‘Lions, Bones and Bullets’: Wildlife documentary shocks South African parliamentarians during screening
'Lions, Bones and Bullets' tracks the journey of British conservation writer Richard Peirce as he visits lion ranches in South Africa, as well as wildlife markets in Southeast Asia.
IOL: Parliamentarians were left stunned after attending the screening of a new wildlife documentary, “Lions, Bones and Bullets”… The feature documentary was completed after nearly three years of investigation and filming in South Africa, Vietnam and Laos. It tracks the journey of British conservation writer Richard Peirce as he visits lion ranches in South Africa, as well as wildlife markets in Southeast Asia. “Lions, Bones and Bullets” also features interviews with local lion breeders as well as facilities in which big cats are housed prior to being shot for the trade in lion bones…
A panel discussion was held following the screening of the film in which the director of Four Paws in South Africa, Fiona Miles and the executive director, Africa for Humane Society International, Tony Gerrans, discussed captive lion breeding and the trade in lion parts… One of the questions put forward by the parliamentarians at the screening include what effect the closing down of the captive lion breeding Industry will have on unemployment. Miles explained that the captive breeding industry has long held the view that their contribution to employment is financially significant.
“They want to justify the existence thereof especially in terms of rural and regional economy and the multiplier effect,” she said. “Research done by an independent wildlife governance researcher, Ross Harvey, in 2018 on the economics of captive predator breeding in South Africa, however, shows that conclusions of studies done on this are questionable”…
She added that Harvey said in the study that supporting captive breeding did not necessarily contribute to job creation that could not otherwise be obtained through more ethical and conservation-enhancing activities. Miles said around job loss and job creation Four Paws could vouch that a true sanctuary like their Lionsrock Big Cat Sanctuary in the Free State has led to sustainable job creation in the area…
On the question of what will happen to the 8-10 000 lions in captivity if the industry is closed down, Miles said that there needs to be an assessment to ascertain exact population numbers, the welfare of individual lions and the state of the facilities. “The first step needs to be an immediate ban on captive breeding through sterilisation.”
She said that strict guidelines on breeding, keeping, animal husbandry and welfare also need to be imposed on such facilities, and a definition of a true sanctuary must be addressed in existing legislation. “The audit will also reveal true sanctuaries from commercial breeding facilities,” Miles said. “A true sanctuary provides a permanent home for animals and does not buy, sell, breed or trade-in animals or their parts for profit, nor do they allow any human interaction”…
“Lions, Bones and Bullets” premiered at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival in Monaco a year ago and has followed Oscar-winning “My Octopus Teacher” as a winner in the Jackson Wild Media Awards in the Educational and Informational Film category. Discussions by the film’s distributors are under way for South Africans to see the film…
Four Paws is a global animal welfare organisation which focuses on gradually improving the living conditions of animals under direct human influence, by revealing suffering, rescuing animals in need and protecting them. Meanwhile, Humane Society International (HSI) works around the globe to promote the human-animal bond and confront cruelty in all its forms. SOURCE…
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