ASIAN BIG CATS IN CAPTIVITY IN SOUTH AFRICA

On the 20th of January 2023 the EMS Foundation wrote an urgent Open Letter to Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy reminding the Honorable Minister about the open communication sent on the 22nd April 2021 expressing their grave concerns about public safety as a result of the unregulated and burgeoning tiger backyard breeding industry in South Africa.

South Africans and the world at large witnessed the tragic events that took place this week when a tiger escaped from a residential property in Gauteng Province injuring a man and killing domestic animals. The tiger was tracked, shot and killed.

Tigers are listed as CITES Appendix 1 animals and are highly endangered. The trade in these animals is regulated and overseen by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. DFFE has systematically over a number of years completely disregarded pleas from the NGO sector to close down this captive breeding facilities because of public safety concerns and the booming illegal tiger bone trade.

Read the full letter:

Please read the open letter dated the 22nd April 2021:

Image Credit: A tiger in captivity at Letsatsi La Africa, EMS Foundation

©EMS Foundation 2023. All Rights Reserved.