Cape Town - In recognising World Lion Day today, the Four Paws SA director and leader in lion conservation and protection in South Africa, Fiona Miles, has reiterated a call to end the vicious cycle of big cats in captivity in South Africa and to mobilise support for their protection and conservation.
“Our vision and wish is for the protection of lions and all big cats, and that their protection is fully restored so that one day they will only be seen in the wild.
“In South Africa, we intensively breed big cats for commercial purposes, which takes away a lot of their dignity and strength as apex predators, especially lions,” Miles said.
Four Paws has been one of the leaders, along with numerous other wildlife conservation organisations, pressuring the government to make legislative changes to ensure better protection of the country’s big cats.
Lionsrock Big Cat Sanctuary is a project of theirs, established in 2007 and is home to over 100 big cats rescued from around the world where they are protected for the rest of their lives in a species-appropriate environment located just 18km outside Bethlehem in the Free State.
Miles said a team of 15 from their Cape Town office formed the programmes, administration, fund-raising, human resources and communications backbone of the big cat sanctuary.
After years of waiting, Miles said the Cabinet passed a White Paper in July this year which, if accepted by Parliament, would give legislative substance to much of the work done by her and other organisations to end the vicious cycle of big cats in captivity as it recommended the shutting down of the captive lion industry.
World Animal Protection wildlife campaigns manager Edith Kabesiime said: “For many years African countries have been the go-to tourist destinations to experience safaris with key target being spotting the African lion in the wild.
“These scenarios may not be the case in the near future if nothing is done to end the captive lion-breeding industry where lions are bred and raised in captivity for commercial purposes, including canned trophy hunting, cub petting, walking-with-lion experiences and trade in lion bones for traditional medicine,” she said.
It was encouraging to see some African countries like South Africa making commitments to shift away from the practice of breeding and keeping lions in captivity, using captive lions or their derivatives commercially.