
South Africa withdraws species protection, elephant management laws | Business
Government has withdrawn legislation intended to widen the number of species protected by more stringent laws.
Government has withdrawn legislation intended to widen the number of species protected by more stringent laws and has also scrapped incoming laws pertaining to the management of elephants and hunting of leopards.
The decision came after a legal challenge from Wildlife Ranching South Africa and the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa, the terms of which have not been disclosed, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment said in a statement Wednesday.
"We simply had no idea what information the minister relied upon when she made the new regulations," said Dries van Coller, chief executive officer of PHASA, in a statement.
It's unclear "what data and research motivated her to include some of the country's most abundant game species, such as the blesbok" on a list of protected species.....