Trophy Hunting

[bardern]

Thanks to you Aaron, outstanding post.

[MikePal]

but I would bet that as a rule, trophy hunters put far more of their free time, energy and money into conservation efforts than the average meat hunter.

While I'm in agreement with your post for the most part, you have to accept that a lot of the efforts put forth by most Trophy Hunters is self serving rather than a desire for better conservation. I've heard more than one lament from guys who got plenty annoyed when someone from another camp shoots one of 'their' bucks

Interesting rebuttal to those who don't agree with controlled Trophy Hunting;

But sometimes, a worthy cause will have an impact with the best of intentions and end up having unforeseen consequences.


For example, when Botswana banned commercial lion hunting in the early ’00s, no one could have guessed that more lions would end up being killed than before.


Cattle farmers would allow hunters to come onto their land and hunt lions, for a hefty fee. But when the ban was enacted, these lions were then classified as nuisance animals, as they were threatening the cattle, and farmers would have to go destroy the animal themselves to protect their herd.

So now, lions were still dying and there was no extra money coming into the country. To make matters worse, lions from the neighbouring nature reserve were trying to take over the recently “vacated” lion territory on the farm lands, and they too were shot by the farmers. (Search TEDx Talks on YouTube for a more in depth look at this topic.)


For people on both sides of the fence — pro and anti-hunters — I doubt this was the desired outcome. Trophy hunting is not the black and white issue celebrity activists make it out to be.

http://www.wetaskiwintimes.com/2015/...trophy-hunting

If you have a few minutes....this is worth listening to, a balanced look at the issue..

[rfb]

While I believe, if you review the scientific literature out there, that there is yet no definitive answer on the subject, I found this article to be seemingly well balanced and persuasive for the pro trophy hunting side. Have a gander, it makes some interesting points.

I can't figure out how to post a link so look up.

Killing in the name of conservation. Can trophy hunting help save Africa's wild.
By Johnathon S. Adams

[KMG Canada]

RFB, very well thought out and articulated report by someone who obviously has a deep knowledge of the subject. Enjoyed the read. As long as there are scientists there will be continuing arguments in regards to trophy hunting as a viable means of conservation. I would however look at the results in RSA where late 60's number were about a half million head of game and today the count is 25 million and growing according to PHASA and the government. I can personally attest that the drive from Port Elizabeth to Grahamstown in the East Cape of RSA will make your head swivel as you stare into the veldt looking at all the game. Wasn't like that years ago. These things however unscientific have to be a good indicator just as driving down the 401 here nowadays means lots of turkey viewing, that wasn't the case 25 years ago. Hunters dollars here at home or in Africa are undeniably having an impact.

[Oddmott]

Hunters dollars here at home or in Africa are undeniably having an impact.

This is a fairly safe generalization to make. It's when one tries to claim that there are X hunters' dollars making Y impacts.

Our own MNR is a perfect example of an organization that takes significant monies from hunters in terms of testing, authorization cards and various licenses. Those funds are supposed be be dumped back into supporting the nature and heritage activities we love.

However, we all know that the MNR has been thoroughly dismantled and very little of our monies is going to wildlife or wild habitat protection and conservation. Our COs have been rumoured to not follow up on reports because their trucks are out of fuel.

Having volunteered with an organization that funded and organized the drilling of clean water wells throughout much of northern Africa, i know that corruption is the norm for essentially the entire continent. I have serious doubts that much, if any, trophy hunter funds are finding their way to conservation efforts.

[werner.reiche]

Written by a non-hunter who "gets it".

http://conservationmagazine.org/2014...-conservation/

[werner.reiche]

And another almost 500 page study

7. Conclusion

Trophy hunting is a major industry in parts of Africa, creating

incentives for wildlife conservation over vast areas which

otherwise might be used for alternative and less conservation

friendly land uses. The trophy hunting industry is increasing

in size in southern Africa and Tanzania, and the scope for the

industry play a role in conservation should increase accordingly.

Presently, however, the conservation role of hunting is

limited by a series of problems. Several of these problems

are common to multiple countries, and some (such as failure

to allocate sufficient benefits to communities, leakage of income

and corruption) also affect the photographic ecotourism

industry (
Christie and Crompton, 2001; Walpole and

Thouless, 2005). Developing solutions should thus be a key

priority for conservationists, and success would confer

large-scale benefits for conservation.


http://www.africanwildlifeconservati...gnificance.pdf

[Bearhunter]

RFB. I can tell you from experience that you are wrong. Money collected from "big Game Trophy Hunting" in Africa does directly aid in conservation.
As well there is not a single piece of the animal harvested in Africa that goes to waste. Without the trophy hunting and the funds that it produces there would be no animals to hunt in Africa. eg. Kenya. Hunting is banned and the poachers have all but eradicated all the animals.
Get your facts straight.

[jaycee]

RFB. I can tell you from experience that you are wrong. Money collected from "big Game Trophy Hunting" in Africa does directly aid in conservation.
As well there is not a single piece of the animal harvested in Africa that goes to waste. Without the trophy hunting and the funds that it produces there would be no animals to hunt in Africa. eg. Kenya. Hunting is banned and the poachers have all but eradicated all the animals.
Get your facts straight.

Todays news at noon was interesting along this line,

"In Kenya , 400 elephant tusks were confiscated from poachers these were destined for Thailand, also another 500 confiscated in the Congo ".
That's a total of 900 elephants killed by poachers that the neither countries nor the inhabitants benefitted from these illegal kills, only the poachers would have benefitted had they not been confiscated. The tusks shown , were not of any trophy quality , there were many that appeared to be only 2 to 3 feet long , such a waste as some of them would have been from cows which produce the young.

Kenya at one time, Nairobi was pretty well the center of operations for Big Game Trophy Hunting from which all the Large well known outfitters and PH's [Harry Selby] worked out of.
Now because of their Gov.'s shutting down all big game hunting , they do not have the money coming in that Trophy Hunting provided, a lot of people are out of work , also people are not getting any of the meat , as it is left to rot by the poachers and the poaching is rampant .
So who and what are the losers? the game as it is disappearing needlessly and the country and it's inhabitants.

Something to think about for all the " Nay Sayers " that have so much to say against " Trophy Hunting"

[HOSEFACE]

I leave for Namibia 2 weeks today for a plains game hunt. The intention is to hunt a mixture of trophy and cull animals. After the hunt, I'm going to Etosha National park to shoot the Big 5 with my camera.

The outfit employs local guides, skinners, trackers, cooks, gardeners, cleaning staff and a person for laundry service.

No, I won't be flying my meat home like I have from numerous hunts elsewhere in Canada because I'm not allowed to. But this is academic. No meat goes to waste. A small portion of the meat is consumed during the trip and the rest is portioned out to the staff.

I recently went to a charity function that supported the less fortunate where wild game meat was served. Yes, all proper approvals were obtained from the Ministry. Are the hunters who donated the meat really all that different from people who go to Africa to hunt? Is it only acceptable to be an Ontario meat hunter, if you don't share the meat with anyone?

Hunters should use some common sense before posting pictures on the Internet of their harvests. When they don't, people come out of from under rocks and start passing judgment on which legally harvested game meat is and is not acceptable for others to consume or share. That leaves a poor taste in my mouth.