South Africa’s government is being accused of promoting the ‘farming’ of our wildlife instead of protecting it with aims to increase the hunting quotas of endangered species because it ‘won’t be detrimental to their survival’.

Suzanne Rudham, of Saving the Survivors, an endangered animal rights group, has slammed the governments mere thought about increasing the hunting quota:

What’s happening has gone beyond the point of making sense. Golden wildebeest – a genetic anomaly – sell for R12-million at auctions, with black impala fetching R10-million. Money is the driver, with unique and endangered species the target. Hunting these and other endangered species is a huge business.

Calling it an ‘abuse of the permit system’, backlash came from environment groups around the country after the Department of Environmental Affairs released a report in the Government Gazette.

It called for the urgent co-ordination of strategies for the management of these species to ensure their survival, including the implementation of quotas so that hunting can be better controlled.

The Department of Environmental Affairs’ report on endangered wildlife has exposed damning information about the inadequacies of the government’s preservation initiatives and the financial constraints limiting their effectiveness.

The department has little faith in the government’s ability to protect species yet wants to investigate the possibility of legalising the hunting of wild lion.

It also reported that the hunting quota for the leopard has been exceeded because of poor management. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) allows South Africa to export 150 leopards as trophies. Animal anti-crime specialist Michelle Pickover said the government was arguing against itself:

They say there are problems around the management of these species, yet they make non-detrimental findings about the animals.

It’s flabbergasting. We are a Cites member yet we say hunting permits can be issued for endangered animals. This gazette makes a case for these animals to be hunted because hunting them is non-detrimental to their survival.

As citizens of South Africa, we have until the 30 September to object to the findings published in the gazette which basically reported that the

co-ordination of strategies for the management of these species to ensure their survival, including the implementation of quotas so that hunting can be better controlled.

I just don’t know what to say anymore – only that the ruling party has had its time and has to move on before it f*cks up everything that’s great about our country.

[source: timeslive]