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parvez · 02-14-2018, 09:36 PM

@Rishi I agree with you on some points but neutering the captive lions may be the solution to this. All the lions who have no conservation value should be neutered and there should be no reproduction from them. Wild lions should not be killed. Strict laws must be implemented regarding hunting of conservation valued wild lions.

Rishi · 02-14-2018, 10:04 PM

@parvez If i'm not mistaken then there are more than 5000 of them, mostly young, as they don't get to grow old.

So, you have 5000+ big cats who are going to live for minimum another decade, with not enough space or resources to give them a proper life...
The private farms are not gonna keep & feed them forever, if they can't have them killed & get their investment back. I really don't see any feasible solution.

I doubt they can maintain this ban for more than a few months!

That the reason i suggested that it might be a planned step to have all hell break loose, so that they get a good excuse to keep the killing industry alive.

Matias · 02-16-2018, 12:00 AM

@Pckts @Rishi @parvez

Everyone made very valid remarks. Canned lions hunting has always been championed by the trophy hunting industry as a deterrent to wild lions' deaths. SCI, as the largest hunting club in the world, has enough influence to promote together with other practical associations that unravel South Africa (SA) as host country of canned hunting. What SCI did was break a paradigm in the world of hunting, which adds up to the restrictive quota of lion derivatives to be exported + public opinion are jointly initiating the destabilization of this lion raising industry. Now, there is no doubt that the creators of this lions will look for a commercial escape valve to get rid of them or continue with them. The very concept of canned hunting can be put in check, many private areas in the SA that use hunting to increase financial resources or to manage quantitative population will be determinant as to the survival of this industry of lions, since today the hunting these places are not considered canned hunting despite the use of fences around their perimeter. PHASA has recently positioned itself in favor of canned hunting for lions and the result has been the creation of a new association representing the interests of professional hunters as opposed to captive-bred lions (CPHCSA).

I know many opinions about trophy hunting, favor or against, and none in favor of the canned hunting of lions. No it is useful to make conjectures about the future of both the canned hunting of lions or what will happen to the wild lions after a possible end of this implement of creation in the SA. Let's just wait, signs that the current context can change. These lion creations for the hunting, entertainment, and bone market (Asian market) may simply relocate. Other countries such as Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique etc, can give vent to the needs of this trade. It is a source promising resources for governments with few international public concerns. In the context of reality today, it shows that there are more areas reserved for hunting in Africa than national parks. In the absence of public policies, regulated hunting retains at least habitat. Banning wild lion hunting will lead to many of these concessions (mainly those located in Mozambique and Tanzania) losing their main hunting incentive. For all that I have read, lion trophy hunting is responsible for numerous quantitative reductions, where very few hunting concessions have an increase in the number of resident lions, however, such countries are unable to promote any conservation of lions and other wild species in these hunting blocks. Let's look at the situation in Botswana that in 2014 abolished the trophy hunting. We can not forget that Bostwana is among the four most visited in Africa, and yet it is facing an increase in unprecedented poaching after abolishing ancient hunting blocks and not having implemented a substitute to keep its wildlife population safe.

That's why conservation is so interesting ....... the more we study ........ the more distant are the answers.

Pckts · 03-13-2018, 10:31 PM

John Varty Newsletter
Instinct versus Learnt
I have wondered for many years what is instinct and what is learnt in the Tiger world.
In August 2015, the male Tiger, Mahindra left his territory and found the male tiger Sariska sleeping. He killed him on the ground with a bite behind the ear.
At the same time Sariska was the father of a litter of cubs which included the male cub Bird. (Bird is named because of a pattern of a flying eagle on his forehead).
Bird’s mother, Tibo, was now left with no protection for her cubs (The litter was Bird, Shamilee and Oksana).
I fully expected Mahindra to kill Tibo’s cubs which is the norm for male tigers who are not the father. However, Mahindra took over the father role of Tibo’s cubs and protected them. (The reason is that Mahindra is Tibo’s brother and therefore he is genetically invested in her cubs).
In short Mahindra spared Bird's life when he took over the father role. Therefore, it is difficult to understand why Bird four years later would turn on Mahindra, his foster father and assist Sunderban, the territorial male, to kill Mahindra.
In the dark the two male tigers, Mahindra and Sunderban, engaged in a brutal fight. It appeared to me that the two male tigers were evenly matched. The balance of power shifted when Bird entered the fight. (Bird is 225 kilograms in weight and bigger than both Sunderban and Mahindra. However, Bird is only 4 years old and not as experienced at fighting). I would have thought Bird would have sided with Mahindra, but he supports Sunderban instead.
As Sunderban attacks from the front, Bird goes to the rear and bites Mahindra through the spine, effectively crippling him. Now Sunderban is able to overpower Mahindra and throttle him to death.
The questions I ask are, how at the age of 4 years old, does Bird know that a spinal bite will render Mahindra helpless? Does Bird instinctively know that Mahindra killed his father Sariska and he is taking revenge? Why does Bird not side with the male tiger that effectively saved his life when Bird was a cub?
The answer I believe lies in none of the above. Bird has formed a coalition with Sunderban. (Bird became bigger than Sunderban before he dispersed and Sunderban was unable to expel him from the territory.)
When Sunderban could not expel Bird from the territory, he did the expedient thing, he formed a coalition with him. Sunderban suffers from cryptorchidism (This is a condition where the testicles sit inside and not outside the male’s body).
Sunderban mates with females, but his stamina is not at the level of other Male Tigers (The cryptorchidism has left Sunderban with low levels of testosterone.)
In recent matings, as Sunderban tires, Bird has been able to take over the mating and inject his genes into the system.
If Mahindra had won the fight, Mahindra would have monopolized the mating and there would be no opportunity for Bird to mate. Therefore, it is in Bird’s interest to kill Mahindra, not Sunderban.
I would like to thank all of you who stayed in the Tigress Julie Lodge in 2017 and invite everyone to visit us in 2018.
2018 Promises to be a bumper year photographically.
I urge you all in 2018 to try to cut down on your use of plastic and also explore ways of moving our motor cars away from fossil fuels.
Wishing you a Healthy New Year.
Tread Lightly on the Earth
JV
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.jvbigcats.co.za