South African Government publishes draft

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRETORIA 001255

SIPDIS

STATE FOR OES/ETC, OES/STC AND AF/S
INTERIOR FOR FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV SOCI ETRD SF
SUBJECT: South African Government publishes draft
regulations to ban "canned" predator hunting

REF: 04 PRETORIA 2001

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT
FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.


1. (U) Summary. In January, the South African
Government (SAG) published for public comment a draft
document on norms, standards and regulations relating
to the management of predators, such as lions,
leopards and cheetahs. The document lays out a
national policy on the captivity and hunting of
indigenous predators that reflects views of various
stakeholders. The policy aims to eradicate the
practice of "canned" hunting, which involves hunting
and shooting of artificially lured, hand-raised and
sometimes tranquilized predators, a practice animal
rights activists and the SAG regard as unethical.
Animal rights activists continue to voice serious
reservations about the proposed policy. The
Professional Hunters Association of South Africa
(PHASA) has welcomed the SAG action, as it does not
want to see the country's lucrative game hunting
market tarnished by unethical canned hunting. End
Summary.

Introduction
--------------


2. (U) In late January 2005, the Department of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) published a
new draft policy, seeking public comment by March 15,

2005. The new policy on "norms, standards and
regulations relating to the management of large
predators" will be put into effect under the National
Environmental Management Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004
(NEMBA). DEAT's goal is to introduce the new rules
from July 1, 2005. The policy will regulate the
keeping in captivity and hunting of indigenous
predators, including brown hyena, spotted hyena,
cheetah, leopard, lion and wild dog. The policy
intends to promote ethical hunting of predators,
protect the genetic integrity of indigenous predator
populations, regulate the exports and imports of
predators, and ensure their sustainable use.


3. (U) Specific provisions of the draft regulations
prohibit night hunting, the use of dogs, shooting
from vehicles, using tranquilizers, and hunting in a
pride situation. All predators in captivity will be
tagged with a microchip, which will be paid for by
the game farmers. DEAT will prescribe standardized
procedures and characteristics for microchips and
establish a database to house the information about
the animals. Until now, each province relied on
unique provincial ordinances to regulate wildlife
hunting. For example, some provinces already dictate
that hunted lions have to be in enclosures no smaller
than 1000 hectares. The new policy will bring
uniformity and consistency for all the provinces,
although it continues to relegate some responsibility
to provincial authorities, including for fencing and
enclosure specifications for keeping predators in
captivity.


4. (SBU) According to the DEAT official responsible
for drafting the new policy, Dr. Pieter Botha, the
policy aims to stamp out "canned" hunting, which
involves the killing of captive-bred, human-fed
predators, which are artificially lured by sound or
scent, and cornered into small enclosures where
escape is impossible. Canned hunting is a direct
opposite of what the local professional hunters
association refers to as the principle of "fair
chase," hunting an animal raised in captivity but
rehabilitated into the wilderness, free ranging for
six months and feeding on wild prey. The SAG and
animal rights activists agree that canned hunting is
unethical and cruel to animals. DEAT is approaching
the matter in all-inclusive way by seeking public
comment and feedback to the draft document.

Background--Media exposes canned-hunting practice
-------------- --------------


5. (U) In 1997 a local current affairs television
program, "Carte Blanche," raised alarms about the
plight of canned-hunted lions in South Africa. The
program showed a hunter shooting and killing a
captive-bred lioness in a small fenced enclosure,
although it had three small cubs nearby and was
evidently still lactating. The broadcast also stated
that 400 lions per year, or more than one per day,
were killed in the industry. The expose sent shock
waves and triggered outrage throughout the country,
resulting in animal rights activists demanding a ban
on canned hunting. There was no uniform legislative
regime in the provinces, and DEAT had no national
strategy in place to regulate the practice. In
response to the expose, DEAT called for a voluntary
moratorium to stop canned hunting. DEAT's effort was
not effective because the demand from overseas
hunters remained strong.


6. (SBU) Raising predators in captivity and
professional hunting are not illegal in South Africa,
but the rate of increase of breeding facilities and
canned hunting is alarming. A recent "Carte Blanche"
broadcast that followed up on the 1997 segment
estimated that between 1997 and 2004, over 2,500
lions were raised in captivity and destined to become
trophies as a result of canned hunting. Game farmers
sometimes buy off legitimate captive-bred predators
and then organize canned hunting expeditions for
their clients. The trophy hunters reportedly pay up
to US$20,000 to shoot a black-maned male lion.
According to a Limpopo Province environmental
department official, Mr. Fannie Coetzee, except for
information brochures, there is no formal educational
structure to help the hunters distinguish between
"fair chase" and "canned" hunting. For this reason,
he said, the legitimate game breeders should take
greater responsibility to educate their customers.

Critical views from wildlife conservationists
-------------- -


7. (SBU) Critics of the draft regulations are
concerned that the document has too many loopholes
and inconsistencies. For example, many clauses in
the document still refer decision making to the
provinces, in spite of the widely-varying rules and
policies at the provincial level. It is also vague
on defining the rehabilitation parameters in the
wild, which is an important issue still handled by
the provinces. The International Fund for Animal
Welfare lambastes the policy for failing to address
fundamental ethical issues and the welfare of
predators in breeding facilities. The Wildlife
Action Group, a local wildlife conservation
organization, has raised concerns that the law
broadens the scope of the large predators to include
the highly endangered and extremely sensitive cheetah
and wild dog, but still excludes exotic predators
such as tiger and puma, which are already captive-
bred in South Africa.


8. (SBU) Louise Joubert of SanWildlife
rehabilitation sanctuary argues that while the
hunting guidelines look good on paper, they will be
difficult to enforce. She said it would be difficult
for conservation officials to determine whether an
animal has been free-ranging and self-sustaining for
six months or even ethically hunted. Also, she
believes that very few hand-reared lions can be
successfully returned to the wild. Joubert is flatly
opposed to captive breeding, because in her opinion
it is linked to disease control problems, causes
genetic degeneration, and is cruel to the animal.
Garth Morgan, of the Democratic Alliance (an
opposition party),questioned the seriousness of
SAG's commitment to eradicating canned hunting given
the eight years it has taken to develop its draft
policy and regulations.


9. (SBU) Sonja Meintjies, a DEAT official involved
with conservation policy, told EST Assistant that the
reason for the government's delay was its limited
legal authority in prevailing legislation. The SAG
tried to address the issue by revising existing laws,
which took several years to draft and finalize. The
National Biodiversity Act of the National
Environmental Management Act was finally promulgated
in 2004 (Reftel). She said when DEAT called for a
voluntary moratorium, it was hoping to discourage
canned hunting from an ethical point of view, in the
absence of a uniform national law. Meintjies said
that DEAT is aware of the challenges and criticism
the new policy will face, which is why the Department
solicited public comment. Responding to
conservationists' concern that six months may not be
sufficient to rehabilitate the predators in the wild,
Meintjies acknowledged that the timeframe remains a
subject of debate. Stakeholders have opposing views
about the rehabilitation period in the wild. Based
on information available to the policy's drafters,
DEAT used the six month period, but the Department
looks forward to receiving and applying informed and
science-based comments to the draft document,
according to Meintjies.

Hunting group supports government action
--------------


10. (SBU) Gary Davies, the head of the Professional
Hunters Association of South Africa (PHASA),told EST
Assistant that that United States holds the largest
share of the hunting market at 50 percent per annum.
Other hunters come primarily from Germany, UK and
other parts of Europe. Davies said between 10,000 and
12,000 international hunters come to South Africa per
year to hunt between 40,000 and 45,000 trophy
animals. About 5,000 of these hunters are American.
Davies said that this is a one billion Rands per year
industry (approximately US$170 million),one which
PAHSA does not want to see tarnished by unethical
canned hunting activities--PHASA does not want to
fall into disfavor with institutions like the Humane
Society of the United States because of canned
hunting.


11. (SBU) In the past few years, PHASA had
requested the provinces to ban canned hunting and
tighten licensing laws, but the process was very
slow. PHASA requested this action to ensure that
hand-reared predators would not be hunted for
trophies, for fear of giving the entire hunting
industry a bad name. Davies acknowledged that the
new draft policy was no panacea to all the canned
hunting problems, but the said move is a step in the
right direction, and one his organization supports.
He added that self-policing by the members of his
organization and similar associations could be a
useful option that could work better to address
enforcement capacity, an anticipated challenge.
According to PHASA, there are 9,000 game farms in
South Africa strictly following good principles of
hunting.

Comment
--------------


12. (SBU) The debate over hunting is emblematic of
the balance that DEAT regularly has to strike between
conservation and environmental protection, and
economic growth and jobs. Although the policy is not
yet finalized, it appears that DEAT has tried to
address conservation-related concerns, and is open to
further arguments made by conservationists. An
additional challenge will be to educate and inform
the foreign hunting market about the new restrictions
and prevailing practices, to reduce demand for
unethical and soon-to-be illegal canned hunts.

FRAZER