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South Africa at a crossroads on wildlife welfare and sentience Don Pinnock
First published in Daily Maverick 168 newspaper
The 17th-century mathematician and philosopher René Descartes said animals were automatons, so cruelty towards them was impossible. The philosopher Jeremy Bentham disagreed, saying that in our measure of animals we should not ask can they reason, nor can they talk, but can they suffer?
For more than 200 years Descartes’s views have prevailed. But in official narratives and court findings around the world, Bentham’s views are back on the table.
The recent report on the management of lions, elephants, rhinos and leopards by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries explicitly emphasises animal sentience:
South Africa at a crossroads on wildlife welfare and sentience
by Don Pinnock, Daily Maverick
June 1, 2021
South Africa at a crossroads on wildlife welfare and sentience
by Don Pinnock, Daily Maverick June 1, 2021 First published in Daily Maverick 168 newspaper
The 17th-century mathematician and philosopher René Descartes said animals were automatons, so cruelty towards them was impossible. The philosopher Jeremy Bentham disagreed, saying that in our measure of animals we should not ask can they reason, nor can they talk, but can they suffer?
Wildlife farming vs Creecy’s panel
14 May 2021
Set him free: Barbara Creecy’s high-level panel wants to ban the captive- lion breeding industry. Photo: Naashon Zalk/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Allowing the manipulation of the genes of indigenous wildlife species through their listing as domesticated wildlife under the Animal Improvement Act will erode the genetic integrity of South Africa’s wildlife heritage, says the SA Hunters and Game Conservation Association.
It started legal proceedings against the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development in December 2019 in the high court over the listing of wildlife in the Act, which promotes the intensive and selective breeding and cross-breeding of animals. The new list features 38 indigenous wildlife species, including lions, cheetahs, rhinos and threatened species such as bontebok, blue duiker, roan antelope and oribi, together with livestock.
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People involved in the commercial breeding and trade of wild animals would have us believe that they are conservationists; that their industry – a growing and increasingly influential player in South Africa – contributes to the survival of species in the wild.
A sophisticated new study conducted in the huge Chinese market for wildlife products proves these assertions to be wrong.
What’s needed instead are more effective bans on the wildlife trade and the closure of breeding farms.
Great debate or strawman argument?
Many of Africa’s indigenous animals are under existential threat from human activities as their natural habitat is destroyed and their bodies consumed as “wildlife products” in the form of ornamentation, entertainment, food and supposedly medicinal substances.