FABULOUS SOUTH AFRICA and the hardest decision to make
WHY TANJA AND DIRK PALFALUSI ARE NO LONGER VISITING SOUTH AFRICA …..
My husband and I have always been fond of South-Africa. We have been there a couple of times and have combined our holiday with volunteering in an ethical sanctuary for abused and rescued lions. During our volunteering we gained a tremendous appreciation for the people who work hard day in and day out to improve the lives of these majestic and endangered animals. We fell in love quickly with South-Africa: the lions, the stunning landscape, the friendly people – all has become very dear to us! While we were just about to plan our next trip to South Africa in 2019, an announcement of the South African Department of Environmental Affairs reached us. We were and still are totally shocked about South-Africa´s decision to increase the export quota of lion skeletons from 800 to 1,500 captive-bred lions. The lion's bones will be mainly sold to Asia for medical purposes, even though it is proven they have no healing effects.
It is pure mockery that the Department of Environmental Affairs under Edna Molewa has agreed to almost double the export quota for the legal trade in captive-bred lion skeletons!
Apparently these 1,500 living beings mean nothing to them. For those responsible, these lions only appear in some statistics… But each single lion matters to us! The „King of the Jungle” is degraded and reduced to a commodity. The new export quota was a turning point for my husband and me. What this means for each of these 1,500 lions is shown by the tragic case of the lion Jabula: www.natucate.com/en/natucateblog/natucation/jabulas-story/ Dear South Africans, we absolutely love (!) your country, but for us it is hard to bear how these lions suffer and die with the consent of South-Africa´s government. Unfortunately, this is damaging “Brand South Africa” worldwide. We are only two ordinary tourists, trying as much as we can to take a stand against this exploitive industry. With a heavy heart, we decided not to travel to South Africa for the time being. We have informed the Department of Environmental Affairs, the Ministry of Tourism and the Parliament to make them aware that their decision will have a significant financial impact (because of less tourists) but even more important: it damages the reputation of a whole nation! It is sad, but it seems that politicians only understand when they get hit where it hurts most: the „tourism dollar” can be a powerful force … It is important for us to emphasise, that our decision not to travel to South Africa for the time being, does not mean that we are letting these lions down! We can assure that the fight against this industry continues even stronger together with CACH – Campaign against Canned Hunting. Knowledge is an important and effective tool, so educating people is the key to fight this horrible system. In each country happen debatable things – so we would like to point out we don´t blame the South African people! We could talk for days about bullfighting/bull-running in Spain, shredding of new-born chicks in Germany, Foie Gras Force-Feeding in France, seal hunting, whale-killing, palm-oil-plantation etc. etc. etc. … endless options to continue – and yes, there are a lot of humans also suffering for various reasons!
Lions are our passion, so we concentrate our energy and resources on them with the purpose to achieve the best possible outcome. Therefore, it does not matter what you are supporting – as long as you start thinking more critically about the impact of your behaviour as a consumer. During our stay in South Africa we have learned a lot about the money- making lion breeding industry, so we decided against travelling to South Africa.. If you agree with us, we would be more than happy if you also get active and below you can find some useful links. Let´s stand together because „The King of the jungle” needs our roaring voices more than ever. Thank you!
More information about this issue and what you (as a tourist in South Africa) can do:
Never cuddle a lion cub Never walk or interact in any way with young lions The cub you cuddle today will become a cruel „Canned Hunt“ trophy tomorrow or will be killed for body parts. Every informed tourist, as well as an informed volunteer who does not support such unethical facilities, helps to put an end to this horrible industry. http://www.cannedlion.org/cub-petting.html http://www.cannedlion.org/lion-walks.html http://www.cannedlion.org/lion-trophies.html http://www.cannedlion.org/lion-bones.html http://www.cannedlion.org/ethical-volunteering.html We want to point out that this new lion bone export quota relates to captive-bred lions and not wild lions. From our point of view this fact does not diminish the seriousness of the issue! The bone trade is not a one-way street, so all countries involved need to ban the import of big cat body parts!