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CLOSE UP OF OUR MAGNIFICENT BIG CATS: Lions drink at a water hole.

 Fears for South African wild life due to Asian appetite  

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South African farmers are using cattle-rustling routes in the Northern Cape to smuggle wild lions and other predators out of Botswana to supply a growing demand for lion-bone potions in the Far East.

Conservationists said this week the illicit trade by organised cartels was adding to the pressures that could see the extinction of big cats in the wild within 10 to 12 years.

The Mail and Guardian reports that the conservationists have denounced Environment Minister Edna Molewa’s recent response to parliamentary questions that a moratorium on lion-bone exports from South Africa was unnecessary because they do not pose a threat to the survival of the species in the wild.

Dereck Joubert, leader of National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative, said the lion-bone market was adding to the “emergency situation” facing Africa’s wild lions — the population has crashed from about 200,000 in the 1970s to less than 20,000 today.

“The bone trade out of South Africa is stimulating the market in Asia, which is far bigger than the supply will ever be. Selling lion bones on the market is also putting more pressure on tiger populations and there are fewer than 3,000 of them left in the wild,” he said.

Cheetahs, leopards, hyenas and ivory are also part of the cross-border contraband.

An investigator said the trade was being conducted by organised syndicates, which use cellphones and motorcycles to round up livestock and herd them into temporary kraals. Hundreds of cattle will then be loaded on to double-decker trucks using a portable ramp and taken to the border crossing points.

“The two businesses are linked in that, in most cases, the same people who are involved in the theft, smuggling and trading in [mostly stolen] livestock are also involved in the illegal capture, smuggling and trading of predators,” he said.

Details of the smuggling had been supplied to police and conservation officials on both sides of the border, he said. But although a few arrests have been made, there has been little follow-through because local politicians and authorities in both countries are implicated.

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Tue May 21 14:47:23 SAST 2013 ::

Jul 13, 2012

Buckselona

Boloyi fela.
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Jul 13, 2012

tumzangwana

The Mail and Guardian reports that the conservationists have denounced Environment Minister Edna Molewa’s recent response to parliamentary questions that a moratorium on lion-bone exports from South Africa was unnecessary because they do not pose a threat to the survival of the species in the wild.
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woman you are crazy. soon we are going to have a problem like with the rhinos that are becoming extint.

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Jul 13, 2012

CharlesTaylor

Lafa elihle kakhulu. Our kids and grand kids will never see Lions, Cheetahs, Rhinos, Elephants, Hyenas, etc due to these greedy politicians like Edna. God will judge them harshly and I pray.
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Jul 13, 2012

CharlesTaylor

I wish I can be employed to hunt these aliens who don't appreciate the beauty of nature, and I will only implement Bheki's Shoot to Ki.ll policy.
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Jul 13, 2012

Budapat

hehehehehehehe, wonder how do they prey on lions, hayikhona
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Jul 13, 2012

SOLUTIONS

Edna Molewa’s recent response to parliamentary questions that a moratorium on lion-bone exports from South Africa was unnecessary because they do not pose a threat to the survival of the species in the wild.


Another cadre deployment who knows nothing about the job, Where is that face palm when you need it????
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