South African Hunters and Game Conservation Association SAHGCA Selective Breeding Policy

The largest South African hunting association affirms its responsibility of protecting the long-term interests of its members in terms of their ability to participate in fair-chase hunting of representative indigenous species, specifically concerning the conservation of the genetic diversity and integrity of huntable species and the preservation of extensive wildlife systems, essential to fair-chase hunting.

SAHGC is concerned that exploitation and deliberate selective breeding for specific traits in indigenous wild animals, if uncontrolled, may have detrimental effects and unwanted consequences on our biodiversity heritage and the biodiversity economy. The organization opposes artificial and unnatural manipulation of wildlife to enhance or alter species’ genetic and phenotypic characteristics (e.g. coat color, body size or horn size) in particular through intentional cross-breeding of species, subspecies or evolutionary significant local phenotypes and or the use of domestic livestock breeding methods such as, but not limited to, line breeding, germplasm and semen production or trading, artificial insemination, embryo transfer, castration, growth hormone treatments, controlled or unnatural breeding programs and cloning; and the intentional breeding of indigenous wild animals in intensive- or highly altered semi-intensive production systems for purely commercial purposes.

The SAHGCA, in its position, refers to and strongly underlines the recommendation of CIC on the manipulation of wildlife and commercially-bred formerly wild animals (CIC_COUNCIL_2_2011.REC01).

The CIC encourages the SAHGCA to promote this position within its membership and is supportive of all organisations that join the initiative to halt any manipulation of wild animals.

With the above link interested readers, who have followed the debate on this subject in African Indaba, can download a number of highly significant documents, including E. J. Nel’s paper Risks And Impacts Associated With Intensive And Selective Breeding Of Indigenous Game For Commercial Purposes.