KaZulu-Natal bull sacrifice continues, but Bali sea turtle sacrifice is prevented

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2009:

 

 

KaZulu-Natal bull sacrifice continues, but Bali sea turtle sacrifice

is prevented

 

JOHANNESBURG, DENPASAR--Opponents of animal sacrifice failed

to halt ritual bull-killing at the annual First Fruits Festival in

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, but thwarted an attempt to revive sea

turtle sacrifice in Bali.

Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Nic van der Reyden on

December 4, 2009 rejected the request of Animal Rights Africa for

either an injunction against the bull-killing or authorization to

witness and videotape it. Van der Reyden accepted the testimony of

Zulu professor Jabulani Maphalala that the ARA complaint was based on

inaccurate second-hand information, which ARA members could not

personally confirm because only Zulus are allowed to see the ceremony.

Maphalala testified that the killing, done at Zulu king

Goodwill Zwelithini's palace in Nongoma on December 5, " must be

performed without rope, thongs or weapons of any kind. The animal

is overpowered and his air passage closed barehanded. His neck is

then broken. No bloodletting of any kind is allowed, nor is

dismemberment part of the ritual slaying, " summarized Sharika

Regchand and Sipho Khumalo of the KwaZulu-Natal Mercury.

Animal Rights Africa cited claims by witnesses who did not

testify in person that the killing takes about 40 minutes each year,

while dozens of men trample the bull, wrench his head around by the

horns, pull out his tongue, stuff sand in his mouth, and try to

tie his penis in a knot.

The Makhonya Royal Trust proposed just before the trial that

cattle should be sacrificed at each of the soccer stadiums that will

host the 2010 World Cup. " Government minister Sicelo Shiceka has

promised to lobby football's governing body in support of the plan, "

reported BBC News.

The outcome was more encouraging in Bali, where most of the

population practices a pre-Manu form of Hinduism featuring animal

sacrifice, most closely resembling the rites of some " tribals " in

rural Orissa state, India.

The Indonesian forestry ministry " has rejected a push for

rare turtles to be legally slain in Hindu ceremonies, siding with

conservationists of the protected reptiles, " reported Niniek Karmini

of Associated Press on November 30.

Elaborated Jakarta Post correspondent Ni Komang Erviani,

from Denpasar, the Bali capital, " Governor Made Mangku Pastika

proposed a quota of 1,000 turtles per year for religious and

ceremonial purposes. However, according to data from the Turtle

Conservation and Education Center, Bali only needs 80 turtles a year

for religious purposes. "

Sacrificing sea turtles was banned in 1999. The Indonesian

environmental organization Pro Fauna found that from 27,000 to 30,000

sea turtles per year were killed in Bali before 1999, as turtle

sacrifice and consumption was a prominent part of many social and

cultural celebrations. The toll dropped to about 2,000 sea turtles

per year after 1999.

A World Wildlife Fund source told Erviani that Bali buyers

illegally imported about 500 sea turtles from other parts of

Indonesia in 2009.

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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