Tag: South Africa

World Elephant Day is a reminder that peaceful coexistence with this imperiled species is possible and necessary

Humane Society International / South Africa

Anton Van Niekerk/for HSI JJ van Altena mixes elephant immunocontraceptive vaccine and injects it into darts, as Audrey Delsink of HSI assists. South Africa, August 2020

CAPE TOWN—This World Elephant Day, Humane Society International/Africa is celebrating the treatment of its 34th population of African elephants using the immunocontraception vaccine as a humane population growth control method. This brings the total number of females under treatment in South Africa to 1,035 – which is more than half of all breeding-age female elephants outside of the Kruger National Park, which does not use contraception.

As an effective alternative to the traditional method of culling – when family groups are gunned down – immunocontraception uses the female elephant’s own immune response to block egg fertilisation. Female elephants over the age of 10 years are treated remotely from a helicopter with a dart that contains the immunocontraception vaccine and a marking substance.that creates a quick reference of which animals have been darted. The dart falls out shortly afterwards. The animals do not need to be immobilised to be treated and vaccinations are completed within minutes.

Download photos and video of elephants receiving the immunocontraception vaccine.

“Shooting these magnificent animals to control their numbers is an antiquated, cruel and unnecessary way to deal with an elephant population that is increasingly squeezed by human encroachment. Immunocontraception is the future of humane elephant conservation,” said Audrey Delsink, wildlife director for HSI/Africa and an elephant biologist.

“Elephants are widely acknowledged as highly cognitive, sentient beings with close-knit family bonds that span generations. It has also been well documented that these sensitive animals suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress for decades after undergoing traumatic experiences such as capture from the wild, culling or poaching,” said Delsink.

Humane Society International and the Humane Society of the United States have funded cutting-edge research on the use of this non-steroidal, non-hormonal and humane method of elephant population control since 1996. HSI adopts a science-based approach, and with its research partners, has published numerous scientific papers documenting the vaccine’s efficacy, reversibility, lack of behavioural side effects and cost-effectiveness.

“African elephants face many challenges, particularly habitat loss,” added Delsink. “The past three decades have seen their habitat shrink by half, which also leads to increased opportunities for human-elephant conflict on the fringes of neighbouring rural communities, parks and reserves.”

HSI/Africa is working to protect elephants from these and other threats through advocacy, education, policy and regulatory reforms, ivory-demand reduction programmes and on-the-ground conflict resolution efforts. It is the only non-governmental organisation that specifically works on humane methods of birth control in and around zones where elephants could come into conflict with surrounding communities.

With natural processes such as elephant migration curtailed by fences and borders and elephants limited to smaller areas, the ecosystem within the animals’ range also needs to be carefully managed. With females able to produce eight to 10 calves in their lifetime, elephant populations are able to double every 10 to 15 years, making immunocontraception a vital tool in elephant management plans.

Boys will be … bulls

Young male or bull elephants are sometimes incorrectly labelled as ‘problem’ or ‘damage-causing’ animals because they do what they are biologically programmed to do: to seek out new territory after leaving their natal herd. In the process, conflict with people can occur and the animals may be legally destroyed.

To mitigate such conflict in a community in rural KwaZulu-Natal, HSI/Africa and partners Global Supplies and Conservation Outcomes recently deployed three satellite collars on two bulls and a member of a family herd. The collars facilitate the remote monitoring of the animals’ movements: when a collared elephant nears a defined perimeter, reserve management are alerted and can then take steps to reduce the chance of conflict.

This is the second community reserve in the province where the partnership has deployed immunocontraception and satellite collars, embracing science and technology to provide more humane solutions that allow people and elephants to peacefully co-exist.

Download photos and video of elephants receiving the immunocontraception vaccine.

ENDS

Media contact: Marisol Gutierrez, HSI/Africa media and communications manager, +27 72 358 9531, mgutierrez@hsi.org

More lions in cruel captivity than in the wild, says Humane Society International

Humane Society International / South Africa

Chris Upton/Alamy Stock Photo

CAPE TOWN—South Africa is not a good place for lions today, on World Lion Day—and it won’t be tomorrow either, with an estimated 11,000 lions held captive in more than 300 facilities across the country. The captive lion breeding industry is marked by ongoing exposure of poor conditions and welfare standards, inhumane slaughter and pending cruelty cases.

“Like the pitiful circuses of old, the clock is ticking for this abusive industry, and the South African government should be doing more to hasten its end,” said Audrey Delsink, wildlife director for Humane Society International/Africa. “As consumers become increasingly aware of the cruel and exploitative practices in captive lion breeding and its spin-off industries, taking concrete steps to shut down this profit-driven, putrid trade would be a fitting way to honour World Lion Day.”

In addition to serious welfare and conservation concerns, COVID-19 has also placed a spotlight on infectious disease outbreaks linked to the wildlife trade.

“In captive breeding facilities, many lions are confined under unhygienic, stressful conditions, and they are often slaughtered on site, creating ideal conditions for the spread of zoonoses,” said Delsink.

There are almost four times more lions in cruel captivity in South Africa than there are in the wild. The country is home to only 3,000 wild lions.

The captive lion industry has no conservation value and is believed to be contributing to the growing demand for body parts of big cats and threatening global populations of other big carnivores—including tigers who are bred, slaughtered and hunted along with lion. The World Wildlife Crime Report issued in May 2020 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime stated that illicit markets in big cats raise conservation concerns for the species.

The industry’s associated activities—such as cub petting, lion walking, ‘canned’ hunting and the trade in lion bone and other body parts—have continued despite the 2018 Parliamentary Colloquium that led to a committee resolution calling for the closure of the industry.

HSI/Africa provided an extensive submission to the high-level panel commissioned by the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Barbara Creecy to inform state policy on the management of lions, leopards and other wild animals in the country.

HSI/Africa called on the panel to take the following actions:

  • Implement the directives of the Parliamentary resolution addressing captive lion breeding without further delay;
  • Place an immediate moratorium on new captive lion breeding facilities or further breeding at existing lion facilities;
  • Place a moratorium on the international import and export of live animals and animal parts, pending an independent investigation into allegations of CITES and local regulation non-compliance; and
  • Engage with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development to repeal recent amendments to legislation that facilitate the management of wild animals as farm animals, and the slaughter and consumption of lion and other wild animals as human food.

Tourists are often not aware that South Africa’s wildlife ‘entertainment’ facilities are linked to canned lion hunting, and many such facilities dupe unsuspecting tourists into spending time and money on volunteering at these places under the guise of ‘conservation’.

Trophy hunting

Lions exist in only 8% of their former range and are suffering from loss of habitat and prey, in addition to being decimated by trophy hunting.

HSI analysis of CITES trade data shows that between 2017 and 2018, the European Union imported 398 lion trophies, while the United States imported 150. Of the 406 EU trophies, 312 were from captive lion hunting facilities in South Africa.

Despite claims that the captive predator breeding industry and trophy hunting of captive-bred lions is a significant contributor to the economy, the contribution to South Africa’s GDP is marginal and benefits only a few. A recently published paper estimates that total gross revenue for the sub-sector is estimated at roughly USD $180 million per annum. These revenues represent a mere 0,96% of tourism’s total GDP contribution in 2019 (USD $18.8 million) but may entail extensive opportunity costs. The reputational damage to South Africa and the cost to its tourism is a far-greater risk than the country can afford as consumers increasingly seek out ethical tourist destinations around the world.

Panthera leo is classified by CITES as endangered, listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and is also listed in the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

ENDS

Media contact: Marisol Gutierrez, HSI-Africa media and communications manager, +27 72 358 9531, mgutierrez@hsi.org

UPDATE: HSI-Africa reached out to the Express requesting its article be corrected, which it has now done, amending the headline and correcting the statements accordingly.

Humane Society International / South Africa

South Africa—Following publication of an online story in the UK’s Daily Express newspaper, published (11 May 2020), Humane Society International-Africa has released the following statement of clarification regarding the misleading nature of its headline and various quotes attributed to Audrey Delsink, HSI-Africa’s wildlife director.

HSI-Africa’s Audrey Delsink addressed the global wildlife trade in a recent phone interview with the Express and detailed the sad reality that pangolins are the most trafficked land mammal and are illegally trafficked from South Africa to China, to be eaten as delicacies and used in traditional medical elixirs. Delsink also explained that pangolins have been cited as one of the possible intermediate hosts for the virus, to which scientists believe humans were first exposed at a wildlife market in Wuhan, China.

While Delsink conceded that it is not inconceivable a pangolin trafficked from South Africa could have ended up in a wildlife market in Wuhan, China, where the conditions were such that COVID-19 first evolved, she made no suggestion at all that the virus originated in South Africa. The article incorrectly implies that a South African pangolin was the “host” and carried the disease from South Africa, which is not the view of Delsink or of HSI and for this reason HSI-Africa has reached out to the Express, requesting for the article to be corrected.

“The trade in wildlife through incredibly inhumane methods is not just an animal welfare concern, but it poses risks to public health. Scientists have linked the COVID-19 pandemic to wildlife trade – specifically to the consumption of wildlife at a market in Wuhan, China. Globally, animals, including endangered animals, are found at wildlife markets, held in close confinement and sold for consumption, fashion, medicine and the pet trade. We urge governments to learn from this crisis and to ban the trade in wildlife for these purposes to minimise the risks of future zoonotic disease outbreaks”, said Delsink.

Humane Society International, along with many other international organisations, has called on governments to urgently ban in the trade in and consumption of wild animals worldwide. Last month, Humane Society International published a science-based white paper, WILDLIFE MARKETS and COVID-19, addressing the links between zoonotic diseases and the wildlife trade.

Fast facts:

  • Zoonotic diseases are responsible for over two billion cases of human illness and over two million human deaths each year.
  • Zoonoses account for 58% of all known human pathogens, and for 73% of all emerging infectious diseases affecting humans.
  • Risk of disease transmission is prevalent across all aspects of wildlife trade, which also supplies products to the traditional medicine industry.
  • Chinese academics have called on the government to support transitioning the wildlife farming industry away from the production of traditional medicine,as studies have highlighted that over 80% of Traditional Medicine consumers would consider herbal or synthetic alternatives to wild animal products.
  • In South Africa, there is a legal lion bone trade that primarily feeds the Asian market for traditional medicine,as well as luxury items that serve as a status symbol. Currently, there are approximately 12,000 lions – living in captive facilities to supply this industry – four times more than the entire South African wild lion population.
  • The consumption of wildlife products has been linked to zoonotic diseases,and the captive conditions are conducive to the development of new emerging pathogens.

ENDS 

Media Contact: HSI-Africa: Leozette Roode, media & outreach manager, lroode@hsi.org, +2771 360 1104

Humane Society International / Global

HSI HSI/India responds to the COVID-19 pandemic in Lucknow, India.

Update, March 2022: Read a report about the global impact of the HSI-Mars partnership on animals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

WASHINGTON— Family-owned Mars, Incorporated has donated $1 million to animal welfare organization Humane Society International for its global companion animal programs. The donation is a part of Mars’ initial $20 million cash and in-kind donations to aid communities across the globe during the COVID-19 crisis. HSI will use the funds in targeted countries to help keep companion animals in their homes, to assist shelters taking in abandoned or surrendered animals, and to provide for street dogs and cats who are not able to be fed by their communities during this time.

“We are incredibly grateful to Mars for this generous donation, which recognizes that our companion animals are a vital part of our families,” said HSI President Jeffrey Flocken. “They are a source of comfort and unwavering affection, particularly in difficult times. As the world struggles with this pandemic, these critically needed funds will directly help dogs and cats who are suffering as a result of the coronavirus crisis, be it starving dogs on the streets in India, Chile and elsewhere, or shelters in need of vital supplies in South Africa and beyond.”

“It’s vital that businesses like ours do our part to ensure the continued health and well-being of the people, pets and communities most affected by COVID-19, which is why Mars Incorporated has committed $20 million in relief to vulnerable populations across the world,” said Poul Weihrauch, President, Mars Global Petcare. “For those of us fortunate enough to have animals in our lives, the companionship, love and comfort they bring has probably never felt more important. That’s why we are pleased to provide $1 million in support to HSI, an organization dedicated to providing critical support to the millions of vulnerable pets across the world.”

HSI is strategically deploying the grant to provide the greatest impact for animals at risk or suffering as a result of this global crisis. Recognizing that each country is experiencing the effects of the pandemic on a different timeline and faces different animal welfare needs, the relief effort will be conducted in phases. Phase 1 will focus on the most urgent needs in eight geographic areas:  Chile, China, Guyana, India, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa and the Middle East region. HSI already has a presence and/or existing relationships with local organizations and governments in these locations, which will help to maximize the campaign’s impact.

The range of work will include:

  • Assisting residents to enable them to keep their animals at home;
  • Helping shelters that face shortages of food and supplies while dealing with increased numbers of animals surrendered or abandoned by owners who can longer care for them;
  • Tending to community animals who have lost their usual sources of food and medical care as a result of lockdown policies;
  • Working with governments to ensure companion animals are incorporated into pandemic emergency plans by designating veterinary services as essential and allowing advocates to rescue animals in need during lockdowns; and
  • Promoting accurate and useful information about appropriate animal welfare for cats and dogs during the pandemic.

HSI estimates that Phase 1 will help more than 20,000 animals. Subsequent phases of the campaign will be determined as the crisis spreads to new areas or intensifies in current areas, and the needs shift.

An additional component of the campaign involves engaging Mars Associates through volunteer opportunities to make a tangible difference for dogs and cats affected by the pandemic. Opportunities include reaching out to local shelters to offer assistance, encouraging their networks to adopt and foster shelter animals, and virtual engagement and support of the Mars-HSI initiative to help animals in need during the COVID-19 crisis.

“We are immensely proud to work with Mars on this effort,” said Flocken. “Mars’ commitment to animals and the people who love and care for them has never been more evident than it is now, during this unprecedented time.”

Download photos and video of animals affected by the pandemic.

END

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Nancy Hwa, Humane Society International, nhwa@hsi.org, 202-596-0808
Kimberly West, Mars, Incorporated, Director of External Communications, Kimberly.west@effem.com.

 

HSI and its partner organizations together constitute one of the world’s largest animal protection organizations. For more than 25 years, HSI has been working for the protection of all animals through the use of science, advocacy, education and hands-on programs. hsi.org and @hsiglobal.

Humane Society International / Global

Wildlife trophies
Ton Koene/Alamy

WASHINGTON — Every year, trophy hunters kill tens of thousands of wild animals around the world for fun and bragging rights. Their gruesome quests, some of which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, may even involve illegal activities. The trophy hunting industry marginalizes local people and exploits the corruption of government officials. Moreover, the glorification of gratuitous violence through hunters’ social media posts with images of themselves posing with animals they’ve slain belies their conservation claims.

The Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society International and Humane Society Legislative Fund highlight here the “Terrible Ten Trophy Hunting Stories of 2019.”

Both Safari Club International, a primary defender of trophy hunting worldwide, and Donald Trump, Jr., a headliner at SCI’s February 2020 annual convention, made the list.

  1. At Safari Club International’s annual trophy hunting convention in January 2019 in Nevada, an undercover investigation by HSUS and HSI found vendors peddling captive-bred lion hunts in contravention of SCI’s own policies. Some vendors offered for sale the body parts and products of imperiled species such as elephants and hippos, in apparent violation of Nevada state wildlife trafficking laws.
  2. In February, Pakistanis reacted with indignation when a video and photos emerged showing an American trophy hunter from Texas, smiling alongside the  markhor he paid $110,000 to kill in Pakistan. This imperiled species of mountain goat is Pakistan’s national animal.
  3. A 2011 video featuring an American trophy hunter from Illinois sneaking up on and killing a sleeping lion in Zimbabwe, surfaced in March 2019. The video shows the man receiving congratulations from his companions as the wounded lion writhed in pain on the ground.
  4. A trophy hunter covered in blood posed with the mountain lion she had just killed in Colorado.
  5. South African authorities discovered 108 lions suffering in terrible conditions at a captive-breeding facility that supplies lions for canned hunts in May.
  6. An American trophy hunter from Kentucky who widely shared photos of a giraffe she had killed in 2018 re-ignited controversy and headlines in June 2019, when she bragged about her kill and stated in an interview that the giraffe meat “tasted delicious” and the skin would make fabulous pillows. A 2018 HSUS investigation into the sale of giraffe-skin pillows and other products led New York to recently become the first state in the U.S.— and the world —to ban the trade.
  7. A Canadian couple who posted a photo of themselves in July kissing over the dead lion they’d just killed in South Africa demonstrated their remorseless killing of an animal threatened with extinction. The lion allegedly came from a captive breeding facility.
  8. In September it was reported that the Trump Administration allowed a Michigan trophy hunter to import parts of a critically endangered black rhino he paid $400,000 to kill in Namibia.
  9. In December, ProPublica released the news that Donald Trump, Jr., known for his trophy hunting, had killed an imperiled argali sheep in Mongolia without a permit earlier in the year. Trump, Jr., is the scheduled keynote speaker at the February 2020 Safari Club International convention, which will auction off a trophy hunting trip with him.
  10. Two people in charge of a hunting party that killed five elephants in Botswana  had their hunting licenses revoked by the government. Because the killing of collared animals is not permitted in Botswana, the hunters destroyed one elephant’s collar to hide the evidence of their crime.

Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States said, “Killing magnificent wild animals for fun and social media bragging is not only wrong, but a serious detriment to conservation that undermines federal and international wildlife protection measures. We must all move beyond such violence, which is driving rare and treasured species to extinction.”

The three groups encourage the public to contact their Members of Congress to support H.R. 4804, the ProTECT Act of 2019 (Prohibiting Threatened and Endangered Creature Trophies Act) which would amend the Endangered Species Act  to prohibit taking endangered or threatened species into the United States as trophies as well as the importation of any such trophies into the United States.

 

Media contacts:

The Humane Society of the United States/Humane Society Legislative Fund:

Rodi Rosensweig, 203-270-8929, RRosensweig@humanesociety.org

Humane Society International:

Nancy Hwa, 202-676-2337, nhwa@hsi.org

 

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Founded in 1954, the Humane Society of the United States and its affiliates around the globe fight the big fights to end suffering for all animals. Together with millions of supporters, the HSUS takes on puppy mills, factory farms, trophy hunts, animal testing and other cruel industries, and together with its affiliates, rescues and provides direct care for over 100,000 animals every year. The HSUS works on reforming corporate policy, improving and enforcing laws and elevating public awareness on animal issues. More at humanesociety.org.

Humane Society International and its partner organizations together constitute one of the world’s largest animal protection organizations. For more than 25 years, HSI has been working for the protection of all animals through the use of science, advocacy, education and hands on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty worldwide – on the Web at hsi.org.

The Humane Society Legislative Fund is a social welfare organization incorporated under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code and formed in 2004 as a separate lobbying affiliate of The Humane Society of the United States. The HSLF works to pass animal protection laws at the state and federal level, to educate the public about animal protection issues, and to support humane candidates for office. Visit us on all our channels: on the web at hslf.org, on our blog at animalsandpolitics.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/humanelegislation and on Twitter at twitter.com/HSLegFund.

Humane Society International/Africa and FOUR PAWS South Africa expose the captive lion breeding industry and ask tourists and residents to help #ProtectLions

Humane Society International / Global

Leozette Roode/HSI A captive-bred lion cub at a captive lion breeding facility in South Africa that offers “cub petting.”

JOHANNESBURG—Animal protection organisations Humane Society International/Africa and FOUR PAWS South Africa join forces this World Animal Day with a roaring call to protect lions in South Africa from tourist exploitation. The organisations are urging travellers, travel guides and tour operators to fight lion exploitation by refusing to participate in or promote human-lion interactions, such as cub bottle-feeding or petting, walking with lions or canned trophy hunting. HSI/Africa and FOUR PAWS urge tourists to support ethical sanctuaries and wildlife game drives instead as a natural and cruelty-free alternative to see lions roaming freely in their natural habitat. Ethical tourists can also sign a petition hsi.org/snugglescam and take the #lionlongevityoath.

South Africa has an estimated 8,000 – 11,000 captive-bred lions being held in over 260 lion farms across the country. These lions suffer from a vicious cycle of exploitation, from cradle to grave. Unsuspecting visitors are often fooled into supporting and funding what HSI/Africa and FOUR PAWS call the ‘‘Snuggle Scam” by paying for selfie photo opportunities, including petting and bottle-feeding with very young lion cubs, or walking experiences with captive older lions. These lions are eventually offered to be shot as trophies or slaughtered in masses to meet the demand of the international lion-bone trade.

Audrey Delsink, wildlife director of HSI/Africa, said, “Most people come to South Africa because they love lions and other wild animals. They would be shocked to learn that the cute lion cubs they pose with for selfies will one day be killed for profit as trophies or bogus medicines. Lack of awareness of the suffering behind every cub photo or pay-to-pet experience, is one of the biggest drivers of this industry that ultimately ends with lions being sold to canned hunts to be shot by trophy hunters and their bones destined for the lion bone trade in Asia. We are thrilled to work with FOUR PAWS South Africa to raise awareness of the ‘Snuggle Scam’, to urge people to stay away from these facilities, and instead to see these magnificent animals in the wild where they belong.”

In the wild, lion cubs remain with their mothers for 18 months, and adult females don’t produce another litter for at least 15 to 24 months after giving birth. By contrast, cubs born on breeding farms are taken from their mothers when they are just a few days or even hours old, forcing the mother into an exhausting and continuous breeding cycle. These captive breeding females are incarcerated in enclosures their entire lives, sometimes without adequate food, hygiene or the ability to express their natural behaviours. The cubs are hand-reared by volunteers from around the globe paying thousands of dollars who are misled into believing the cubs are orphans.

Fiona Miles, director of FOUR PAWS in South Africa, said, “It is time for all of us to realise the part we play in the welfare of animals – especially in the instance of lions. We are happy to join forces with HSI/Africa and encourage tourists not to feed the cruel industry of captive breeding exploitation. We need the public’s help to end the #BigCatScam by vowing never to participate in any activity that exploit lions for commercial purposes. The FOUR PAWS project LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary provides a true ethical experience, where no interaction or breeding is allowed. We provide a lifelong home for previously captive-bred and rescued big cats from across the globe, with more than 100 of these iconic animals in our care.”

The South African government sanctions the captive lion breeding industry and has established an export quota for the international lion bone trade, despite growing global outrage. In August this year, the Pretoria High Court declared the South African government’s 2017 and 2018 lion bone export quotas as “unlawful and constitutionally invalid”. South Africa is a popular tourist destination that welcomed approximately 10.3 million foreign tourists and facilitated 17.2 million domestic tourism trips in 2017 (South Africa Tourism Report 2017). The top 10 tourist arrivals in South Africa are from the United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany, France, Netherlands, Australia, India, China, Brazil and Canada.

ENDS

Key facts:

  • Only about 20,000 lions remain in the wild in Africa.
  • Between 8,000 – 11,000 captive-bred lions are suffering in captivity in some 260 facilities across South Africa, marketed to tourists as lion interaction experiences. With fewer than 3,000 wild lions, South Africa has more lions languishing in captivity than in the wild.
  • Lions are a threatened species, listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. While the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora prohibits the trade of bones from wild lions, it does allow South Africa to export bones from captive ones.
  • It is impossible to differentiate body parts from wild vs. captive lions, so the legal export of captive lion bones facilitates the illegal export of wild lion bones.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Humane Society International/Africa: Leozette Roode, media and outreach manager,  0713601104, lroode@hsi.org

FOUR PAWS South Africa: MJ Lourens, head of communications, 082 922 9046, mj.lourens@four-paws.org

 

 

LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary embraces global plant-based food trend and joins HSI’s Green Monday South Africa movement

Humane Society International / Africa

Daniel Born/FOUR PAWS Plant-based food on display at LIONSROCK in South Africa to celebrate joining the Green Monday movement.

JOHANNESBURG—FOUR PAWS South Africa and LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary have teamed up with Humane Society International/Africa to join the global movement towards more plant-based, sustainable food by launching a meat-free Monday campaign alongside the opening of the sanctuary’s new restaurant.

The restaurant will offer 100% meat-free meals (of which 80% will be vegan) every Monday, and a selection of these plant-based dishes will be available on a daily basis. The new earth-friendly menu will launch on World Animal Day, 4 October 2019, to raise awareness of the destructive impact large-scale animal agriculture has on the planet and our wildlife, such as deforestation, drought, pollution and climate change.

The restaurant’s decision to introduce more plant-based options was inspired by HSI/Africa’s Green Monday SA meat-reduction initiative, encouraging South Africans to eat plant-based at least one day every week to improve their health, reduce their carbon footprint and make a positive difference to the lives of farm animals. HSI/Africa provided plant-based culinary training to LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary’s chefs to help develop the new green menus.

Leozette Roode, media and outreach manager for HSI/Africa, said: “Many South Africans are aware of the negative impacts of a meat-based diet on their health and the planet, but most have not considered the implications of their food-choices on our wildlife. Animal agriculture is a leading cause of habit destruction and wildlife extinction, so reducing our meat consumption and eating more plant-based meals is something everyone can do every day to help the planet. Reducing or replacing meat allows us to farm more sustainably, reduce our carbon and water footprints, and help save animals –  including farm animals, aquatic species and wildlife. By joining HSI/Africa’s Green Monday SA campaign and serving 100% meat-free meals, FOUR PAWS and LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary are spreading the vital message that we can stand up for animals every time we sit down to eat.”

LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary in Bethlehem was established by the animal welfare organization FOUR PAWS South Africa in 2006. Fiona Miles, director of FOUR PAWS, said: “We are committed to joining the Green Monday SA movement and reducing meat consumption at LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary – giving our guests the opportunity to help even more animals. We are extremely excited to add plant-based dishes to our menu that are not only tasty, but healthy and sustainable too.”

Animal agriculture is one of the leading contributors to climate change and deforestation which impacts the survival of wildlife globally. With more than 1 billion land animals reared and slaughtered in South Africa for the food industry every year, industrial scale animal agriculture impacts our wildlife in detrimental ways.

Four ways in which a meat-based diet kills wildlife:

  • Raising livestock and growing the crops used to feed farm animals require vast amounts of arable land. Often wildlife-rich areas (such as the Amazon rainforest, that homes over 3 million species of plants and animals) are destroyed to create space for monocrops like soy and maize. This deforestation leads to habitat loss and destruction of wildlife species.
  • Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are released during meat, egg and milk production. In South Africa, animal agriculture accounts for 60% of total agricultural carbon dioxide. These gases increase the chances for severe weather events like droughts and fires. Many wildlife species are suffering due to a lack of water in the extreme droughts South Africa has faced over the past couple of years.
  • Animal agriculture pollutes our water when animal manure, leftover animal feed and chemicals used to grow crops are flushed into our water systems. In some areas, this causes eutrophication in our water – an increased production of algae and phytoplankton that leads to algal blooms. These blooms produce deadly toxins that kill fish, marine mammals and seabirds and harm humans and wildlife.
  • To protect their livestock from being hunted by big cats and other carnivores, farmers often implementcruel lethal predator control methods using traps and poison. Many predators are also shot or trapped and killed when approaching livestock farms.

We can all stand up for animals every time we sit down to eat by reducing the number of animal products we eat.

For more information about Green Monday SA and the programs implemented in South Africa, visit greenmondayza.org.

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Humane Society International/Africa: Leozette Roode, media and outreach manager, 0713601104, lroode@hsi.org

FOUR PAWS South Africa: MJ Lourens, head of communications, 082 922 9046, mj.lourens@four-paws.org

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