SEND YOUR COMMENTS on South Africa’s proposed captive lion bone export quota South Africa are wishing to export 800 captive bred lion skeletons (bones). This is part of a toxic captive lion farming industry and will only fuel demand and severely impact wild lion populations. Please feel free in using, adapting & sharing the below to send your comments and make yourself heard. Thank you. ----- South Africa, I humbly request a ZERO QUOTA on Captive Bred Lion Bone Export It is extremely sad and embarrassing for the South African Government to seek to trade in such a magnificent animal, the African Lion. Particularly trading such a by-product as bones for the Traditional Chinese Medicine Market – of which bones have no scientifically proven benefit. I ask, why does the South African Government need to trade Lion Bones? • Breeding Lions in captivity has no conservational value nor scientific merit • There is no scientific report behind the current Lion Bone Trade I also ask why the Government would need to trade a quota of 800 captive bred lion bones? When the total market price will be an estimated R16 Million South African Rand ($1.2 Million US Dollars), of which the South Africa Government may only receive a portion of that figure – conservatively let’s say 25%. Why are South Africa Government concerned about such a small revenue of R4 Million South African Rand? In 2015, tourism into South Africa generated a revenue of R91.8 Billion. Therefore revenue derived from trade in captive lion bones is meaningless for the South African economy. • Do South African Government have an economic plan in place for the expenditure of revenue generated by any quota in captive lion bones? • What economic impact has previous sales of captive bred lion bones had on South Africa and its people? Traditional Chinese Medicine Global efforts are currently towards successful demand reduction campaigns for wildlife products. With the lion bone trade having escalated over recent years, trade in captive lion bones will only fuel demand and counteract these global campaigns to reduce demand. Lion Bone Trade the Tip of the Iceberg Lion farming > cub petting/lion walks > captive lion (canned) hunting > lion bone trade By allowing trade in captive lion bones, South African Government are fuelling the desire to farm lions. Part of this industry is the horrendous captive lion hunting (canned hunting) industry, of which you have serious off-shoots of lion cub petting and lion walks, which are often part of the chain for lion farmers to use. There is already documented evidence of cub petting facilities trading their lions to known canned hunting operators and traders, lion cubs once used for cub petting experiences for tourists. Why does the South African Government perpetuate this industry? South African Lion Farmers have Killed an Entire Continents Worth of Lions There are 200 lion breeding facilities in South Africa, with 8,000 captive lions today. Estimating conservatively; • each facility has 2 breeding female lions (some large farms have more) • producing 2 litters of cubs per year • average of 3 lion cubs per litter • 6 lion cubs per lioness, 12 lion cubs per facility • Times this by 200 breeding facilities 2,400 lions bred EVERY YEAR in South Africa. How many lions have been bred in captivity in South Africa over the past 10 years? 20,000? Likely many more and none of them have aided the wild lion population, but all of them have sadly fuelled demand, permitted unethical hunting and deceived hundreds of thousands of tourists & volunteers through the lion farmer’s ability to externalise lion cubs to cub petting facilities. Final Points to consider; 2016 IUCN World Congress; An overwhelming conclusion resulted in the following Motion 009 - Terminating the hunting of captive-bred lions (Panthera leo) and other predators and captive breeding for commercial, non-conservation purposes Key points from the IUCN Congress Motion 009 to consider; Motion 009: ‘ACCEPTING the value of wildlife and wildlife ranching as a resource that may be utilised in a sustainable, legal and ethical manner, and which is of extreme importance for biodiversity conservation, tourism, and the gross domestic product of tourist destinations’ Lion Bone Trade therefore IS NOT and CANNOT be of any value to biodiversity, conservation, tourism and gross domestic product of tourism destinations. In accordance with the 2016 IUCN Motion 009. Motion 009: ‘ACKNOWLEDGING that captive breeding of lions has not been identified as a conservation action in any African lion conservation planning programme’ If captive breeding of Lions has not been identified as a conservation action, then the by-product industry of Lion Bone Trade can also NOT be considered as so. Furthermore; • Hong Kong’s legal Ivory trade resulted in proven sales of illegally sourced Ivory from fresh poaching incidents. The legal system resulted in blatant illegal activities and sales, fuelled the demand and allowed wildlife trackers to continue their trade. • Differentiating between WILD lion bone and CAPTIVE lion bone is extremely difficult, how do South Africa, who cannot control current rhino poaching, expect to “well-regulate” trade in captive lion bones? “Legal international trade in bone reported as from captive-bred Lions could serve as a cover for illegally wild-sourced Lion (and other big cat) parts (Nowell and Pevushina 2014).” • US Fish & Wildlife Service Banned Lion Trophies derived from sources deemed as having an unproven conservation value – this specifically includes South Africa’s captive Lion farming industry. So it is quite strange that lion bones and skeletons, being of no conservation value or merit, are being exported for scientifically unproven Traditional Chinese Medicine, which the whole world is trying to educate against the use of through demand reduction campaigns. The same applies to Lion bones. * Increased poaching of captive lions is also worrying, given that these lions are part of this dreadful industry, unable to escape. It's also worth noting that these possible Muti killings are not standard and in keeping with usual Muti killings, in that it involves captive lions and not the usually preferred wild lions. Why are captive lions now being targeted? • South African Tourism is against facilities offering interactions with lion cubs and lion walks. Given that Lion farming is directly connected with the tourism industry, why is South Africa sending mixed signals to the rest of the world? I urge all parties and concerned bodies, to immediately address my concerns and ensure that only a ZERO quota is established for the export of captive lion skeletons (bones). With no scientific study and no support from the wider conservation industry and partners, permitting trade appears the obviously thing to avoid. Please do not place Africa’s lions in further dangers, whilst allowing this exploitation to continue unabated. South Africa are not a law unto themselves, they must consider the wider serious issues at hand, to which Lion Bone Trade will be detrimental. It is clear from the above points that the South African Government cannot safely say that they can regulate trade affectively. A vote of no confidence in a quota of 800 lion skeletons is the only answer. Thank you for your time. NAME Email your comments to: mtjiane@environment.gov.za ( cc info@cites.org ) Email Header: Written Submission on Proposed Lion Export Quota Deadline is Thursday 2nd February 2017 #savelions #notrade #committedtoconservation #lionstrong