HEADLINES:
R/€ Canned lion hunting continues in SA
May 10, 2008 Edition 1
If you have a hunt booked in SA for a captive lion and are wondering if it will be legal when your hunt date comes around, relax. The Hunting Report has just learned that all captive lion hunts booked for 2008 will be honoured irrespective of the outcome of the ongoing law suit over these hunts.
Peter Butland, president of the Professional Hunters Association of SA, called to say. "Your subscribers can rest easy with booked hunts for captive lion this season."
Longer term, it appears certain that captive lion hunts will continue; the ambiguity centres on the length of time that a captive lion must be released before it is hunted. The government has called for a two-year release period, while the SA Predators Breeders Association (SAPBA) wants a six-month period.
This disagreement over release periods is the central issue in the lawsuit SAPBA has filed against the government. SAPBA says the future of the industry is at stake, as a captive lion hunting industry requiring a two-year release period would not be economically feasible.
Butland said it was impossible to predict when the lawsuit would be over or how it would be decided. For the moment, though, the issue is moot.
Captive lion hunters can rest easy in 2008. For more info visit www.cannedlion.co.za
Don Causey
© 1999 - 2010 Star & Independent Online (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved.