The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, has called on individuals in the captive lion industry to voluntarily consider giving up their stockpiles of lion bones and derivatives.
South Africa has the world’s largest captive lion population of around 8 000 and the captive lion industry faces escalating ethical, regulatory, conservation and economic hurdles.
The industry also faces misalignment with global conservation trends and persistent animal welfare and other issues. The industry’s deficiency in social license and departure from international norms present formidable problems to its sustainability.
“In developing the voluntary exit options and pathways, several key guiding principles were considered including the imperative of preventing unemployment for vulnerable individuals and underlying pillars of sustainable use. I encourage everyone who has lion bones and derivatives to voluntarily surrender them as early as possible,” the Minister said on Friday.
In December 2022, the then-Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, appointed a Ministerial Task Team to identify and recommend voluntary exit and pathways from the captive lion industry.
Recommendations, dated 15 February 2024, were submitted to the Minister and the report was released.
The Minister re-appointed some of the Ministerial Task Team members, to facilitate the implementation of the outcomes of the report.
The Terms of Reference were published under Government Notice No 4765, Government Gazette No. 50574 of 26 April 2024.
George has encouraged those that wish to consider the voluntary exit options involving lion bones and derivatives to register their interest by submitting their details to the department.
All information provided is treated confidentially and registration does not constitute any obligation to proceed with voluntary exit options.
A detailed implementation process plan of surrendering lion stockpiles and derivatives will be communicated and shared in the public domain, once approved by the Minister and the registration process is concluded.
Interested persons are invited to respond to the notice within 120 days from the date of publication in the Government Gazette which can be accessed here.
Registration details to exit from the captive lion industry can be access here.
Download the form on the departmental website once completed post/hand deliver/ email it as follows:
By post to: Director-General: Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment
Attention: Ms Ofentse Mashiyane (Secretariat of the Ministerial Task Team)
Private Bag X447
PRETORIA
0001
By hand at: Reception, Environment House, 473 Steve Biko Road, Arcadia, Pretoria, 0083
By email.
Any inquiries in connection with this Notice can be directed to [email protected] and [email protected].
his article was originally published on SA Gov News.
