The Professional Hunters' Association of SA (Phasa) has gone back on a previous decision and approved canned lion hunting. News 24 reports that, following a vote at its AGM on November 22, Phasa is permitting "the hunting of captive-bred lions as a legitimate form of hunting".
The Operators and Professional Hunting Associations of Africa (OPHAA) has suspended Phasa with immediate effect, while BookYourHunt.com has withdrawn its sponsorship.
OPHAA said in a statement that it was deeply troubled by Phasa's decision. Adding that captive-bred lion hunting brought the "entire African hunting industry, in every African nation where hunting is permitted, into ill repute". It said it believed the decision, which disregarded the hunting principle ‘fair chase’, would jeopardise conservation efforts and the livelihoods of those who rely on well-managed and ethical hunting practices.
BookYourHunt.com released a statement saying: "The practice of captive-bred lion hunts is incompatible with BookYourHunt.com’s standards of fair chase and hunting ethics, and is something we cannot possibly tolerate or endorse in any form."
The African Professional Hunter’s Association (APHA) in Tanzania told News 24: "APHA strongly condemns, and vigorously opposes any form of captive bred/canned lion hunting. Any member of the APHA found taking part in this practice, in any capacity, shall resign his/her membership immediately.”
Stewart Dorrington, the owner of Melorani, a professional hunter and prior president of PHASA for three years,said in a statement: “In the light of the recent acceptance of the shooting of CBL (captive bred lions) as a legitimate form of hunting by Phasa, we, as a concerned group of professional hunters, distance ourselves completely from such acceptance and no longer view PHASA as the legitimate mouthpiece for professional hunting in South Africa. A new association will be formed in the very near future and will once again reflect the traditions of responsible, ethical and conservation-based hunting in South Africa.”
Colin Bell, co-founder of Natural Selection, told Tourism Update: “When ethical hunters remove their support from your organisation – you have to start questioning the decisions you have made.”
Speaking to News 24, Blood Lions said it was deeply concerned by Phasa's decision to reverse its position taken in 2015 when the majority of the members voted against captive-bred lion hunting, and to expel any members found to be involved in the hunting or marketing of captive-bred lions.
Ian Michler of Blood Lions said: "For the minority that continues to support canned hunting, most are now likely to side with the South African Predator Association (SAPA), a private-sector body set up to represent the breeders. Their stance is a combination of ludicrously archaic thinking that seems to have no ethical or ecological grounding, as well as pure greed. We expect this group to continue with their attempts to justify intensive breeding and killing.”
