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12 August 2022, South Africa – On 18 May 2022 Minister Barbara Creecy delivered the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment Budget Speech for 2022/23 to the National Assembly.
At this time, Minister Creecy also mentioned the closure of the captive lion breeding industry based on the recommendation of the High-Level Panel Report released on the 02 May 2022.
The Minister expressed her intention to establish a Panel of Experts to formulate and oversee the implementation of a voluntary exit strategy for those who wish to participate.
Minister Creecy told Cabinet in 2022: “I believe that by engaging and working with stakeholders, we can develop a voluntary strategy that can mitigate risks, including the effect on the local economy, job creation and the welfare and well-being of the lions themselves.”
On Friday 12 August 2022 Minister Creecy stated in a live interview that Caption Lion Industry Operators will be offered a path to voluntarily get out of the business.
The Minister announced a call for nominations for a new ministerial task team to advise her on captive lions.
The task team is due to both identify “voluntary exit options and pathways” and to oversee implementation, it’s terms of reference show.
Minister Creecy is looking for skills in veterinary care, animal welfare, the handling of lions and labour law and trade unions “with particular reference to closure of business and retrenchment.”
Nominations for the ministerial task team are open for the next two weeks. The Task team is a recommendation from the High-Level Panel.
The closing date for nominations is 14 days from publication, which will be Friday, 26 August 2022.
Government Gazette: Task Team voluntary exit Captive lion breeding
The team will be responsible for finding potential funders to support exits from the business and to produce guidelines to ensure the welfare of the lions for any captive-lion facilities that do not take up the offer of a voluntary exit.
Source: Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment
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