​ 
Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has announced:
 “The Panel identified that the captive lion industry poses risks to the sustainability of wild lion conservation resulting from the negative impact on ecotourism which funds lion conservation and conservation more broadly, the negative impact on the authentic wild hunting industry, and the risk that trade in lion parts poses to stimulating poaching and illegal trade. The panel recommends that South Africa does not captive -breed lions, keep lions in captivity, or use captive lions or their derivatives commercially. I have requested the department to action this accordingly and ensure that the necessary consultation in implementation is conducted.” 

There is a tendency for animal activists to become euphoric when conservation appears to be heading in the right direction. However what ministers say and what happens in practice are often very different. Let’s put her words in the context of the key recommendations which are spelled-out in the report.

What exactly does “action these recommendations” mean?
The key recommendations are:

1. develop a process to stop lion farming and euthanase existing lion stocks.
2. make policy decisions to stop canned lion hunting and the lion bone trade, and
3. find mechanisms to protect workers on lion farms.

“Developing processes” and “drafting policies” can take years in South Africa. No implementation can take place without consultations with stakeholders. Consulting 300 lion breeders and a whole industry built up around them can take years.
Almost certainly a phasing out process will be insisted upon under threat of litigation which also takes years in South Africa.
I would guess that 5 to 7 years could be expected as a phasing out period.

The Minister’s bald statement belies the hideous complexity around the whole issue and around the appointment of the so-called “high level panel”. There is nothing particularly high level about most of the people on this panel: indeed the panel consists of dozens of people from all different walks of life with seemingly random appointments. Change the jury and you change the result.
The unwieldy and largely unqualified panel members started by asking for a legal opinion to tell them what to do. When they got it from a team of lawyers headed by senior counsel they did not understand it and had to ask for another. They then obtained a supplementary opinion to explain the first.

To be fair this is not so surprising when you analyse the difficulties created by the so-called environmental clause in the Constitution, section 24.
“Protect the environment,” says section 24, “but also protect the socio-economic rights of the people”. In practice the two are mutually exclusive. The clause thus contradicts itself.
“Oh,” says the High Court vaguely, “in that case just strike a balance between the two”. Easier said than done!

And these legal complexities must be resolved by weak and dysfunctional governance. The South African government is substantially dysfunctional. South African government parastatals and departments are substantially dysfunctional. Most provincial conservation structures are substantially dysfunctional. The justice system in South Africa is largely dysfunctional.
I would guess that in five years time canned lion hunting and the lion bone trade will still be flourishing.

I hope I’m wrong.

20 years of campaigning against lion farming and canned hunting have taught me never to underestimate the resourcefulness of the lion exploitation industry.
If I am wrong in what I’ve said above and the South African government eventually manages to regulate away lion farming and the canned hunting industry, then I would expect a flurry of midnight flights to take place and the following months the hunting magazines will be full of adverts offering lion hunts in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia.

The root of the problem is the demand from trophy hunters for living targets and, from Asians, for lion bone products. So long as the demand exists, soldiers of fortune will spring from the soil to find a way to supply it.
Prohibition in America created the Mafia. It did not stop the  liquor industry.
The war on drugs created fabulously wealthy Mexican drug cartels. It did not stop drug use.
​
What kind of Mafia, I wonder, will result if we ever get an effective ban on lion breeding, lion hunting and the lion bone trade?

How to save lions (and the rest of nature)
 
or                    Where are the philanthropists?
 
Oh dear, the more things change the more they stay the same. Plus ca change..
The hunting fraternity, feeling threatened by public disgust at their iniquitous bloodlust, have (predictably) responded with a slew of propaganda.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/15/celebrity-power-undermining-global-conservation-efforts-scientists-warn-trophy-hunting-dispute
 
Cobbling together a motley gang of protagonists, including the ubiquitous compliant academics, we are regaled in a suspiciously well-publicised media piece, that hunting – ‘albeit repugnant to some’ - is the best way to preserve African wildlife.
Ho hum..and I suppose they’ll argue that whaling is the best way to protect whale populations?
 
In this media piece we see echoes of big Tobacco’s war on the truth to protect their obscene profits and their poisonous product. Remember all the highly qualified scientists who were happy to proclaim publicly that smoking was not harmful? That is until the whistleblower came forward and blew them away to crawl back under their flat academic stones. With no punishment for all the painful deaths from lung cancer that their lies had contributed to.
 
Ross Harvey of Conservation Action Trust has replied with a thoughtful and convincing rebuttal of the claims made by pro-hunting scientists in that media article. He suggests non-consumptive use (ecotourism if you like) as a viable ecological alternative to hunting. So it is, but that argument opens up a raft of counter-arguments postulating the ‘best use of marginal land’ and why ‘one size fits all’ solutions cannot work. (Unless the one size is hunting of course.)
 
Hunters operate their bloody, dusty, cruel and sadistic activities under the umbrella of the policy of sustainable use as adopted in the Convention on Biodiversity. But human nature being what it is we do not see sustainable use - only sustained abuse.
 
As a result of this toxic policy we all witness catastrophic declines in wildlife numbers in the few remaining wilderness areas. As well as the inevitable response to wiping out wildlife in the wild, which is to capture animals and breed hunting targets in captivity. The soldiers of fortune such as lion farmers claim to be conservationists but they are farmers, farming formerly wild animals as alternative domestic livestock.
 
Thus the direct result of the misguided policy of sustainable use is to wipe out wildlife in the wild and replace it with a poor substitute - domesticated alternative livestock.
 
It is grimly amusing to see eminent scientists try to deflect the focus away from hunting by pointing to habitat loss and poaching as the main drivers of extinction. As if this exonerates the hunting fraternity. But it doesn’t and the scientists are dishonest for trying to deflect the focus away from hunting when hunting clearly exacerbates all the other risks.
Arguing - as they do - that other factors like habitat loss are the real problem and therefore hunting is irrelevant is like arguing that whaling is irrelevant where there are other causes of die offs such as polluted oceans.
 
So how do we stop this remorseless drift to extinction and the relentless stranglehold of the hunting fraternity on our wilderness areas?
 
There is only one answer – money. And lots of it.
 
Money is the Supreme God in the human world regardless of what subsidiary religion people claim to worship. Just look at how many sacrifices people make every day of their lives to the Great God Money - working down mines, repetitive factory jobs, meaningless 9-to-5 treadmills etc
 
Let us see how our worship for the great God money can help us save the natural world.
Take Botswana, for example, which calls for tenders for concessions on vast tracts of pristine wilderness from time to time. Currently only the hunting industry can afford to tender for the control and management of those wild lands which are so deserving of protection for their own sakes.
 
But let us hope and pray and assume that we can find enough wealthy philanthropists to stand with us against extinction. Never before in human history has so much wealth - extreme wealth - been concentrated in so few hands. The surplus money is there - searching always for a good home. And what better home than to save Africa’s wild places?
 
Armed with billions from enlightened philanthropists, real conservationists could break out of the hunting mould, and outbid the hunters to take control of and protect the vast concession areas. The money would have to cover the ongoing management of the reserves, the employment of game guards, sinking of boreholes etc
The consequences would be revolutionary:

1. the natural functioning ecosystems would be protected against human molestation
2. the Botswana people would benefit from the greater employment of rural Africans
3. the Botswana government would derive greater income from leasing out the concessions.
4. Devoutly flattering the great God money in this way would change the whole conservation paradigm and stand it on its head. African governments would see wildlife and wilderness as priceless national assets to be preserved at all costs rather than as commodities to be exploited.

 
The great American poet HW Longfellow once bemoaned the absence of brilliant poets who would succeed him in firing people’s imaginations. “Where are the Admirals of the high seas of thought?” he asked near the end of his life.
In the same vein we ask extremely wealthy philanthropists:
“Where are the Admirals of the high seas of conservation?”
 

“Big yellow taxi” by Joni Mitchell and the popular version by Counting Crows says it quite well:
“they took all the trees and put them in a tree Museum
and charged the people a dollar and a half to see them
don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone
they paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
 
Just like South Africa - they took all the wildlife, put it behind fences and charge people a fortune to see/hunt/photograph it.

Canned lion hunting which flourishes in South Africa is a national embarrassment to everyone including the hunting industry. A canned hunt is one where the target animal is unfairly prevented from escaping the hunter either by physical constraints such as fencing or by mental constraints such as being bottle fed and hand reared. In South Africa more than 300 lion farms breed captive lions for the trophy hunting fraternity.
 
Even more shocking than turning the King of beasts into the equivalent of a battery hen to breed living targets on an industrial scale is the fact that this is merely the thin end of the wedge. Lions are the sentinel species. What happens to lions today will happen to all wildlife tomorrow. They will all be bred on hunting farms on an industrial scale to become living targets for hunters.
 
This is not a prediction; it is already happening. The South African government has already published official regulations classifying most well-known wildlife species as domestic animals to be farmed. Game farmers are not conservationists; they are merely people who farm with alternative livestock.
 
The wild has been taken out of South African wildlife and the animals are now officially classified as domestic livestock.
 
The long-term consequences of turning wildlife into farmed animals can only be imagined. Conservation was all about protection. Livestock farming is all about production and profits i.e. exploitation. It is an alarming paradigm change to the way we treat the natural world.
 
People like ourselves who speak out against such reckless and cruel policies are in the minority. It is very difficult to raise funding for animal advocacy. Virtually all sponsorship and funding for conservation - especially in corporate South Africa - goes to the pro-hunting organisations such as WWF. And while the millions flow into WWF’s coffers, WWF never misses a chance to lobby on behalf of the hunting industry.
 
So when someone new comes along to raise money for organisations like ours we are very grateful.
 
 LuxurTraveller (https://luxurtraveller.co.uk/) is a new wildlife community which has already donated +$9642.74 across 5 charities so far, in an effort to make this a better world for animals. Their main goal is to end wildlife abuse worldwide. It was founded in the UK at the start of 2018, by Arnold Debiyi as an online e-Commerce store, dedicated solely to the preservation of wildlife. The Luxurtraveller team first started on Instagram where they gradually grew their following by posting breathtaking wildlife photography.
 
Luxurtraveller (https://luxurtraveller.co.uk/)decided that the best way to raise money for animals around the world was to sell relevant items and donate a portion of the profits directly to charities such as ourselves.
 
A few months ago Luxurtraveller started a new campaign, which you may have come across on Instagram, to raise awareness and help end canned lion hunting. https://www.instagram.com/luxurtraveller/?hl=enwww.instagram.com/luxurtraveller/?hl=en

I've just read with mounting concern the latest IPPL newsletter. So much hardship everywhere! I knew that the lockdowns and restrictions were affecting animal welfare but still found the accounts in the newsletter terribly depressing. And the misery is global. From Africa to Asia wildlife sanctuaries are battling to survive, laying off staff who can ill afford lay-off, cutting wages for the few remaining staff by 50%, suffering almost total sponsor and donor withdrawal, total loss of volunteer support, struggling to find food for their animals. etc.

One heartbreaking story is how angry mobs invaded one African primate sanctuary, looted and vandalised the accommodation, then beat the manager savagely and dragged him through the dusty streets of the local town. Food was becoming scarce owing to all the covid restrictions, and the locals were inflamed into an orgy of savagery and destruction.

I cannot believe that free people have allowed themselves to be sentenced to house arrest for long periods of time without rebelling against the medical tyranny. I can just imagine the contempt that my dear old friend and mentor Rita Miljo, founder of primate sanctuary CARE in South Africa, would have shown to lockdown regulations.
Perhaps we all took freedom for granted.
Putting millions out of work to - maybe - save thousands of lives? Madness!
And we are only beginning to see the appalling socio-economic consequences of the collective insanity of most world governments. They will get worse; much worse.

African adventurer Kingsley Holgate says it best: here is his memorable analogy for covid hysteria and lockdown: 🇿🇦
. 
"The wildebeest in Africa migrate every year, as we know, in search of food to survive. When they reach the Mara river, the crocodiles are waiting. They know this and they know they will lose a few when they cross but for the sake of the survival of the herd, they cross anyway. They have done this successfully for hundreds of years and survived. 
Implementing lockdown is like putting up a fence to prevent the wildebeest from crossing the Mara river to save those that would be eaten by the crocodiles, and as a result, the whole herd dies of starvation."

There is no future for wildlife in South Africa.
Define wildlife accurately: animals living wild in their natural functioning ecosystem.
Instead it is South African government policy to take the ‘wild’ out of wildlife and turn the animals into alternative livestock to be farmed. The fate of wildlife is to become domesticated. And to what purpose? To be hunted of course. To make more money for wildlife/alternative livestock ranchers.
But hunting is innately cruel. The wildlife ranching/exploitation industry dances around this issue. Here is a statement from the latest Wildlife Ranching magazine by one Sas-Rolfes:
“the ability of certain animals to experience pain and suffering evokes strong emotions and underpins the rising support for( zoo centrism)”
 Wow! So only certain animals feel pain.....
In plain English here is an entire industry built upon routine cruelty to animals; upon the adoption of a policy of inflicting death and suffering on helpless animals for fun. For fun and blood money for the ranchers/exploiters who pander to the hunters/sadists.
And the justification given for such an obviously barbaric policy is “to save the animals from extinction”. Well, which is it, wildlife/alternative livestock ranchers/exploiters? Are you investing all those millions in using land to provide entertainment for sadists or are you doing it to save the species from extinction?
If you answer ‘both’ then that begs the question: why bother? If the only purpose in breeding captive wild is to shoot bullets into them then what is the point?
These are fundamental questions that the South African government does not address or even understand. 
Here is an example which serves as a metaphor for South African government policy:
Most readers will be aware of Lord Ashcroft’s book Unfair Game which exposes the cruelty underlying the canned lion hunting industry in South Africa. When his colleagues attempted to bring his research to the attention of the senior policeman in the capital city on the issue of wildlife protection, here is the response they received. 
In Lord Ashcroft’s own words:
“One of the most shocking aspects of the recent investigation into lion farming that I launched was that when it ended, my team took their findings to a senior police officer in Pretoria who specialises in wildlife issues. Not only did he not read the evidence file they gave him, but having rejected it he also threatened to put them in prison.”
There you have it - conservation South African style. In my experience as an advocate for compassion towards animals over two decades, animal welfarists are routinely labelled ‘radical’, ‘extremist’, ‘troublemakers’ and yes - even ‘terrorists’.
I flick through this 120 page glossy magazine jam-packed with lovely photos of wildlife and stuffed with articles all trumpeting (sorry) the success of wildlife ranching and proclaiming what wonderful conservationists they all are. I’m left wondering if anyone in South African conservation thinks further than his bank account.
Even the South African veterinary Council is complicit. I know many wonderful vets who are passionate about animal welfare. But the SA Veterinary Council appears to me to be more passionate about the commercial interests of the veterinary industry. I quote from page 97 of the magazine:
“it is critical for the veterinary profession if it wants to ensure its future ..to be seen to be relevant to this country today, not to some conceptual (read ‘colonial’) country in accordance with idealistic but impractical ill-fitting and irrelevant rules and standards.”
Translate: get into bed with the animal abusers and steer clear of the animal rights movement! 
So according to this eminent vet, the real colonials are the animal welfarists, not the trophy hunters. What was President Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya thinking when he described trophy hunting as ‘a barbaric relic of colonialism?’
The last chapter is titled Tourism is the New Gold. And here is President Cyril Ramaphosa giving an address at Africa Travel Indaba. Here he extols the benefit to South Africa of a growing tourism industry. He himself is a breeder of trophy animals - expensive buffalo in particular. I read that he paid something like 40 million rands for a buffalo bull at a ‘game sale’ some years back. Why so much for one animal? Because of its large horn span. Trophy hunters pay by the inch for buffalo horn trophies. How bizarre is that?
So this makes me shake my head in disbelief. Here is a president claiming to be desperate to grow tourism for job creation and poverty alleviation. But only recently the Portfolio committee of Parliament called upon government to phase out lion farming and canned hunting because these activities were sabotaging the valuable tourism industry. Our own submission to Parliament listing the bad press South Africa was getting from treating lions so badly – all 62 pages of it – can be viewed here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ry49b4b0blmjdgt/CACH%20Brand%20SA%20Review%20August%202018.pdf?dl=0
So which is it? Are lion farmers and hunting operators ‘economic saboteurs’ driving ethical tourists to boycott SA, or are they tourist attractions being encouraged by government to expand their operations?
Conservation was always thought to be the protection of whole natural functioning ecosystems for their own sakes. Now it is synonymous with money. Whoever makes the most money from exploiting wildlife is the most worthy conservationist in South Africa.
But if money has become the sole criterion of conservation then a Schindler’s list situation has been created. If we wish to save Africa’s vanishing wildlife we shall have to outspend the hunters in buying the lives of the animals. Good luck with that!

Maybe some good news?
https://www.facebook.com/100008398837454/posts/2505163533106917/
However, this decision was likely made in Beijing, not Harare.
This is the report I put out before the good news was announced:
​
The tragedy of Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
I'm quoting in full below a passionate and well considered open letter by Zimbabwe conservation group Friends of Hwange. Turning Zimbabwe's wildlife gem in to an open cast coal mine run by Chinese is an environmental catastrophe.

I know this reserve so well. In fact I honeymooned at nearby Victoria Falls in (blush!) 1968.

No matter how cogent are the reasons to ban mining in Hwange, I fear that they are unlikely to succeed. There are two major - if not insuperable - obstacles.

The first is the legacy obligations owed by the ruling party to China, which had been a principal arms supplier during the liberation struggle.

The second is cultural. Former SA President Zuma is reported as saying at a public meeting: Compassion for animals is un-African. 
Well, never mind animals - compassion for people is alien to the ZANU_PF government of Zimbabwe.

When ZAPU president Joshua Nkomo came to see me (late 1970's) about the massacre of his Ndebele people in Matabeleland by Mugabe's infamous North Korean led 5th brigade, we could not find a single media company anywhere in Europe to publicise the slaughter. Why? Because the media had blindly supported the liberation struggle; Mugabe was the media darling, and so who cared if whole villages were machine gunned or thrown alive down abandoned mine shafts?
My old acquaintance Emerson Mnangagwa - now President - was complicit in that massacre.

Don't expect a genocidal government to shed any tears for a collapsing national park.
Chris Mercer.

Joint Statement on Special Mining Grants in Hwange National Park from the Stakeholders of Hwange to President Mnangagwa
On September 3rd, 2020 the Hwange Area Stakeholders held an emergency meeting to discuss our concerns about Mining in Hwange National Park. This video serves as the minutes for the Stakeholders Meeting: https://explorehwange.com/mining-in-hwange-national-park/ 
It has been widely reported that the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority rangers arrested Chinese nationals found to be undertaking mining explorations within Hwange National Park. The same Chinese miners have since reappeared in the Park with a Special Grant for mining explorations.
We have been advised that in our country, Special Mining Grants cannot be issued without the approval of the President of Zimbabwe, thus, as an outcome of our Stakeholder’s Meeting, we hereby present a joint statement appealing to you, President Mnangagwa to reverse all Special Grants that have been issued by you for areas within Hwange National Park. Chinese companies are reportedly already cutting down mature teak trees and clearing crucial wildlife habitat to make way for their mining activities within Hwange National Park. A map of the known areas affected is available should you wish to review it. 
We have also since obtained documentation which indicates that SustiGlobal was commissioned by Afrochine Smelting P/L, a subsidiary of the Tsingashan Group of China (Pvt) Ltd in relation to a proposed coal exploration project located in Hwange, after Sinamatella Camp in the vicinity of Deteema Dam and Masuma Dam. The project scope involves opening of access roads, land clearing, geophysical and geochemical prospecting as well as drilling. A Special Mining Grant (SG7263) was issued to Afrochine Energy.
Similarily, Zhongxin Coal Mining Group received a Special Mining Grant (SG5756) and engaged SustiGlobal with a focus on coal exploration that would entail land clearing, opening of access roads, geophysical and geochemical prospecting as well as drilling along the road to Sinamatella Camp in the Deka Safari Area.
During our Stakeholder’s Meeting, it was ascertained that none of the Stakeholders in our region were contacted or engaged for consultation purposes prior to the issuance of these two Special Mining Grants. We therefore also wish to know what other Special Mining Grants have been issued for mining activities within Hwange National Park, and out of concern, we as the Hwange area Stakeholders wish to advice you, President Mnangagwa, of the following consequences expected as a direct result of the issuance of Special Mining Grants in Hwange National Park:
Tourism (domestic and international)

•  The Zimbabwe National Parks are the bedrock of tourism. At present, Hwange National Park is

one of Africa’s most unspoiled tourist destinations attracting tourists from around the globe. In response to news that you will be potentially converting the Park to a mine, people from around the world are already wondering what is next for mining in Zimbabwe and if all National Parks including the Victoria Falls will be offered to the Chinese for mining.
www.explorehwange.com 

•  Travel agents and tourists will cancel their travel itineraries and tours scheduled to arrive in

Hwange National Park and will seek alternative destinations in other countries. 

•  Hwange is a feeder destination to other tourism attractions within Zimbabwe such as Mana

Pools, Binga, Msuna, Matopos, Chimanimani, Great Zimbabwe. Mining in Hwange National Park will therefore result in a significant reduction of tourists traveling to any part of Zimbabwe. o Hwange National Park and other Parks in Zimbabwe will no longer be viable or sustainable
destinations for tourism since all investment will likely be withdrawn and tourists will not pay Park entry fees to see Parks where mining activities are underway. o Special Mining Grants were issued for concessions in areas that already had been allocated to
other safari operators who have invested millions of dollars in tourism infrastructure. Lawsuits will ensue, seeking compensation for losses due to mining operations. 

Every safari camp, tour operator and activity provider will likely lose their business as a direct
result of mining in Hwange National Park. 

The repercussions are far reaching as safari lodges and domestic tourism operators are not the only ones who will lose their livelihoods to mining operations in Hwange National Park - booking agents and travel agents both locally and internationally, ground transfer companies, lodge employees, safari guides, training institutions, car rental companies, fuel suppliers, banks, philanthropic groups, airlines, suppliers of tourism related goods, food supply chains, grocery stores, artisans, students, research organizations, immigration and others will be all be affected. Not to mention the investors who have put their faith in Zimbabwe being “Open for Business”.
Environment 

•  Hwange National Park has historically faced severe shortage of water supply. Mining activities

will place a further strain on an already low water table which means less water will be available for the wildlife who are the voiceless stakeholders and victims of the Special Mining Grants. 

 River systems originating from the affected areas stretch all the way down the Zambezi will face
contamination due to the polluting effects of mining in Hwange National Park. o Existing within a 60-kilometers stretch running through Hwange are 7 active mining operations. 
There is enough coal outside of Hwange National Park and other protected areas and no cause for coal mining for coal mining activities to be sought within and of Zimbabwe’s National Parks. 

•  For more than 15 years key stakeholders have assisted Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife
• Management Authority in many ways. The most significant has been managing the provision of water to the pans / waterholes within our National Parks. In recent years they have largely been responsible for the conversion from diesel engines, using fossil fuel, to clean and sustainable solar energy which were deemed necessary for both economic and environmental reasons. The over utilization of fossil fuels is contributing to global warming. There is no need to mine coal

when there are cleaner renewable sources of energy.
Wildlife and Conservation

• Conservation related funding currently being directed to Hwange National Park and other Parks

throughout Zimbabwe will likely to be cancelled or withdrawn by international conservation partners and other donors from around the world. The Sinamatella section of Hwange National Park, an area threatened by Special Grants,
represents the only habitat with Black Rhino in the whole of the Matabeleland North province and provides a vital safe haven for these and other endangered and specially protected animals
www.explorehwange.com 

•  Other endangered species in the area include the pangolin and the Painted Dogs which draw

global interest in conservation and tourism for Zimbabwe. Ivory and rhino poaching will increase in Hwange National Park with the presence of mining
operations within the Park. 

• The areas targeted for mining within Hwange National Park are also the areas with the most and

reliable water drinking points for wildlife, from Mandabvu dam, Masuma Pan, Shumba Pan, Lukosi River into main Camp Imvelo area and to Deteema in Robins and possibly Dollilo. 

The National Parks of Zimbabwe were proclaimed principally as Sanctuaries for the benefit of wildlife. Hwange National Park (NHP) is one such sanctuary situated in a strategic, central, position in the region and is critical to the success of the KAZA Transfrontier Area (KAZA TFCA). Any mining, particularly coal, would pollute and destroy the habitat and rivers thus rendering surrounding areas uninhabitable as far as animals are concerned. This would have an adverse effect on the region and substantially reduce the wildlife domain. o Mining activities within Hwange National Park will have an inevitable impact on the Hwange-
Chobe-Kazuma Wildlife Dispersal Area. Sinamatela is at the heart of the wildlife dispersal area linking Hwange (Zimbabwe) and Chobe National Park (Botswana) within the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) where Stakeholders are implementing cross border conservation programmes with four other countries, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Angola. There are serious implications that the proposed mining project will have, jeopardising agreements that were signed by the Government of Zimbabwe, particularly those involving significant support secured from non-governmental organizations. 

The animals are the stakeholders that have no voice and they will be decimated by mining
activities within Hwange National Park, an impact not only on the short term but for subsequent generations. Of particular concern is the welfare of the African Elephant (Loxodonta africana). This species has been exploited for far too long; the animals have been hunted for meat and ivory, and for centuries humans have encroached on wildlife areas and consequently confined these creatures to Nature Reserves and National Parks. Mining now threatens one of their last remaining sanctuaries. 

 All wildlife is important, but elephants are of great significance as they are a “keystone species”
and have a major impact on the environment largely for the benefit of other species. They have a developed brain, good memory, feel emotions (similar to humans) and thus deserve special consideration. 

Hwange National Park is home to a considerable number of animals all year round but of major importance are the populations of elephant and buffalo that congregate in the dry season (May- November). These animals thrive in this semi-arid environment and rely on water pumped from underground reservoirs. At the start of the rains (end November) most of these animals literally disappear overnight and head south (mainly to Botswana). This migratory pattern enables them to feed in one area, for approximately half the year, whilst the other area recovers. Preventing this annual migration would force the animals to remain in one area (mainly Botswana) all year round with the resultant destruction of habitat and inevitable mass die off of many different species. 

We have evidence which shows that the highest concentration of elephants within Hwange
National Park is present near the Special Mining Grant SG7263 concession. 

All creatures have an equal right to exist, roam on migratory routes if they choose, and live
freely. Hwange National Park is home to 10% of the entire population of elephants on the African continent, the threat of mining activities in the Park will displace all of these elephants leaving them with nowhere to go.

 Vultures are critically endangered and as these birds cover vast areas reducing natural habitat
would hasten their demise.
www.explorehwange.com 
With no game drives occurring within Hwange National Park due to the loss of tourism resulting
from mining, there will be no eyes on the ground, safeguarding and protecting the wildlife. Zimbabwe’s legacy of wildlife preservation will be replaced by hazardous and destructive degradation as a direct result of open cast mining of fossil fuels. 

 Wildlife is our heritage, and no one should have the right to deny future generations the privilege of seeing and experiencing nature. Surely President Mnangagwa, you do not want to see wildlife and conservation in Hwange National park being destroyed.


Archeological sites with historic significance, history and culture

• Mining within Hwange National Park will destroy and violate cultural sites and the ancestral

shrines of the people from Hwange thereby also destroying the cultural heritage of residents in the Hwange region. 

The history of Hwange’s people will vanish with the imposition of mining activities in Hwange
National Park. Masuma Dam is the historic site for Masuma village, a cultural village where the ancestors of some Hwange residents were born. 

 Mtoa, Bumbusi and Shangano are significant ancestral shrines of the Nambya and the Rozvi people and hold historic archeological significance. They will be impacted by coal mining activities in Hwange National Park.


Human health, community and socioeconomic impact

• Tourism could potentially become a multi-billion-dollar industry for Zimbabwe, creating millions of

jobs for Zimbabweans and providing significantly more value than the marginal gains to be produced through fossil fuel extraction or coal mining. 

In 2020, the displacement of wildlife due to increased mining activities in Hwange has already produced an increase in the number of deaths resulting from human wildlife conflicts when compared to previous years. Mining activities force wild animals to become stressed and dangerous as they are pushed out of their natural habitat and enter nearby communal areas in search of alternative spaces to live. 

The residents of Hwange have expressed concerns about the quality of water within the vicinity
of mining areas. It is reported that already, water supply within the Hwange region may be contaminated due to mining activities. Mining within Hwange National Park will therefore similarly contaminate water sources for humans as well as for the flora and fauna. 

 Mining activities in Hwange National Park will desecrate indigenous knowledge by destroying a
fragile ecosystem and biodiversity within the Park. 

Polluted air can cause serious health conditions including respiratory problems such as silicosis and pneumoconiosis. The introduction of mining activities in Hwange National Park will increase the health risk and exposure to air pollution for the residents of Hwange. 

Many people in Hwange already live in abject poverty, and since Covid-19, the area is already economically vulnerable. Mining activities within Hwange National Park will result in more loss and due to the disruption of tourism. 
Renewable energy like such as solar power do not emit CO2 and is more sustainable than
mining for fossil fuels such as coal which emit toxins and other hazards to humans and to the environment.  Any jobs created through mining activities within Hwange National Park will be short lived when
compared to the perpetual and less hazardous job outlook provided by the tourism sector.
www.explorehwange.com 
 Air and water pollution caused by mining of fossil fuels within Hwange National Park will further
contribute towards global warming emissions and climate change.  In the long run for Hwange residents and Stakeholders, the future for our children will be in
tourism and not in the short-term extractive mining of fossil fuels. 

 The Residents of the Hwange community have indicated that they intend to organize follow up
meetings to address their concerns about mining activities in Hwange National Park.


We can provide documentation in support of the predictions and implications listed in our statement and we ask you to review the video from our September 3rd Stakeholder Meeting.


We humbly request that you cancel all Special Grants that are within Hwange National Park and all of the National Parks of Zimbabwe. You have promised to be a listening President. As our President, save our tourism industry and preserve the livelihoods of millions of people within Zimbabwe and around the world. Hwange National Park, the wildlife and cultural shrines it contains is our heritage and a legacy to be left for our children and their children. 
Elisabeth Pasalk Hwange Stakeholder and Facilitator on behalf of Hwange Area and other Regional Stakeholders
Association for Tourism Hwange +263782288842 elisabeth@explorehwange.com www.explorehwange.com
www.explorehwange.com  

African traditional medicine and wildlife conservation.

The media generally and social media in particular are awash with blogs, articles and comments on the catastrophic effect of Chinese traditional medicine on wildlife. Although African traditional medicine is every bit as destructive of wildlife conservation,  strangely enough, it escapes the media frenzy enjoyed by its Chinese counterpart.

This post by Brian Gaisford draws attention to the grim market in South Africa, typified by the Mai Mai and Faraday muti markets in Johannesburg. As you can see body parts of every imaginable species, endangered or not, are publicly displayed and traded day in and day out. Mass poisonings of carcasses and water supplies are the commonest methods used by the suppliers to the counterpart of the Chinese traditional medicine practitioner, here called the Sangoma.

Wildlife conservation officials in South Africa would rather break their necks then even look sideways, let alone control, this macabre market. So the markets function openly and freely without the slightest regard for the law or conservation.

I have spent the last 20 years odd trying to raise awareness of the existential danger to conservation caused by the hunting fraternity. The focus is on the sordid commercial exploitation of helpless animals.

The Muti markets are every bit as damaging to conservation as hunting.  Perhaps even more so.

So why is there a deafening silence in the media on this crucial environmental issue? Why is it legitimate to attack the hunting industry and Chinese traditional medicine but not to expose the terrible muti markets?  I have raised this matter directly with conservation officials and the answers that I always get confirm my worst fears: that political correctness trumps survival of species.

The sangomas and their arcane muti concoctions are regarded as a sacred cow because they are part of African culture. Anyone who seeks to expose the damage to wildlife conservation caused by allowing this terrible business to function without restraint, will surely attract the epithets most commonly levelled at true conservationists in Africa:
1.that we put animals above people
2.that we are racist, privileged, radical, extremist, and even, terrorist.
3.That we seek to impose an alien Western culture upon African culture
4.that African wildlife belongs to Africans, not to the world, and we should accept, to use the exact words used by former South African president Jacob Zuma, that “compassion for animals is un-African”.

No doubt the sangomas and African politicians will fight just as furiously as traditional Chinese medical practitioners to protect and preserve their culture.

However, in the interests of avoiding extinctions, a rigorous public debate on the issue might lead to some kind of compromise and some semblance of control.

Here is what Brian Gaisford posted:

I expect all my S African followers saw the CARTE BLANCH bit on wildlife trade lastnt. Lente Roode from her HOETSPRUIT ENDANGERED SPECIES CENTER was a big focus. What makes me mad is that she allowed me to bring Prof Mary Ting to her conference theater to talk on Chinas lust for wildlife .2018. When she was doing exactly what we were trying to expose & stop.

As many know, i have been rampaging to shut down the two WET MARKEST in downtown Johannesburg.The MAI MAI & FARADY , starting way back in 2014 with no success and all the time wondering where all the spotted cat skins came from. Our first count was 80 leopard and 15 cheetah and slowly the leopard skins decreased but cheetah skins increased until in Feb 2020 we counted 80 Cheetah and 15 leopard including mountains of every animal body part one could think of. We even took NAT GEO to view and photograph all. Sad to say they are still sitting on their pictures. WHY ?I think i know .

80 cheetah skins are far to many to have come from the wild. So where are they coming from? You tell me.

They have even skinned poisoned vultures under our cameras.With the blood flowing into the main str of JHB.The dried out brains are sold to China to increase eyesight and to see into the future.I ate some and i see what is going to happen if we don't shut down all WET MARKETS.

These WET MARKETS are open to the public and the MAI MAI is listed as a tourist attraction. How nuts is that. Lets show off to the world how we kill our animals and sell their body parts in SA.We should be very proud of that. China sends much of this back to their trade and lust for wildlife beliefs in China & Vietnam.These market operate with impunity as they are listed as so call HEALERS MARKETS.

Yes the herbal potions may work but the spotted cat skins are sold off to tribal chief to wear. OK in the old days when we had less chiefs and more cats. Now it is severest & every one thinks they are a chief if the wear some sort of spotted cat skin.

Our next CORONA outbreak may well burst out of one of our very own markets in downtown Johannesburg S Africa. Two years back we warned of this C thing and here it is.

BE WARNED we are going to be hit again.

Have a look at what we do for wildlife and then explain to us in plain words why we are not supported by conservation officials. Indeed, why they proactively undermine our efforts.
Even though our Karoo Wildlife Centre is a project of the international award-winning NGO, Campaign Against Canned Hunting, and we followed procedures to obtain permits as much as possible until the excessive bureaucracy defeated us.

Far away from the paper world of government policies and regulations, in the real world, here is how rehab sanctuaries work. An animal is orphaned or injured and taken by good samaritans to the local vet. She attends to its wounds and needs, and then what? She has a veterinary surgery in a built-up area. She needs a wilderness facility with large natural camps where the animal can be fed and nurtured until it is fit for release back to the wild. It then needs a soft (gradual) release into suitable habitat where it can survive and flourish.
​
The rehab centre is therefore an essential part of the rescue process. Without it, the vet would have no choice but to put the animal down.
So here is a perfect example: seven orphaned bat eared fox pups were delivered to the Karoo Wildlife Centre recently.

Check out the videos: look how well fed and cared for they are in spacious natural surroundings. When ready, they will be released in to the surrounding wilderness by merely opening the gate of the camp. They will not disperse immediately and we'll continue to put food out for them after release. Some foxes released a year ago still come back every night for their food.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKfLSKtjI80
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUokGs7f5Og
https://youtu.be/iUokGs7f5Og

So why on earth should we have to work outside the permit system? Surely, we should be welcomed by conservation officials as complementing their efforts to save our wildlife heritage?

Because hunting involves cruelty, killing and adverse impacts upon biodiversity, you’d expect hunting to be heavily regulated and monitored.   And you’d expect animal protection and rehab centres to be lightly regulated, to encourage public participation.

But this is South Africa, where the hunting fraternity controls conservation.
To start a hunting farm:
All the landowner needs is a Certificate of Adequate Enclosure to confirm that his perimeter fence is strong and high enough and Presto!  all regulations vanish like smoke.  No need to apply for any re-zoning, or obtain EIAs, or file complex business or management plans, or be restricted by hunting seasons; the landowner is free to do what he likes with his ‘alternative livestock.’ Indeed,  he can turn the land in to a battlefield, like the infamous driven hunt at Alldays in Limpopo. See this illustrated report on the Alldays hunt, showing how hunting is to conservation what pornography is to art.
https://www.thedodo.com/hunters-hide-their-faces-1347803434.html?utm_source=HuffPo&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange_facebook

Now compare the regulatory burden on wildlife sanctuaries or rehab centres.

1. To start a Wildlife Sanctuary and/or rehab centre for animal rescue, a re-zoning application is called for.  Now the bureaucracy runs riot.
A one-size-fits-all re-zoning application means that the mind-numbing requirements designed for large scale developments such as a new golf course complex or a five star ten story hotel all have to be met by the poor wildlife rehabber.

Really!!??  All this – and much, much more - just to rescue a bundle of fur or feathers??

2.      An E.I.A. (environmental impact assessment) - for which yet another expensive consultant is required.  An EIA can only be done by a registered qualified EIA practitioner, and the whole process can take months,  and cost tens  of thousands of rands.

3.      Formal standard operating procedures (SOPs) for every aspect of the rehab process; use of vehicles, use of equipment, cleaning, etc .etc – all of which must be signed by staff and volunteers. The detail required is so overwhelming that even where to park the car at night must be included in the SOP!

4.      Expensive and unnecessarily high and strong fences for enclosures, even those designed to hold small, harmless animals.
​
5.      Explain mission and vision, species and number of animals kept (how on earth to know this in advance?), how you are going to meet the physiological, physical and psychological needs of the animals that you do not yet have, transport facilities, veterinary facilities, fire management plans, personnel training, public liability insurance for millions, escape plans, exit strategies, letters of support from all neighbours, an essay on how the centre will add value to conservation, research, education etc, risk assessment, ecological impacts etc etc.
Oh and membership of PAAZAB.
(Logic?? PAAZAB is a zoo association. Why on earth should a rehabber be forced to join a Zoo association?  Zoos exist for human entertainment; the rehabber has no interest in human entertainment.   Some of PAAZAB’s rules, such as the requirement to be open to the public at all times, are bizarrely inappropriate to a rehab centre, which is closed to the public at all times.)

The point is this: not only are these excessive bureaucratic obstacles discouraging people from exercising their legal right to participate in wildlife management, but the fact that none of these onerous obligations are imposed upon game hunting farms is partial and discriminatory and therefore unlawful in terms of Section 3 of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act.

Is this burdensome bureaucracy really necessary for conservation purposes?

1. If these onerous bureaucratic demands were really important, then they would apply to game farming and the hunting industry – much more so because hunting impacts the environment far more than rescuing and rehabbing orphaned and injured wildlife. Despite the anti-conservation antics of an out-of-control hunting fraternity, such as cross-breeding mutant freaks for hunting trophies, or turning the land in to a battlefield like the driven hunt at Alldays in Lipopo, no EIAs are required. 
2. In the conservation sub-culture, ‘welfare’ of animals is almost a swear word.  There is open hostility to the whole idea of animal welfare, and anyone who speaks out against cruelty to wildlife is pejoratively labelled a ‘greenie,’ a ‘rightist’, a ‘radical’ and ‘an‘extremist.’ 
3. In seeking to control every aspect of sanctuary/rehab activity, the conservation authorities are acting ultra vires ie outside their legal powers.  In short, unlawfully. The Supreme Court of Appeal decided in the Predator Breeders case that breeding lions for canned hunting or other human entertainment fell outside the authority of conservationists.

So why are conservationists so obsessed with controlling every aspect of animal welfare facilities when they have no legal right to do so? They themselves never miss an opportunity to deny that animal welfare is their responsibility.

Authority and responsibility go together - conservation officials cannot claim that they have no power to regulate animal welfare - and then proceed to try to regulate it.   

I hope we shall not have to go to the High Court for relief before this saga is over.

 
An outrageous article calling for animal-rights groups to be excluded from conservation has been published here:
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2019-11-08-how-to-save-cites-if-its-worth-saving/?tl_inbound=1&tl_groups[0]=80895&tl_period_type=3&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Afternoon%20Thing%20TGIF%208%20November%202019%20UCT&utm_content=Afternoon%20Thing%20TGIF%208%20November%202019%20UCT+CID_62cebdb18adff3246ca53b59d5eedb59&utm_source=TouchBasePro&utm_term=How%20to%20save%20CITES%20if%20its%20worth%20saving

The author of this intemperate rant is well known for his habit of pouring petrol on burning issues and then relishing the consternation he causes.

The article is a lengthy and wordy litany of misleading statements, calculated to support his bizarre conclusion that the only way to save CITES is to kick out all the animal-rights groups. He describes them as follows:
 Animal rights groups, however,.. do not support utilisation of wildlife, sustainable or otherwise, and believe they have a right to dictate, from the comfort of their elitist perches in rich countries, what poor countries are entitled to do with their own wildlife. Their policy is one of preservation, not conservation.

First, I and other conservationists, have explained in the past how CITES is a white elephant, a creaking bureaucracy that diverts millions in funds that ought to go to conservation. CITES should be abolished, and replaced with a more effective body which is based upon conservation, not on trade.

The author advances facile arguments such as the following:
In South Africa, about 72% of wildlife ranching revenue comes from hunting, while only 5% comes from eco-tourism, according to Wouter van Hoven of the Centre for Wildlife Management at the University of Pretoria.
Wow! Let me restate his argument in plain simple English: most people who visit hunting farms are hunters. How trite is that?

His whole theme is that hunting is wonderful conservation and anyone against hunting, such as animal-rights groups, is anti-conservation.

Any intelligent person can see that he has confused the victim with the perpetrator. Conservation should be aimed at preserving natural functioning ecosystems. He reverses that logic, and argues that preservationists are anti-conservation.

He believes fanatically that cramming as many wild animals as possible into a fenced hunting camp and breeding living targets for the hunting industry, is conservation.
It’s not. It is farming with wildlife - not conserving it. He can’t see the difference.

Like all good hunting propagandists, he compares South Africa to Kenya. He says Kenya has lost 85% of its wildlife since it banned hunting in 1977.
From that statistic, he concludes that it was the hunting ban that caused the decline in Kenyan wildlife. In other words, according to him, the only way to save Kenya’s wildlife is to hunt it.

This is such rubbish. The decline in Kenyan wildlife has everything to do with the reckless human population increase from about 4 million at the end of WW2, to nearly 50 million, most of whom have expanded into wilderness areas and decimated the wildlife.
To promote hunting would not solve the problem, it would aggravate it.

His conclusion:
To save the CITES treaty, however, will require decisive action.
First, CITES needs to kick out the animal rights groups.

Actually, it is CITES that needs to be kicked out of conservation. And replaced with a proper international  conservation body.
​
This whole article is tendentious nonsense and conservationists should pay it no regard.
 
 
 

There has been an interesting and positive development in the South African tourism industry. SATSA, the South African tourist Association has launched a guide for tour operators and tourists to evaluate captive wildlife interactions.
​
The excellent and well researched guide can be downloaded here:
https://www.satsa.com/wp-content/uploads/SATSA_HumanAnimalInteractions_Final5_Interactive.pdf

This guide will enable foreign and local visitors who wish to interact with animals, tour operators and others to make informed decisions that support responsible tourism in South Africa.

There is a visual guide in the form of a line in the sand, a curve going from red through orange to green. Those facilities that fall in the red category should be avoided and the line of acceptability progresses through orange to green, which includes genuine ethical establishments such as rehab centres and sanctuaries.

This is a wonderful initiative and all involved should be complemented.

I see two problems with the proper implementation of this guide:
First, lion farmers are very astute and convincing to pose as genuine sanctuaries. Only someone experienced in animal welfare and conservation in South Africa would be able to separate the good from the bad especially since there are often shades of grey.

Second, the guide establishes an excellent system for raising awareness and making better informed decisions on which facilities to support and which to avoid. But it raises the question of how conservationists and animal lovers are going to move from being better informed to having the decision made for them by some kind of certification process. 
There is clearly a need for an accreditation process in which knowledgeable inspectors could decide whether a facility should be promoted by SATSA, or not.
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Notwithstanding, this is a praiseworthy step in the right direction for promoting responsible tourism and giving tourists the power to promote ethical treatment of animals in their spending of tourist money. Well done SATSA.