En Afrique du Sud, les grands félins font l’objet d’un commerce et sont élevés de manière intensive. Ils sont commercialisés de manière légale, mais aussi illégale, alimentant ainsi le marché de la médecine traditionnelle asiatique et des articles de « luxe ». Ceci met en danger les grands félins et conduit à une crise de la biodiversité.
Nous nous engageons à mettre fin à l'élevage de tous les grands félins et à interdire tout commerce de grands félins et de leurs parties en provenance, à l'intérieur et à destination de l'Afrique du Sud. Mais nous avons besoin de votre aide. Signez notre pétition dès maintenant !
L'Afrique du Sud élève de nombreuses espèces de grands félins pour le commerce international et est l'un des plus grands exportateurs de grands félins et de leurs parties vers l'Asie. Le commerce illégal d'animaux sauvages est la quatrième activité criminelle au monde, et il est alimenté par le commerce de produits dérivés de grands félins en provenance d'Afrique du Sud. Cela alimente la demande des consommateurs, principalement en provenance d'Asie.
Rejoignez la campagne en ajoutant votre nom à notre pétition.
All big cats need protection
South Africa has recently announced its plans to immediately halt the domestication and exploitation of lions, and close captive lion facilities. While this is a positive step from Environment Minister Barbara Creecy, it is not enough. There are other big cat species in South Africa, native and exotic, that are being exploited and whose populations are at risk across the globe. All big cat trade is connected. FOUR PAWS will be closely monitoring South Africa’s Environment Ministry legislative process in the coming years and advocate to include all big cat species in the new policy.
A growing industry exploiting the world’s most iconic wild animals
The exploitation of big cats in South Africa continues to grow and includes not only indigenous species such as lions and leopards, but also exotic species like tigers and jaguars. It’s estimated that 12,000 lions are being intensively farmed in captive facilities across South Africa. For tigers, no one really knows how many are currently kept. The South African authorities were unable to tell us following a series of PAIA (Freedom of Information) requests, but there are South African NGOs estimating up to 1,500 tigers. The demand for big cats has meant they are now intensively bred and commercially traded in vast numbers across the globe:
• Legally: the commercial trade means they can be bred in captivity and exploited for profit (for interactions, kept as pets, trophy hunting or for entertainment)
• Illegally: South Africa is contributing to an illegal trade by supplying live animals to breeding farms in Asia and trading parts for traditional medicines
South Africa’s role in the global big cat trade
South Africa is farming numerous big cat species for the commercial international trade and is one of the biggest exporters of big cats and their parts to Asia. The illegal wildlife trade is the fourth largest criminal activity in the world, and it is being fuelled by the trade in big cat products from South Africa. This is driving consumer demand, largely from Asia, for their parts.
Business in the age of mass extinction.
All 5 big cat species (lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard) are threatened by unprecedented human influence, including trade, habitat loss and wildlife conflict. This is leading to the rapid decline in big cats and contributing to a global biodiversity crisis.