Episode 35 - The Weekly News 05-05-2021 - Special Report!

Minister Barbara Creecy from South Africa’s Department of  Forest, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) surprised many conservationists with a bold move to ban the captive breeding of lion and rhino. Creecy delivered the long awaited report  during a press conference this past Sunday.Having convened a High Level Panel in 2019, the ministry has examined all available data and accepted the panel’s recommendation to dissolve the captive lion breeding - a deplorable industry fuelling the lion bone and canned hunting industries. The Minister also accepted the recommendation to no longer pursue the international trade in rhino and to uphold the CITES ban.Conservationist and the co-founder of Blood Lions, Ian Michler, has been one of the instrumental figures in achieving this victory for conservation. Having dedicated over 20 years to this campaign, we spoke to him about what this news means and what work still needs to be done.Ian joins Peter Borchert, Shannon Elizabeth and Simon Borchert in an exclusive interview.For Minister Creecy’s full speech, please click here.To read the full report by the High Level Panel, please click here.