August 10th, 2011 - 327 lion 'carcasses' exported from South Africa

Confirmed: 327 lion 'carcasses' exported from South Africa
to Lao PDR in 2009 and 2010‏

CACH was pleased to note that the Ministerial figures for exports of lions, tigers and leopards from the Republic, published by Edna Molewa – Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs on 11 March 2011 in response to a prompt from CACH UK Director Richard Hargreaves, quite rightly received attention from the media, as per the link below:

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article966456.ece/Over-1400-Lion-Leopard-trophies-exported--Minister

However, whilst CACH fully appreciates the awareness that was raised of the 1,401 lion and leopard trophies that were exported from the Republic in 2009 and 2010 we feel that the 327 lion 'carcasses' that were exported out of the North West Province were somewhat overlooked.

Our UK Director wanted to know where they went and suspected they may have gone to Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ('Lao PDR'). He noticed that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ('CITES') Trade Database figures for 2009 showed, for the first time ever, exports of lion parts and derivatives from South Africa to Lao PDR – specifically 250 kilos of lion bones, 80 lion bodies and 5 lion skeletons.

In the circumstances, a follow up question was submitted and on 11 April 2011 the Minister published her confirmation that all 327 lion carcasses exported from the North West Province in 2009 and 2010 went to Lao PDR – as per the following link:

http://www.parliament.gov.za/live/commonrepository/Processed/20110412/333809_1.doc

CACH takes the view that this information is vitally important as the Ministerial figures for 2010 provide data, and a valuable insight into a new arm of the South African export trade in lion parts and derivatives, that would not have been possible for at least another year if we had waited for the CITES Trade Database to be updated with the 2010 figures.

CACH is also of the view that a simple correlation of the Ministerial figures for 2009 with the 2009 CITES Trade Database results for 'Panthera' exports from South Africa to Lao PDR – as set out above – is virtual confirmation that the 92 lion 'carcasses' referred to in the Ministerial figures are probably the 250 kilos of bones, 80 bodies and 5 skeletons that CITES has recorded as being exported from South Africa to Lao PDR in 2009.

The only caveat to this conclusion is that there are currently no published ministerial figures for exports lion 'skeletons' from South Africa in 2009 and 2010. These figures have now been requested, following a further request by CACH's UK Director, and we suspect they may be comparatively low figures - thus lending further support to our contention that CITES Trade Database has primarily recorded the Minister's lion carcasses as 'bodies'.

There is of course the possibility that the Minister's figures for exports of lion skeletons will also be high - in which case we have the ominous spectre of even more than 92 dead lions having been exported from South Africa to Lao PDR in 2009. This is certainly possible as the Minister's figure of 741 lion trophy exports from South Africa in 2009 is well below the official CITES Trade Database figure for 2009 of 897 – so we know the two sets of figures do not tally precisely.

Nevertheless, if the 92 lion carcasses, that the Ministerial figures state were exported to Lao PDR in 2009, are those items primarily recorded by CITES as 'bodies' then that would also suggest that the 92 'carcasses' are exactly that- entire or virtually entire lion carcasses rather than, say, a few kilos of bones in a bag that have been labelled as a carcass.

We know that entire tiger carcasses are immersed in vats during the tiger bone wine making process so it is therefore entirely plausable that these lion carcasses could also have been entire or virtually entire when exported. If so, that is a significant injection into the Asian trade in wild cat parts and derivatives that, guided by the lessons from history, is likely to increase demand for further supply of lion parts - not just from captive bred sources in South Africa, but from all sources throughout the rest of Africa too. Indeed, the leap from 92 lion carcass exports to Lao PDR in 2009, to 235 carcasses exported there in 2010, is strong indicative evidence that this perceived / potential increase in demand is already well underway.

If all these 327 carcasses were entire or virtually entire, as CACH suspects they may well have been, it would be the strongest evidence yet of the true extent of South Africa's involvement in the Asian trade in wild cat parts and derivatives. It would no longer be appropriate to merely consider South Africa's lion bone trade as a new, fairly minor trade, that is not very significant. Instead we would have to acknowledge it as the highly established industry that these figures indicate – an industry whose export to Lao PDR branch enjoyed growth of approximately 150% between 2009 and 2010…

CACH has passed these findings on to a number of international wildlife conservation NGOs in the hopes they may prompt further investigation and research as regards this new development. This is because, although international trade in lion parts and derivatives is not currently illegal, we believe that until now the scale of South Africa's involvement in the global trade in wild cat parts and derivatives had not been fully appreciated by anyone other than those involved.

We will of course present any further information we get on this and it is envisaged that our UK Director will have a more in depth report on the global wild cat trade and South Africa's role in it by the end of the year.

By Richard Hargreaves
UK Director of the Campaign Against Canned Hunting.