US embassy cable - 05PRETORIA1255

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