Posted on 06/20/2019 11:52:41 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
They’re magnificent creatures, but Botswana has too many of them in the wrong places.
Many well-meaning animal lovers in the West reacted with anguish when my government announced in May that Botswana would not renew a temporary ban on hunting elephants and other protected wildlife. Others reacted with anger. We were accused of greed, corruption and political pandering, of being willing to sacrifice one of God’s noblest creations for a few extra dollars from wealthy foreigners who enjoy shooting and killing things.
Even though their numbers have declined throughout the rest of Africa, our elephant population has exploded, from roughly 50,000 in the mid 1990s to more than 130,000 today. But in the wild they are not the gentle giants portrayed on television and film. As those who live alongside them know, elephants can be aggressive, violent and enormously dangerous.
So how does hunting help? First, lifting the ban will help local people protect themselves. In the past, when people were allowed to shoot rogue elephants who wandered into inhabited areas, conflict between humans and elephants was rare. If elephants learn that an area is dangerous, they will avoid it.
the key to successful wildlife conservation is “community-based resource management.” Put simply, habitat loss, poaching and other problems that threaten endangered species cannot be solved without the support of local people. To win that crucial support, elephants need to constitute a benefit, not a burden, to those who live side-by-side with them.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Nonsense! People there, in the country, have no idea what they are talking about.
Only outraged leftists, with all the feeeeeeeeeeeeels know what is best!
Fair is fair. Shoot elephants wandering into human populated areas, and poachers going into elephant populated areas.
Only outraged leftists, with all the feeeeeeeeeeeeels know what is best!
They might change their point of view after feeeeeeeeeeeeeling the strength of that rogue elephant crushing them in to the earth?
Now that is an excellent suggestion!
Shooting Elephants is NOT ok.
Of course leftists want to kill more elephants.
Personally, rather put down donkeys.
covfefe
There are a few African countries where this happens one way or another?.
Three poachers have been killed and two others injured following a gun battle with rangers at a Kenyan wildlife reserve.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/elephant-poachers-shot-dead-kenya-wildlife-reserve-mount-elgon-national-park-a8388246.html
And why is that? Because YOU’VE pronounced it so...?
EXACTLY CORRECT.
Fyi, some of my friends have said that they were “aghast” that I’m planning a Fall 2020 hunt for Cape Buffalo & (hopefully) to take a male leopard, as they believe that Cape Buffalo & leopards are in danger of extinction. = Fwiw, there are MORE of BOTH species in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2019 than were alive in the year 1600AD.
In fact, in 2018 a leopard was shot INSIDE the National Museum of the RSA (I’m sure that the visit by an adult leopard was “rather exciting” to the museum’s staff & visitors.) & another prowling leopard was killed by a police officer in the Mayor of Jo’burg’s back garden.
The TRUTH is that TROPHY HUNTING is a POSITIVE GOOD for the local natives, the PH’s employees & the overall welfare of the game animals too.
EXAMPLE: A longtime friend of mine from Kerrville, TX collected a Cape Buffalo with her crossbow in 2017 & “Guide Girl” said that she was “fascinated” that within 20 minutes of the Buff being field-dressed that a crowd of local natives appeared like magic with knives/pots/pans/baskets & within another 1/2 hour that all that remained of the Cape Buff was a pool of blood & a pile of bones.
“GG” said at a 2018 meeting of our crossbow club that NOT even one pound of edible meat was wasted.
The same thing occurred in the Fall of last year when “GG” & husband returned to Africa to hunt “plains game”. - Her husband told me recently that “the bush country telegraph” is very efficient in informing hungry folks that there is FRESH MEAT available free for their families use.
Note: In both countries where “GG”/husband hunted, ONE THIRD of the trophy fee for each animal slain was given to the local folks within a 20KM radius.
Yours, TMN78247
Shooting Elephants is NOT ok.
Not the best, true.
And we all know the ‘best is the enemy of the good’.
So what is your plan?
Kenya ended elephant hunting in 1973. At the time elephant hunting was banned, the population was estimated at 250,000 to 275,000 elephants. By 1990, the population had fallen to below 25,000. Without Western hunters (not all were/are American) and without the revenue they brought to Kenya, the country lacked the funds for anti-poaching operations, habitat improvement and other programs that benefitted not only elephants, but other animals as well.
It’s tough. Elephants take up a lot of space and require a lot of resources and are destructive to agriculture. Human population in elephant areas has mushroomed (Kenya went from 14 million humans in 1976 to almost 50 million today).
Controlled game management is necessary.
Good for you and good luck! While I haven’t hunted Africa and probably never will, here’s wishing you safe travels and a safe hunt!
If you haven’t read Capstick’s books or seen his videos (I have all of both), by all means do so; it’ll make your leopard hunt much more exciting.
Oh, and by all means don’t tell your friends how many elephants are culled in Africa every year. A very good friend and former Rhodesian Ranger/sniper is paid to kill quite a few elephants in Krueger every year. While he appreciates the money, he laments the fact that, because of the stigma attached to elephant hunting and restrictions on importation of elephant parts, hundreds go to waste every year.
As Jim Quinn, a long-time radio host has often said, “Liberalism always generates the exact opposite of its stated intent.”
Same thing happened when I shot my Cape Buffalo. The protein the locals get is when the hunters share their animal with them.
In the minds of the PETA types, it is better to kill off a whole village than to shoot an elephant, cpae buffalo, etc.
On my safaris, it was stated that poachers were on license.
within 20 minutes of the Buff being field-dressed that a crowd of local natives appeared like magic with knives/pots/pans/baskets & within another 1/2 hour that all that remained of the Cape Buff was a pool of blood & a pile of bones.
For me eating the flesh of the kill is almost a sacrament.
I’d rather not shoot it if it is not to be eaten, or trying to eat me.
If limited hunting brought in serious cash which was funneled to park security against poachers then it might be worthwhile.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.