Fair Game? Improving the well-being of South African wildlife

This 2018 report by the Centre for Environmental Rights evaluates the legal and practical regulation of wild animal welfare in South Africa. It argues that the current system is fragmented, outdated, and biased toward economic gain, leaving captive and exploited wild animals with minimal protection. The report highlights a critical jurisdictional divide between biodiversity conservation (Department of Environmental Affairs) and animal welfare (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries), which results in inconsistent permitting, poor compliance monitoring, and inadequate enforcement.

• South Africa's wild animal welfare regulation is hindered by a traditional and outdated jurisdictional divide between the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), which handles animal welfare, and the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), which manages biodiversity conservation.
• The Animals Protection Act (APA) of 1962, the primary welfare statute, is considered inadequate because it aims to prevent "unnecessary" cruelty rather than promote proactive care, and it contains subjective loopholes that dilute its effectiveness.
• The National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) and its Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) Regulations are frequently ignored or inconsistently applied by provincial authorities, leading to a lack of standardized welfare conditions in permits.
• Enforcement of wild animal welfare is largely dependent on the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA), a statutory body that must perform its public function without state funding or resources.
• The report identifies significant welfare concerns in the captive predator and 'canned hunting' industry, noting that the industry is largely unregulated and driven by profit, often at the expense of the animals' well-being.
• The Game Theft Act of 1991 further commodifies wildlife by allowing landowners to claim ownership of free-roaming animals through certificates of 'adequate enclosure,' prioritizing property rights over ecological stewardship.
• The report recommends immediate law reform to clarify the wild animal welfare mandate, potentially by amending NEMBA to include an express mandate for the welfare of wild animals, allowing Environmental Management Inspectors (EMIs) to enforce welfare standards.
• To improve transparency and accountability, the report proposes the creation of an integrated electronic national permit database to prevent applicants from obtaining permits in one province after being refused in another.

APA

Agjee, A., Fourie, M., Löser, N., Reddell, C., Youens, K., Gibbs, A., Philander, N., Friedmann, Y., Davies-Mostert, H. T., Marnewick, K., Dore, A., Zacharias, P., & Hasselt, L. R.-V. (2018). Fair Game? Improving the well-being of South African wildlife. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CER-EWT-Regulation-of-Wildlife-Welfare-Report-25-June-2018.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Agjee, Aadila, Melissa Fourie, Nicole Löser, Christine Reddell, Kirsten Youens, Annette Gibbs, Nathan Philander, et al. Fair Game? Improving the well-being of South African wildlife. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2018. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CER-EWT-Regulation-of-Wildlife-Welfare-Report-25-June-2018.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Agjee |first1=Aadila |last2=Fourie |first2=Melissa |last3=Löser |first3=Nicole |last4=Reddell |first4=Christine |last5=Youens |first5=Kirsten |last6=Gibbs |first6=Annette |last7=Philander |first7=Nathan |last8=Friedmann |first8=Yolan |last9=Davies-Mostert |first9=Harriet T |display-authors=etal |title=Fair Game? Improving the well-being of South African wildlife |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=June 2018 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CER-EWT-Regulation-of-Wildlife-Welfare-Report-25-June-2018.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{agjee2018fair, author = {Agjee, Aadila and Fourie, Melissa and Löser, Nicole and Reddell, Christine and Youens, Kirsten and Gibbs, Annette and Philander, Nathan and Friedmann, Yolan and Davies-Mostert, Harriet T and Marnewick, Kelly and Dore, Ashleigh and Zacharias, Peter and Hasselt, Lindy Rodwell-van}, title = {{Fair Game? Improving the well-being of South African wildlife}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2018}, month = jun, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CER-EWT-Regulation-of-Wildlife-Welfare-Report-25-June-2018.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }