.

It is widely accepted that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that has precipitated the global crisis, came from wildlife (bats or pangolins are the most likely sources), and campaign groups long opposed to lion breeding on an industrial scale in South Africa argue this highlights the risks that humans face by exploiting wildlife for meat or other purposes.

They also say that many of the breeding centers — of which there were 297 in 2016, according to a paper published last year by researchers Vivienne Williams of the University of the Witwatersrand and Michael ’t Sas-Rolfes from Oxford University — rely on tourist income that has now vanished. These centers will now either allow their lions to starve to death or euthanize them — a charge denied by the industry.

From cuddled cubs to lion bone wine

Outside of zoos, lions are bred and kept in captivity in South Africa for three main reasons: to provide “cub-petting” and “walk with lions” experiences to visitors at theme parks; to be sold to other operations for “canned” trophy hunting; and, when they die or have been killed, to be sold on to countries in East Asia, where their bones are turned into wines and other products for the traditional medicine market.

Some lions go from being cuddled by tourists to being killed by wealthy big-game hunters, before their skeletons are sold into the bone trade. Many NGOs, both within and outside South Africa, have been arguing for more than a decade that the industry is inhumane and should be closed down.

Read More: https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/coronavirus-is-a-crisis-for-south-africas-captive-lions-campaigners-warn/

This is an excerpt from an article written by Laura du Toit and published online by GroundUp on 09 April, 2020

Appeal sent to World Health Organisation to publicly confirm threat posed to health.

Conservationists have welcomed the Chinese government’s ban on the consumption of wild animal products, but have voiced concerns it may drive sales underground.

This emerged during an online meeting of numerous international conservation organisations, hosted by the South African-based Blood Lions team on Tuesday.

Although not conclusive, evidence suggests humans may have contracted the coronavirus from consuming pangolins, which may have picked up the disease from bats.

In February, a standing committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress agreed to a “complete ban of illegal wildlife trade and the elimination of the unhealthy habit of indiscriminate wild animal meat consumption”.

Dr Louise de Waal, campaign manager for Blood Lions, said this was a step in the right direction, but the committee had not addressed “special circumstances” which allowed for the use of wild animals for scientific research, medical use, and display.

“This could mean that the use of lion bones for traditional Chinese medicine be made exempt from the wildlife consumption ban,” said De Waal.

Blood Lions, both the title of the 2015 documentary on canned lion hunting and a coalition against captive lion breeding, was one of 240 conservation organisations that sent an appeal to the World Health Organisation (WHO) to publicly confirm the threat of wildlife markets to human health.

The letter was followed by the meeting, open to the public on Twitter and timed to coincide with World Health Day.

Read More: https://www.groundup.org.za/article/covid-19-environmentalists-call-permanent-ban-live-wildlife-markets/

This is an excerpt from an article published online by News24 on 07 April, 2020.

The Ministries and Departments of Health, Environment, Forestry and Fisheries and the Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development were sent an urgent letter and science-based white paper from Humane Society International-Africa (HSI). The HSI is calling for immediate action to ban wildlife trade, transport and consumption – particularly of mammals and birds which are known to contract coronaviruses – in order to address the threat they pose to public health in addition to animal welfare and species conservation.

The urgent plea to Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy, and the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, as well as the Director of Veterinary Public Health, Dr Mphane Molefe, is part of a coordinated action by HSI to governments across the globe in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Although the exact origins of the current coronavirus are still unknown, it likely originated in a market in Wuhan, China, selling and slaughtering live wild animals on site. Multiple infectious disease outbreaks have been tied to the wildlife trade including SARS in 2003 which is believed to have been passed to humans by civets sold for meat.

An estimated 75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic (spread from non-human animals to humans).

Read More: https://www.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/coronavirus-government-urged-to-ban-wildlife-trading-20200407

This is an excerpt from an article published online by Reed Exhibitions and RedLip PR on 07 April, 2020

Africa is as unique as it is beautiful. It is underneath our starry skies that generations of storytellers have held court while telling their folktales. The African Travel and Tourism Awards is a celebration of all that lies beneath our African skies. They honour the stars of African tourism and the enchanting tales they weave for our industry. These Awards recognise the best of national, regional and city tourist boards and recognises outstanding private sector companies and individuals.

With over 100 entries across the eight categories, the judges had the challenging task of choosing the finalists. Megan Oberholzer, Portfolio Director for Africa Travel Week went on to say, “The submissions were of an extremely high calibre, featuring tales of magic weaved from diverse voices, celebrating the stories that lie Under African Skies – stories of vitality, riches, movement, time, strength, change and promise.”

All the finalists for the Awards have demonstrated how through vivid marketing campaigns and/or providing unique travel experiences they attracted travellers to their destination, venue or to use their product offering. The finalists have written the most compelling stories in the book of African travel.

The finalists are:

MOST COMPELLING AGENCY STORY

• Love Marketing for Blood Lions
• Have You Heard for Cape Town Tourism
• CNN International Commercial for Dangote
• Big Ambitions for SATSA

MOST DIGITAL STORY

• Back to Africa by Black and Abroad
• JAW Designs for eBucks Travel
• De Zeven relaunch by EcoAfrica Digital
• Blood Lions by Love Marketing Africa

Read More: https://www.reedexpoafrica.co.za/african-travel-and-tourism-awards-finalists-announced/

This is an excerpt from an article written by Dr Ross Harvey and published online by IOL on 03 April, 2020.

“Black swans” are high-impact, low-probability events that are hard to predict. Covid-19 (or something similarly destructive), however, was not only predictable, it was highly predictable. 

Of course, the contagion effect is impossible to predict without good data, which has sparked debates over what an optimal response might look like. Stanford epidemiologist John Ioannidis writes, for instance, that:

“In the absence of data, prepare-for-the-worst reasoning leads to extreme measures of social distancing and lockdowns … One of the bottom lines is that we don’t know how long social distancing measures and lockdowns can be maintained without major consequences to the economy, society, and mental health. Unpredictable evolutions may ensue, including financial crisis, unrest, civil strife, war and a meltdown of the social fabric.”

Indeed, lockdowns may be a necessary strategy precisely because we can’t predict the spread. Exponential growth initially looks deceptively linear. Nonetheless, there is no one-size-fits-all answer and each country has to assess the risks and opportunity costs of its respective policy decisions.

Read More: https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/covid-19-a-black-swan-hiding-in-plain-sight-has-important-lessons-for-sa-46110460

This is an excerpt from an article written by Jared Kukura and published online by Daily Maverick on 02 April, 2020.

South Africa is replicating China’s policies that resulted in the Covid-19 outbreak, including mandates promoting domesticating and breeding wild species.

South Africa’s captive lion breeding industry will go down as one of the worst chapters in the sustainable use book of conservation. Horror stories of disease-ridden lions living in squalor made international headlines and forced the country to take a hard look at how the industry is impacting its national brand.

Looking to distance themselves from the negative media attention, many pro-sustainable use organisations publicly condemned the captive lion breeding industry on conservation grounds. Safari Club International stated its opposition to hunting captive-bred lions while the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for an end to breeding lions for commercial purposes as far back as 2016, though it should have made this call at the turn of the century.

Contrary to the South African Predator Association’s belief, lions bred on game farms serve no direct benefit to conservation efforts since they cannot be successfully reintroduced to the wild. Reintroduction success is severely hindered because captive-bred carnivores lack essential survival skills. Captive-bred carnivores often succumb to starvation, disease, and unsuccessful avoidance of other predators when released into the wild.

Read More: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2020-04-02-the-captive-lion-breeding-industry-puts-conservation-and-public-health-at-risk/

This is an excerpt from an article written by Michele Pickover and published online by Conservation Action Trust on 25 March, 2020.

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MINISTER OF THE ENVIRONMENT, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES BARBARA CREECY

25th March 2020 

Dear Honourable Minister Creecy,

Since at least as far back as the late 1990s, various NGOs have warned your department about the harmful and negative effects of breeding lions (and other big cats) in captivity. Yet, the South African government has done nothing to slow the growth of the captive lion breeding industry, nor has it given any indication of wanting to do so. This letter lays bare the facts and calls for immediate action.

First, it details the risks embedded in captive lion (and other big cat) breeding and why the industry should be terminated.

Second, we note that letter after letter to your Ministry and Department goes unheeded. It seems that industry voices – those with a vested interest in acquiring short-term benefits from exploitative breeding of lion (and other big cat) cubs for human interaction, canned hunting and the lion bone trade – provide the tune to which the policy fiddle dances.

Finally, tourism – the goose that lays the golden egg in the South African economy – is dead for the foreseeable future. Not only has South Africa’s willingness to supply Asian wildlife markets created zoonotic disease spillover risks, which have led to the need for travel bans, but the imposition of the latter means that thousands of captive lions (and other big cats) will now be left to starve to death without tourism dollars. Had the government acted in 2009 (when a plan was presented to your Department) and when there were far fewer lions (and other big cats) in captivity, this catastrophe would have been avoided.

Read More: https://conservationaction.co.za/resources/reports/a-looming-crisis-the-captive-big-cat-industry-covid_19-and-government-culpability/

Written by Blood Lions and published online by Conservation Action Trust on 10 March, 2020

When travelling in South Africa, please THINK before you VISIT, CUDDLE, WALK with, VOLUNTEER with or SHOOT predators.

FACT – There are 350+ predator breeding and keeping facilities in South Africa holding somewhere between 10,000-15,000 big cats in captivity. The vast majority of these animals, possibly as many as 10,000, are lions.

FACT – These predators not only include lions, cheetahs, leopards, caracals, servals, but also many exotic species such as tigers, jaguars, pumas and even ligers (crossbreed between lion and tiger).

FACT – The breeding of predators in cages and confined areas is purely for a variety of commercial purposes, including canned or captive hunting, exploitative tourism activities and the lion bone trade.

FACT – Lion ecologists and conservationists believe there is no conservation value in the breeding of lions in captivity, as they cannot be released back into the wild. Captive lions are ill-equipped to survive in wild areas, are human-imprinted and lose their fear of humans and are genetically compromised.

FACT – Most cubs born in captivity are ripped away from their mothers within days of birth, in order to bring their mothers back into oestrus (become fertile) much quicker and for the cub to be habituated through hand- rearing and handling.

FACT – Cubs as young as 3 weeks old are introduced into petting enclosures, where they are petted, cuddled, and kissed, and sometimes even bottle fed, for up to 10 hours per day by paying visitors.

FACT – Most captive facilities make use of volunteers, which has become one of the most lucrative revenue streams. In some instances, facilities can earn in excess of US$100,000 per month from their volunteer programmes alone.

FACT – Annually, 800+ captive bred lions are killed in South Africa by trophy hunters, and increasingly canned or captive hunting is seen as unethical and unsportsmanlike.

FACT – Between 2008–17, South Africa exported 6,634 lion skeletons under CITES weighing a total of about 70 tonnes, nearly all were imported by Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Vietnam and Thailand.

FACT – Since 2017, the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) sets a legal lion bone export quota of 800 skeletons per year.

FACT – There are only a handful of #TrueSanctuaries for big cats in South Africa, facilities that don’t trade, don’t breed, don’t allow ANY unnecessary interaction, and provide a forever home for big cats that can’t be reintroduced into the wild for various reasons.

FACT – Since 2015, the Blood Lions® film curated over 150 screenings in 25 countries across the world, distributed 30,000 DVD and received ZAR61 million pro-bono media coverage globally to date.

See article: https://conservationaction.co.za/resources/reports/blood-lions-fact-sheet/