MEDIA ALERT
Tuesday 20 February 2007
MEC Mayisela meets with lion farmers.
Mafikeng - North West MEC for Agriculture Conservation and Environment Mandlenkosi Mayisela is to hold a quarterly meeting with lion farmers from across the province this afternoon. Today’s meeting coincides with the publishing of the new regulations on threatened and protected species to be promulgated at 13h00 by the National Minister for Environment and Tourism. The game farmers have previously expressed grave concerns regarding the impact of the new regulations on their industry.
The MEC will meet the farmers at:
Venue: Lawn Farm
(40 Kilometers from Mafikeng, along the Vryburg Road)
Time: 3pm
Up for discussion will be the fact that the new national regulations require that a lion be free to roam for 24 months on a farm before it can be hunted. In contrast, the regulations of the North West currently only require the animal to be free roaming for only 96 hours. “It is the feeling of my lion farming stakeholders that the extended time frame required by the new national regulations will almost certainly kill their industry. I have some sympathy with their perspective on the matter” said Mayisela.
The North West Government earned estimated R6 million in revenue from the professional hunting of 260 lions in the fiscal year 2004/5 alone. Mayisela will be meeting the game farmers to work out a way forward in the light of the new regulations. “We hope to continue to engage the national minister to at least allow provinces to work within their prevailing regulatory regimes”.
It is the view of the MEC that lion hunting in the North West is currently very well regulated and managed by his department. Game Farmers are required to:
· Obtain permits to keep lions
· Have large, well fenced enclosures
· Obtain permits to hunt animals
· To apply and have Cites permits issued before lions can transported outside of the country’s borders
· To have adequate levels of veterinary care
· Be fed an appropriate diet
The province has a population of 1700 lions in captivity, worth an estimated 85 million rand. The kept lions industry employs over 900 keepers; with an infrastructure and land investment of over 700 million rands. Communities such as Ganyesa in the Bophirima district make significant living by supplying donkeys to the lion farmers.
Members of the media are invited to this meeting.
Ends
Issued by : DACE Corporate Communication
Contact : Ms Lesego Mncwango
018 389 5768 / 5346
082 220 6367
Agricentre, Dr James Moroka Drive. Private Bag X 2039, Mmabatho 2735. Republic of South Africa
(opposite Convention Centre) Mafikeng Tel: +27(18) 389 5681