One of the themes of the Custodians of Professional Hunting and Conservation annual conference, held last month near the riverside Free State town of Parys, was conservation and messaging. As I have noted before, debates around hunting are often misleadingly portrayed usually by animal welfar.
For some conservation and welfare groups, in fact, shooting high-profile or other species is abhorrent, and they worry the practice is damaging South Africa’s economy, even though the hunting industry may generate a rough spending stimulus of about US$180-million (R3.4-billion) a year.
In 2021, the South African government committed to shutting down the country’s captive-lion breeding industry, which provided animals for canned hunts. Among the sticking points slowing progress is what should happen to the thousands of lions that remain on private ranches.
Socio-cultural aspects to blame for slow rate of transformation in South Africa s hunting industry iol.co.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from iol.co.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.