Media Release from Members Of The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa (WAPFSA)

The recent news release of 342 kg of lion bones discovered on an outbound flight at OR Tambo Airport on 1^st October 2019 which was subsequentially confiscated, has had extensive media coverage.

The comment from the Director of Communications at the Department of Environmental Affairs, Albi Modise was that “although the export of lion bones born in captivity was legal, a special permit was required to send them out.” This statement was reported by a number of media outlets, including World News, The Straits Times, BBC News, EWN, MSN, Business Standard, 7D News, and This is Money UK, Getaway, Jacaranda FM, and NST.

The export of lion bones from South Africa is currently illegal. In order to be legal, a yearly quota is supposed to be proposed by the South African Scientific Authority including the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) through the National Convention on the international Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Management Authority, then approved and communicated to all provincial conservation departments and managed at National level under the authority of the Minister of Forestry and Fishery and Environmental Affairs, Barbara Creecy.

It has come to our attention that 18 chimpanzees have recently been exported from South Africa to China (https://news.sina.cn/gn/2019-09-16/detail-iicezueu6071304.d.html?from=wap).

This letter, signed by 54 experts who “collectively are world-renowned authorities on elephant behavior, sociality, welfare, care and conservation,” was sent to US Fish and Wildlife today in opposition to any prospective imports of wild-caught elephants from Zimbabwe (or, by extension, any nation)

Read full letter

© Copyright EMS Foundation 2019. All rights reserved.

An Analysis Of Animal-Based Issues, Campaigns And Organisations

“The animals of the world exist for their own reason. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men.”

Alice Walker

Oppression of animals that are not human often takes place invisibly. Social constructs and arrangements as a result of capitalist culture, which separate people from the means of production, have meant that the brutal exploitation and suffering of other animals is  becoming increasingly invisible and ignored. The research focus of this report will introduce perspectives, which challenge widely held social institutions and beliefs and which question common assumptions relating to animals and societal hierarchies of oppression more  generally. The way humans relate to animals acts as a metaphor for human society and directly reflects social systems of domination and control. This research report is also an attempt to promote discussion and debate around the nature of the concealed exploitation of other animals and the contested terrain in which it is framed.

Read the full PDF Report

© Copyright EMS Foundation 2019. All rights reserved.

We want to highlight the importance of today’s Lion Bone Judgement which has major implications for CapeNature and the issuing of permits to facilities keeping captive wildlife and offering wildlife/human interaction. We request a moratorium on issuing of permits until processes and procedures will be in place to implement the judjment which we request you to incorporate into the Biodiversity Bill.

Read the full PDF

© Copyright EMS Foundation 2019. All rights reserved.