Hunting in South Africa tends to divide people down the middle, and that’s especially true for the canned lion hunting industry.

Currently running over in Hawaii is the 2016 World Conservation Congress (WCC), and front and centre is the heated debate around the issue.

Multiple organisations have called for the termination of all such hunting, filing the motion at the meeting.

Some more info from Traveller24:

…the practice of Canned Lion Hunting is regarded as an “ethically repugnant embarrassment” by South Africa’s professional hunting associations at large.

In response to the acceptance of the motion by the…WCC, the department of environmental affairs says it has acknowledged the move, in which the NGOs’ expressed concern on the alleged escalation of the breeding of lions for the specific purpose of ‘canned lion hunting’ or ‘canned lion shooting’, by sectors of the wildlife industry.

Something that has helped bring the issue to the fore is Blood Lions, a documentary launched in July of last year. Before you tuck in I’ll give you a heads up – you’re going to see a spike in your blood pressure.

Let’s look at the good news then, in terms of progress being made to put an end to the killing:

The endangered status of lions is also set to be debated at CITES COP117 conference to be held in Johannesburg from 24 September to 5 October at the Sandton Convention Centre.

This follows yet another historic agreement between 28 African lion range states, calling for more than 180 countries to consider moving lions from their current listing on Appendix II to Appendix I – which would globally prohibit the trade in lions, except under exceptional circumstances.

Want to watch that doccie? If you can stomach it, head to the film’s website for more info HERE.

[source:traveller24]