Michael ‘t Sas–Rolfes at the Oxford Martin School.
South Africa’s captive lion industry, considered by many to have ‘no conservation value’, is nevertheless linked to wild lion conservation – and indeed that of other wild felids – by way of a complex adaptive social-ecological system (through trade activities and markets), the mechanisms of which we do not yet fully understand.
The survey we undertook provides insights into how the (much reviled) practice of put-and-take lion hunting in South Africa may have some previously unconsidered collateral biodiversity conservation benefits (by rendering wildlife management a viable form of land use on areas that might otherwise be converted to conventional mono-cropping agriculture).
It further clearly demonstrates how the 2016 USA suspension on trophy imports from these SA captive-bred lions has caused economic disruption to this industry, with some evident unintended consequences, the upshot of which is that we now sit with an animal welfare quandary and a very precarious situation in terms of lion body part exports, creating a serious regulatory challenge for the South African government.
That’s three sentences! This is a very complicated issue and I intend to write a longer piece in the next few weeks that explains things more clearly.
Dr. Michael `t Sas–Rolfes
As an associate researcher at Oxford Martin School and a specialist in legal and illegal markets, your opinion can bring important new points.
It is certainly a thorny question from several points of view. It will be very interesting to read his arguments to be able to positively link “some side benefits of biodiversity conservation through a complex system adaptive socioecological (through commercial activities and markets and by making wildlife management a viable form of land use in areas that could be converted into conventional monoculture agriculture). ”
Media campaigns, a suspension of US trade, and a year-on-year reduction in the number of hunters in the SA, have brought enormous damage to the captive lion’s economy, and the most visible impact from outside is the physical degradation of caused by hunger.
The lion charisma is rooted in people. In terms of sustainability, I believe that connecting the savage lions’ survival to this captive economy is a task yet to be worked out. The demand for bone consumption in the Asian market and the pressure on wild lions still does not seem to be visible. I am not aware, on a commercial scale, of detention of hunters targeted for this purpose.
I also understand that it is very difficult for SA to recognize, because of the excitement that well-being causes, that the lion is an animal that must have a differentiated status, being outside the legal context that has provided this country with this worldwide success of conservation – that is, to inhibit the lion’s usufruct by private initiative. Politically this is an unacceptable measure, it should not be defined as a governmental measure. The free market will stabilize / resolve this issue.
I will follow your ideas with interest.