This is according to the Coalition Against the Breeding and Keeping of Lions and other Big Cats for Commercial Purposes. Their reaction comes as nine people are presently in North West police custody after they were found in possession of lion and tiger remains over a week ago. The coalition said, in a statement, that the incident “exposed by the authorities is a clear indication that the illicit trade in these animals is flourishing and is revealing the dire situation that we are facing in South Africa”.

OFM News reported previously that eight of the suspects appeared in the Klerksdorp Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, November 27, after they were apprehended on Sunday, November 25. They were joined in the dock by the ninth suspect, 42-year-old Friederich Fourie, who is believed to be an important figure in the syndicate. According to Hawks spokesperson in the province, Tlangelani Rikhotso, the 42-year-old man handed himself over to authorities on Tuesday morning. He was thereafter taken to the court to join his co-accused before the magistrate. The coalition stresses the importance of having parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs release its report on South Africa’s unregulated captive lion breeding industry “sooner rather than later”. The Committee held two-day hearings in August, which were open to the public on the matter.

Rikhotso previously said that eight of the suspects, who are between the ages of 22 and 60 and were travelling in two vehicles along the N12 in a convoy, were stopped by police on Sunday, November 25. They were reportedly heading to a farm in Mareetsane. Upon searching the vehicles they found lion bones and meat, tiger skin, gas cylinders, gas burners, containers, a saw, knives and other equipment which authorities believe was used to process the lion bones.

“Afterwards the suspects took the team to another farm approximately 30km from Klerksdorp where the lions were allegedly slaughtered. At the farm, lion skin was found dumped in a bush. Large machines, which are believed to have been the instruments for cutting the bones, were also found in the garage at the farm,” said Rikhotso. Six of the suspects are from Vietnam, Nguyen Huu Son, Nguyen Van Tuan, Dao The Thanh, Pham Van Khue, Chanh and Cu Quoc Thang. While the three others are South African, Louis Fourie, Lourens Pretorious and Freiderich Fourie. The Hawks spokesperson has confirmed that some of the suspects are related. They are being charged for the illegal possession of game products and carrying out restricted activities involving specimens of a listed, threatened or protected species.

OFM News