Durban - The South African arm of the global animal welfare organisation Four Paws, says the Department for Forestry, Fisheries and Environment’s (DFFE) recently released White Paper deviates significantly from the 2022 draft which took a much more progressive approach to animal welfare issues.
Four Paws South Africa said that while “sustainable use” was written into the constitution, the white paper released on June 14 allowed for loopholes for misinterpretation and exploitation of wildlife.
The final version focuses on the benefits of biodiversity for people through “sustainable use” of South Africa’s biodiversity, rather than stressing the intrinsic value of biodiversity and the importance of recognising animal welfare and sentience, the organisation said.
Four Paws said it was encouraged to see the consideration of animal well-being within the white paper, as shown in the objectives to “promote well-being and humane practices, actions and activities towards wild animals”, and looked forward to seeing how this would be cemented in policy “and ensure we actively contribute where appropriate”.
The organisation said the country’s previous omission of this objective had led to the establishment of South Africa’s big cat industry, largely condemned as an animal welfare crisis.
Four Paws urged extreme caution on the issue of “sustainable ex-situ practices” which could broaden acceptance of the farming of wildlife for commercial gain, masked by the lens of so-called ex-situ conservation breeding. The intended outputs in the white paper suggested that species may be kept in ex-situ collections, "in captivity, for commercial benefits”.
“The concern is that captive facilities will be able to keep animals, without the explicit stipulation of needing to promote and participate in conservation.”
Four Paws South Africa Director, Fiona Miles, said: “We are particularly concerned for the welfare of an estimated 10 000-12 000 lions and other big cat species, including an unknown number of non-native and endangered tigers kept across the country in captive facilities. South Africa’s captive big cat industry has been allowed to grow without effective monitoring and regulation for decades at the expense of animal welfare, the country’s global reputation, and conservation and enforcement efforts in South Africa and across the globe.
“The animals are bred solely for commercial purposes and have no conservation value. They are used in tourist attractions including cub petting, selfie opportunities, trophy hunting, and perpetuating a global trade in body parts.
“South Africa is the largest exporter of big cats and their parts from anywhere in the world. The legal trade in big cat body parts from South Africa has been shown to act as a conduit for illegal trade and this white paper does not go far enough in showing a new direction from the government. We urge that all big cat species are considered a priority for inclusion within the National Integrated Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking, and that includes non-native big cat species, to reverse the decline of big cat populations in the wild.”
Four Paws said it had offered to play a role and submitted a draft phase-out plan that committed to time-bound goals and objectives, to the relevant authorities.
The white paper can be viewed at sab_whitepaper.biodiversitysustainableuse_g48785gon3537.pdf (dffe.gov.za).
The Independent on Saturday