Tiger “farms” in South Africa – where tigers are bred for trophy hunting. In this article, Pieter Kat from LionAid talks about captive-bred tigers. Canned tigers? was originally posted on January 27, 2014 at LionAid.org.
LIONAID: Many of you will probably know about the “tiger farms” in China that breed tigers to supply skins and potions like tiger bone wine. There is considerable outrage about these farms internationally, not only because of the conditions under which the tigers are kept, but also because of the ethics of breeding animals for their body parts.
I wrote a short blog on the issue in September 2012.
Earlier that year I also wrote a blog about the tiger breeding that goes on in South Africa.
Despite these blogs, and raising the issue at various meetings with UK Members of Parliament and Defra, there continues to be silence and complacency about the SA tiger farms. There, tigers are raised for live export to a number of countries including the United Arab Emirates, Myanmar and Vietnam. During the ten years 2002-2011, a total of 170 live tigers were exported to such dubious destinations. But perhaps more strangely, tigers in SA are also available to be trophy hunted.
It is the only place left in the world where you can go and trophy hunt a tiger. I have not been able to determine how much a tiger hunt costs, but it would appear to be substantial. Over the ten years 2002 – 2011, CITES records indicate that 17 tiger trophies were exported (not re-exported) and that the source was captive-bred tigers.
Who would want to hunt a captive bred tiger? The trophies went to the United Arab Emirates (6), Norway (3), Poland (2) and one each to Spain, Germany, France, Lebanon, Pakistan, and an unnamed country.
Apart from needing a CITES export permit, these trophies do not need the usually necessary import permits required for a species listed on CITES Appendix I as they are hunting trophies and therefore “personal and household effects”. Also, since these are privately owned exotic animals in South Africa, they further escape much regulatory notice.
Meanwhile, tiger breeders must be enjoying their “niche market” in South Africa out of the public eye?
Picture credit: http://bit.ly/19XfsF2
If you have not already signed up to our mailing list, you can add your name here and keep up to date with our ongoing work and, most importantly, DONATE to support our work to conserve the remaining fragile lion populations. Thank you.
0 Comments