tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/trophy-hunting-11913/articles
Trophy hunting – The Conversation
2023-10-04T13:43:24Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/214507
2023-10-04T13:43:24Z
2023-10-04T13:43:24Z
Lion protection fee paid by tourists could help stop trophy hunting – South African study
<p>Trophy hunting is contentious. It typically involves paying for and pursuing a specific wild animal, often a large or iconic species, with the goal of killing it to obtain a trophy, such as the animal’s head, horns, or hide. </p>
<p>Popular public opinion is <a href="https://www.hsi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/eu-trophy-hunting-poll.pdf">largely</a> in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2022.1061295/full">favour</a> of <a href="https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/press-release/new-trophy-hunting-research-puts-south-africas-tourism-industry-in-peril">ending</a> the killing of wild animals for sport. However, the topic is hotly debated by policymakers and academics because of the potential financial <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/conl.12877?src=getftr">incentives</a> it can provide to local communities and landowners to support conservation efforts.</p>
<p>Against this backdrop, we <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423002913">set out</a> to test whether visitors to South Africa would be willing to pay a “lion protection fee” at border entry points. Our idea was that this could compensate for any lost revenue from trophy hunting were it to be banned. </p>
<p>We chose lions because they have wide appeal and are one of the most readily recognised trophy hunted animals.</p>
<p>We spoke to 907 people who were visiting, or planned to visit, the country. We <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423002913">found</a> that a high percentage – over 80% – were in favour of the idea of a lion protection fee. And we calculated, on the basis of two scenarios, that the amount they were willing to pay could generate enough funds to equal, if not exceed, those currently generated by trophy hunting in South Africa. </p>
<p>Our findings come at an important time. South Africa is opening a public policy <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-barbara-creecy-invites-comments-draft-policy-position-conservation-and-sustainable">consultation</a> on how the country can adopt a more sustainable and ethically driven approach to wildlife conservation.</p>
<h2>A complex debate</h2>
<p>The competitive nature of trophy hunting, in particular, has raised serious animal welfare concerns. Animals may experience huge stress as they’re pursued for days and separated from their family groups. Some hunting outfits use methods which may inflict prolonged and undue animal suffering.</p>
<p>From a conservation perspective, some advocate for trophy hunting because, for example, income generated may help mitigate human-wildlife conflicts, support anti-poaching efforts, and prevent land containing wildlife from being converted to other uses. They believe that <a href="https://www.conservationfrontlines.org/2019/10/trophy-hunting-bans-imperil-biodiversity/">banning</a> it could negatively affect conservation and community livelihoods. </p>
<p>Others, however, argue that trophy hunting could negatively affect conservation. For instance the specific targeting of certain animals – like males – could have a <a href="https://trophiccascades.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/trophic/files/Ripple_TREE_2016.pdf">harmful</a> effect on species population dynamics and social structures. Questions have also been <a href="https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2022/03/Trophy-Hunting-Working-paper.pdf">raised</a> as to whether funds from trophy hunting always reach local communities or those on the frontlines of conservation.</p>
<p>Ultimately, these discussions come down to a single issue: popular public opinion is <a href="https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/press-release/new-trophy-hunting-research-puts-south-africas-tourism-industry-in-peril">against</a> trophy hunting, but how could the financial revenue that it generates be replaced?</p>
<h2>Lion protection fee</h2>
<p>We surveyed people who had previously visited South Africa, or who would consider visiting in the future. We drew respondents from overseas countries and from the African continent.</p>
<p>Respondents were shown a statement saying that a total ban on trophy hunting in South Africa would help protect lions by preventing them from being hunted and killed as trophies. And that such a ban could be funded by introducing a “lion protection fee”, added to the visas of incoming tourists. </p>
<p>They were then asked questions to gauge what daily fee would be acceptable and how likely they would be to visit South Africa under different daily fee scenarios.</p>
<p>Of 907 respondents, 84.2% stated that being charged a “lion protection fee” was a “great” or a “good” idea. A minority (7.5%) had a negative view. Only two respondents (0.2%) indicated a pro-trophy hunting attitude.</p>
<p>We used this survey to create initial estimates of the maximum price ranges tourists would be willing to pay. </p>
<p>There were two main fee scenarios.</p>
<p>In the first scenario, overseas visitors would pay between US$6 and US$7 for every day they’re in the country for a maximum of six days. Southern African tourists would pay between US$3 and US$4. We worked on tourist numbers which we sourced from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423002913?ref=cra_js_challenge&fr=RR-1#tbl0020">Statistics South Africa</a>. Our calculations were based on around 2.6 million overseas visitors and 12.3 million southern African tourists.</p>
<p>In the second scenario, fees would be collected as a one-off departure tax of US$6 for all foreign visitors leaving by land or sea, and US$33 for air passengers. Once again, we used tourist numbers from the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423002913?ref=cra_js_challenge&fr=RR-1#tbl0020">Statistics South Africa</a>. Our calculations were based on around 10.5 million foreign visitors leaving by land, 70,000 leaving by sea, and 3.4 million flying out.</p>
<p>Our calculations show that in both scenarios enough funds could be generated to at least equal, but potentially exceed, the US$176.1 million currently generated by trophy hunting of all the iconic species in South Africa a year. These calculations are based on numbers of visitors from different traveller categories multiplied by the median number of days those traveller-types stay.</p>
<p>Based on the number of respondents who said they would rather not visit because of the fees, we calculated that there would be a 15% decrease in the number of tourists willing to visit South Africa. But we argue that these decreases could be partially compensated for by increased visits from travellers previously deterred by trophy hunting – <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423002913#bibliog0005">13%</a> of those who did not wish to travel to South Africa cited trophy hunting as a reason.</p>
<p>A 2021 <a href="https://www.hsi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/eu-trophy-hunting-poll.pdf">survey</a> of European Union citizens backs up our findings. It showed that 84% of 10,687 respondents were either somewhat or strongly opposed to “the trophy hunting of wild animals found in Africa”.</p>
<h2>Replacing trophy hunting revenue</h2>
<p>Our findings could pave the way for a responsible transition away from trophy hunting without unintended repercussions for wildlife and the communities that rely on them. </p>
<p>The practical implementation would need diligent deliberation. For example, administrative logistics and sensitivity to fluctuations in visitor numbers must be taken into account.</p>
<p>In addition, while the idea of channelling these funds towards landowners and communities for wildlife conservation holds promise, there are concerns about public trust in institutions. Such funds must be carefully managed. </p>
<p>The types of tourism taxes we propose are not new. Twenty-two countries around the world currently <a href="https://blog.wego.com/tourist-tax/">charge</a> a tax on tourists to preserve their natural and cultural heritage. </p>
<p>This is a pivotal <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-barbara-creecy-invites-comments-draft-policy-position-conservation-and-sustainable">moment</a> for the future of South Africa’s biodiversity and ethical wildlife tourism. The question now is whether the country seizes this opportunity to redefine its approach to conservation and chart a new course towards a more sustainable and compassionate future.</p>
<p><em>The authors extend their thanks to Dr Tom Moorhouse for his collaboration on this research and informative insights on this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214507/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil D’Cruze works for an international NGO, World Animal Protection as the Global Head of Wildlife Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angie Elwin works for an international NGO, World Animal Protection as a Wildlife Research Manager.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Herbert Ntuli did not receive funding to work on this article. </span></em></p>
Lion protection fees paid by tourists could pave the way for a responsible transition away from trophy hunting without affecting the communities that rely on hunting revenue.
Neil D’Cruze, Global Head of Wildlife Research, World Animal Protection, and Visiting Researcher, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), University of Oxford
Angie Elwin, Wildlife Research Manager at World Animal Protection and Visiting Research Fellow, Manchester Metropolitan University
Herbert Ntuli, Senior Lecturer, University of Pretoria
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/205860
2023-05-30T11:17:11Z
2023-05-30T11:17:11Z
Half of Africa’s white rhino population is in private hands – it’s time for a new conservation approach
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527956/original/file-20230524-18-lohud9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A white rhino in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Enrico Di Minin</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Southern white rhinos are widely known as a <a href="https://rhinos.org/blog/facing-down-a-crisis-how-we-almost-lost-the-white-rhino/">conservation success story</a>. Their population grew from fewer than 100 individuals in the 1920s <a href="https://rhinos.org/blog/facing-down-a-crisis-how-we-almost-lost-the-white-rhino/">to 20,000</a> in 2012, mostly in South Africa. </p>
<p>This success was partially due to the inclusion of the private sector, which started in the 1960s when white rhinos were moved from their last remaining population in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park and placed in other state reserves as well as on private land. In 1991 the <a href="https://lawfulliving.co.za/book/text/agriculture--game-theft.html">Game Theft Act</a> formalised conditions for private rhino ownership and use. Poaching pressure was low at the time, and the demand for rhinos by ecotourists and trophy hunters gave private landowners incentives to grow their rhino populations. </p>
<p>Based on publicly available data, <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.2593">our recent paper</a> shows that, today, private landholders conserve over half of South Africa’s white rhinos. Communities conserve a further 1% of the white rhinos. This trend is not unique to South Africa. More than 75% of Zimbabwe’s and Namibia’s white rhinos are on private lands. Although outside their natural range, in east Africa 72% of Kenya’s white rhino populations are conserved by private landowners.</p>
<p>In South Africa, the increasing contribution of private rhino custodians over the past few decades is partly due to their success and partly due to shrinking rhino populations in <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-02-14-saving-private-rhino-non-government-owners-of-the-animals-succeed-in-stemming-poaching-carnage/">key state parks</a>. Poaching is largely to blame for shrinking populations. A decade ago, the 2-million-hectare Kruger National Park held over half of the world’s 20,000 white rhinos. Today the park has just over 2,000 of the <a href="https://africageographic.com/stories/kruger-rhino-poaching-update-75-population-reduction-in-10-years/">remaining 16,000 white rhinos</a>. Kruger lost 6% of its population to poaching in <a href="https://sajs.co.za/article/view/11300">2020 alone</a>. Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park has suffered <a href="https://mg.co.za/environment/2023-02-08-rhino-poaching-declines-in-kruger-but-poachers-are-on-the-rampage-in-kzn/">similar declines</a>.</p>
<p>Private ranches in South Africa, meanwhile, lost <a href="https://sajs.co.za/article/view/11300">just 0.5%</a> of their rhinos to poaching in 2020. This is likely because smaller private properties are easier to secure and because private ranchers spend more per rhino on security – <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fee.2593#page=4">R28,600 (US$2200)</a> per rhino in 2017, <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fee.2593#page=4">compared with an estimated R8,600 (US$520)</a> per rhino spent by South African National Parks.</p>
<p>This high spend on security may have reduced poaching risk, but it has also reduced the <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12741">benefits accrued</a> from owning rhinos. Even for rhino owners who are not financially motivated, the growing costs of protecting rhinos from poaching are difficult to sustain. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.2593">paper</a>, we outline potential policy pathways to support rhino conservation beyond state parks. Additional revenue streams are needed to give private and community rhino custodians the incentive. These could include tapping into markets beyond ecotourism and trophy hunting, such as carbon and biodiversity credits. Incentives could also include private sector funding through impact investments, and government funding through tax incentives. New community custodians are likely to require state support, at least initially.</p>
<p>As large grazers, rhinos play <a href="https://africageographic.com/stories/why-are-rhinos-important-for-ecosystems/">an important role</a> in their ecosystem. Their decline is evoking <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719305099">strong sentimental reactions</a> from people around the world. This raises the question: to what extent should the costs of protecting globally valued rhinos be carried by their local custodians?</p>
<h2>The cost is too high</h2>
<p>In 2018 we <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12741">estimated</a> that 28% of private rhino owners in South Africa were disinvesting, while 57% were continuing as usual and 15% were investing in more rhinos. </p>
<p>At that time rhino breeder John Hume was one of the flagship investors. He and some other private rhino owners had been investing in rhinos in the hope that rhino horn trade would be legalised, which would make the cost-benefit ratio of owning rhinos <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12412">considerably more favourable</a>. </p>
<p>But in April 2023, Hume held an online auction to sell the 2,000 white rhinos he owned – representing about 13% of the continental population. <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-05-01-shaky-future-for-2000-rhinos-after-mega-breeders-auction-fails-to-attract-bidders/">He said</a> he could no longer afford his costly rhino breeding operation. The auction failed to attract any bidders. </p>
<p>There are three possible outcomes for Hume’s rhinos. One, a buyer could take over the operation. Two, the animals could be relocated to parks in South Africa or other <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/4185/45813880#geographic-range">countries in sub-Saharan Africa</a>. Or they might be relocated abroad, beyond their historical range (for instance to Asia or Australia).</p>
<p>The first outcome would be the simplest. But it doesn’t solve the problem that rhinos are increasingly expensive to support. </p>
<p>The second option is attractive because it would boost population numbers in parks that have lost their populations. However, the “space” for rhinos in many of these parks likely signals their failure at protecting their rhinos in the first place. Rewilding would require a new strategy for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320721004705">protecting them</a>.</p>
<p>Moving rhinos beyond their historical range has been considered before. A multi-million-dollar <a href="https://theaustralianrhinoproject.org/index.php/about">proposal</a> to move rhinos to Australia (where they do not naturally occur) received support but also <a href="https://theecologist.org/2017/may/02/rhinos-should-be-conserved-africa-not-moved-australia">criticism</a>. Almost 1,000 white rhinos are already in captivity around the world and such projects arguably divert funds and expertise away from conservation efforts in the countries where rhinos naturally occur.</p>
<p>It’s important to consider how to support private rhino custodianship so that we don’t end up with more rhinos for sale that <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-01-16-private-and-communal-lands-conserve-half-of-africas-rhinos-and-call-for-adaptive-policies/">no one wants to buy</a>.</p>
<h2>Innovative solutions, partnerships</h2>
<p>A diversity of models and a <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2021-08-05-saving-private-rhino-we-must-reimagine-the-future-of-species-conservation-in-south-africa/">common vision</a> is needed to conserve thriving populations of rhinos across state, private and community land. </p>
<p>Rhinos should not unjustly burden those who serve as their custodians. Income from ecotourism and trophy hunting is insufficient under current poaching conditions and costs. How can the cost-benefit ratio of conserving rhinos be shifted?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Several rhinos are seen at a distance against the backdrop of grassland and a mountain" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527955/original/file-20230524-7504-w56bss.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527955/original/file-20230524-7504-w56bss.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527955/original/file-20230524-7504-w56bss.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527955/original/file-20230524-7504-w56bss.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527955/original/file-20230524-7504-w56bss.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527955/original/file-20230524-7504-w56bss.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527955/original/file-20230524-7504-w56bss.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">White rhinos on a large private game reserve in South Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hayley Clements</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Legalising international horn trade would certainly shift the ratio, but there is <a href="https://africageographic.com/stories/will-legal-international-rhino-horn-trade-save-wild-rhino-populations/">strong pushback</a>. At best horn trade is a medium-term solution since international policy moves slowly.</p>
<p>Additional, nearer-term options include <a href="https://conservationnamibia.com/articles/cnam2020-wildlife-credits.php">rhino credits</a> and <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/03/23/wildlife-conservation-bond-boosts-south-africa-s-efforts-to-protect-black-rhinos-and-support-local-communities">impact bonds</a> – large-scale philanthropy that pays for conservation success. </p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.oneearth.org/how-restoring-key-wildlife-species-can-be-a-game-changing-climate-solution/">growing evidence</a> that wildlife populations can increase soil carbon – possibly enabling wildlife ranches to tap into carbon credit markets. The government can also recognise and support the role of rhino custodians through <a href="https://www.birdlife.org.za/what-we-do/important-bird-and-biodiversity-areas/what-we-do-ibas/fiscal-benefits-project/">tax incentives</a>. South Africa is a pioneer in biodiversity stewardship tax incentives, though they are currently only available to landowners who formally declare their land as protected. </p>
<p>Time is <a href="https://africageographic.com/stories/the-state-of-africas-rhino/">running out for rhinos</a>: more inclusive, equitable and innovative solutions are needed to support their conservation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205860/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hayley Clements receives funding from a Jennifer Ward Oppenheimer Research Grant and Kone Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dave Balfour is a freelance ecologist and a member of the IUCN SSC African Rhino Specialist Group and Chairs the SADC Rhino Management Group. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Enrico Di Minin receives funding from the European Research Council – EU's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (grant agreement 802933).</span></em></p>
To what extent should the costs of protecting globally valued rhinos be carried by their local custodians?
Hayley Clements, Researcher, Stellenbosch University
Dave Balfour, Freelance conservation ecologist, Nelson Mandela University
Enrico Di Minin, Associate Professor in Conservation Geography, University of Helsinki
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/187740
2022-08-10T17:05:31Z
2022-08-10T17:05:31Z
Trophy hunting: why a UK import ban threatens wildlife conservation
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478315/original/file-20220809-19-2xqc9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5615%2C3741&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A large African male lion in a game reserve at night.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/large-african-male-lion-south-game-1833949438">Sunshine Seeds/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Trophy hunting, where animals with characteristics such as large antlers are legally hunted, and their meat usually eaten - is highly contested. While some argue it is <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pan3.10160">unethical</a> and delivers few benefits, others say it provides <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320706003831">an important incentive</a> for conserving threatened species and habitats by helping generate revenue for governments and local communities.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.hsi.org/news-media/trophy-hunting-qa/">Restrictions</a> on trophy hunting imports have been imposed in the US, Europe and Australia, while the UK recently <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/importing-of-hunting-trophies-banned-to-protect-worlds-threatened-species">announced</a> that it would “ban imports from thousands of species … as part of a wider UK drive on international conservation”. As a professor of wildlife conservation with over 25 years’ field experience, I strongly believe that trophy hunting import bans are driven more by <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13605">misinformation</a> than the weight of scientific <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/252259835_Does_sport_hunting_benefit_conservation">evidence</a>, and risk increasing threats to wildlife and undermining <a href="https://resourceafrica.net/open-letter-celebrity-campaigns-undermine-successful-conservation-and-human-rights/">local rights and livelihoods</a>.</p>
<p>My colleague Hans Bauer <a href="https://theconversation.com/trophy-hunting-will-not-save-africas-lions-so-the-uk-ban-on-imports-is-a-positive-step-for-wildlife-conservation-185907">recently argued the opposite case</a> in The Conversation, supporting an import ban based on what he considers trophy hunting’s disappointing contributions to conservation and local development. Here’s why I’m not convinced.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trophy-hunting-will-not-save-africas-lions-so-the-uk-ban-on-imports-is-a-positive-step-for-wildlife-conservation-185907">Trophy hunting will not save Africa's lions – so the UK ban on imports is a positive step for wildlife conservation</a>
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<h2>A complex situation</h2>
<p>Bauer cites <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0083500#:%257E:text=The%2520lion%2520has%2520undergone%2520a,lions%2520persist%2520across%2520the%2520region.">alarming</a> lion population collapses in West Africa to support trophy import bans. But for effective policy, we must understand the reasons behind these trends. The cited steep declines among lion populations in West African countries with trophy hunting could be taken to imply that trophy hunting was an important factor, but the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10661-011-2475-y">2011 paper</a> referenced in the previous article attributed wildlife declines to poaching, habitat loss and disease. It never mentioned trophy hunting as a threat, but did say that it can help fund anti-poaching and wider management, as well as providing community benefits.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person holding binoculars looks out over an African savannah." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478311/original/file-20220809-9835-nhjwpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478311/original/file-20220809-9835-nhjwpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478311/original/file-20220809-9835-nhjwpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478311/original/file-20220809-9835-nhjwpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478311/original/file-20220809-9835-nhjwpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478311/original/file-20220809-9835-nhjwpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478311/original/file-20220809-9835-nhjwpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author in the Ruaha landscape of southern Tanzania.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Johann Vorster</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bauer also uses another West African conservation area, the W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) complex as another example of how he thinks trophy hunting has failed lions. But a 2016 <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0155763">study</a> found that “the lion population was not significantly affected by hunting” in the region. The authors of this study also said: “An import embargo on lion trophies from the WAP would not be justified. It could ruin the incentive of local actors to conserve lions in hunting areas, and lead to a drastic reduction of lion range in West Africa.”</p>
<p>Even if the West African case example was clear-cut, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0173691">which it is not</a>, insights from one region are often not representative of elsewhere. With the proposed UK import ban purported to affect <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/importing-of-hunting-trophies-banned-to-protect-worlds-threatened-species">nearly 7,000 species</a> (a <a href="https://twitter.com/Nikolaj_Bi/status/1469713219648618503">baffling figure</a> as there aren’t 7,000 species trophy hunted worldwide), it is crucial to consider the bigger picture. <a href="https://bantrophyhunting.org/about-us/#:%257E:text=Killing%2520endangered%2520wildlife%2520for%2520pleasure%2520only%2520helps%2520push,against%2520trophy%2520hunting%252C%2520and%2520tough%2520penalties%2520for%2520offenders.">Campaigns</a> to ban trophy hunting often raise the risk of extinction. But it seems no one can cite a single species for which trophy hunting is a major conservation threat. Far greater <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/threat-analysis-for-more-effective-lion-conservation/45236AADD7F142BC04FFC22E17AFA4A5">threats</a> to lions include loss of habitat and prey, and conflict with people.</p>
<p>Just like photo-tourism, trophy hunting can help reduce those larger threats. Both businesses generate revenue from wildlife, which can <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12877">incentivise</a> wildlife and habitat conservation, help fund anti-poaching efforts and mitigate conflict between people and wildlife. Numerous case studies show the positive contributions of trophy hunting to conservation, including for <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12877">rhinos</a>, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0190369#sec008">lions</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320704001971">argali</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667010021001542">markhor</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667010021001542">Marco Polo sheep</a> and others. Hunting can also help support non-hunted species (including endangered ones) by contributing to wider <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00207233.2013.800383">habitat and species</a> conservation.</p>
<p>Conservation <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=flEwoquwpGUC&oi=fnd&pg=PA222&dq=does+sport+hunting+benefit+conservation&ots=npj2L15o5d&sig=A5NQtxjyllLdFEhtit77IuIuZe8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=does%252520sport%252520hunting%252520benefit%252520conservation&f=false">costs and benefits</a> from trophy hunting vary between locations and species. It can harm populations if poorly managed: if quotas are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320706003843">too high</a> for example, or if females or <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02395">younger males</a> are hunted. It’s particularly worrying when hunting adds <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eap.1377">additional pressure</a> to small, threatened populations. But it’s often possible to reduce those threats by <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.12951">restricting the age</a> of animals killed, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320716306504">reducing quotas</a> or instituting temporary bans.</p>
<p>But why take the risk? Why not ban trophy hunting and replace it with photo-tourism? The argument that trophy hunting has failed to deliver effective conservation could be levelled at photo-tourism just as strongly, if not more so, given how heavily it is promoted as a supposedly better option. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320716305481?casa_token=y_YkAWxcg-0AAAAA:B6sGLeFOBNvaOsLft1PeW8mnR4hVShjORp83IL8gmuB1YgR_6AEravy-eu1fv7nhvDTn0STb">Fewer than a third</a> of African protected areas with lions (including photo-tourism and hunting areas) have managed to maintain lions at half the capacity the land could support. The underlying reason is a lack of funding. Even with photo-tourism, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1805048115">around 90%</a> of African state-owned protected areas with lions are underfunded, meaning managers are unable to tackle major threats such as poaching, human-wildlife conflict or livestock encroachment. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person attends the bloated corpse of a lion." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478312/original/file-20220809-13115-i2mbvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478312/original/file-20220809-13115-i2mbvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478312/original/file-20220809-13115-i2mbvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478312/original/file-20220809-13115-i2mbvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478312/original/file-20220809-13115-i2mbvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478312/original/file-20220809-13115-i2mbvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478312/original/file-20220809-13115-i2mbvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author examining a lion poisoned by local people after it killed livestock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lion Landscapes</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Campaigners for trophy hunting bans <a href="https://www.bornfreeusa.org/2014/10/30/elephants-are-worth-76-times-more-alive/?more=1">have shared</a> that an elephant is apparently “worth US$1.6 million” in its lifetime from photo-tourism: perhaps <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/elephants-are-worth-76-times-more-alive-than-dead-report/">US$23,000</a> per elephant annually. With roughly 400,000 African elephants, that should equate to US$9.2 billion a year. Yet protected areas with lions (most of which overlap with elephants), receive <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1805048115">combined management funding</a> of only US$381 million annually. If any land use is making unmet promises, it’s photo-tourism. </p>
<p>The conservation business model is failing – this applies to photo-tourism, donor funding and trophy hunting. So, given the mismatch between expected and actual revenue, <a href="https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/20193294090">should photo safaris be banned</a>? Most people would say no – that some revenue is better than none, and revenue streams should be increased, not diminished. The same conclusion holds for trophy hunting.</p>
<p>Crucially, Bauer offers no explanation for how bans would reverse wildlife decline. They won’t – without better, locally-accepted alternatives are ready to replace any benefits of hunting at the same scale. Those alternatives don’t appear ready, despite many areas without trophy hunting where they could be developed. Without viable alternatives, bans would only <a href="https://resourceafrica.net/open-letter-celebrity-campaigns-undermine-successful-conservation-and-human-rights/">undermine local rights</a> and <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0163249">accelerate the loss of wildlife</a>.</p>
<p>Placing faith in international finance mechanisms to cover all the costs of conservation is overly optimistic; donors have <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02846-3">failed to meet</a> other commitments, such as helping developing countries adapt to climate change. Relying on countries like the UK to deliver full financing after bans seems unrealistic, while many community representatives are <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-02-22-can-a-global-conservation-fund-bridge-the-gap-between-global-finance-and-the-realities-for-indigenous-communities/">unimpressed</a> that they should be forced to switch from legal, regulated, natural resource use to dependence on external funding.</p>
<p>Bans, including trophy import bans, will reduce revenue in hunting areas, making them less economically viable. Already, <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/cobi.13943">data from Tanzania</a> highlights that operators giving up hunting areas is an emerging threat, with more illegal use in areas without active management. Bans risks increasing habitat loss and conflict with people – leading to more, <a href="https://scienceplusstory.com/science-celebrities-a-call-for-partnership/">and more horrible</a>, wildlife killings.</p>
<p>If the UK hates trophy hunting, it should first ban it domestically, especially as it exports far more trophies (such as red deer antlers), than it imports. <a href="https://www.survation.com/conflicting-attitudes-around-the-trophy-hunting-ban/">A recent poll</a> found most Britons wouldn’t support import bans if they harmed wildlife or people. That should be respected when setting policy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A stuffed deer's head mounted on a tartan-patterned wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478331/original/file-20220809-15346-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478331/original/file-20220809-15346-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478331/original/file-20220809-15346-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478331/original/file-20220809-15346-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478331/original/file-20220809-15346-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478331/original/file-20220809-15346-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478331/original/file-20220809-15346-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A deer adorning a British pub wall.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stuffed-animal-deer-british-pub-interior-41239855">Kirill Kuzminykh/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Any import bans should be carefully targeted <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13932">smart bans</a> to avoid unintended consequences: these would only permit imports if community and conservation benefits could be demonstrated.</p>
<p>Ultimately, Bauer and I both long for a future where conservation is effectively funded, including through finance mechanisms less reliant on hunting. Better alternatives will hopefully emerge over time, perhaps including <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/03/23/wildlife-conservation-bond-boosts-south-africa-s-efforts-to-protect-black-rhinos-and-support-local-communities">wildlife bonds</a> or biodiversity <a href="https://pubs.iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/16664IIED.pdf">credits</a>, where countries and communities are financially rewarded for maintaining their biodiversity. This is something I and many others are working on, but they are not yet available at scale and the market for them is uncertain.</p>
<p>But if those better alternatives emerge, they will naturally outcompete trophy hunting, so there is simply no need for bans – instead, gradual transitions would occur without the <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.13943">major risk</a> of vacant hunting areas. </p>
<p>Until better, locally-desired alternatives do emerge, campaigns for bans <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaz0735">risk intensifying threats</a> to biodiversity, and sow harmful divisions among people who want wildlife to thrive. But, unlike many of the immense conservation challenges we currently face, this one can be reduced simply: by not supporting misguided bans which ignore the weight of conservation evidence and risk major harms for people and wildlife.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187740/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Dickman receives her salary from the Recanati-Kaplan Foundation and Panthera, and consultancy funds from the Darwin Expert Committee, the Arabian Leopard Fund and Jamma International. The Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), which Amy directs, and Amy's field project, Lion Landscapes, both receive funding from various donors, including those supportive of trophy hunting and those opposed. For both organisations, funding from donors with a stance against trophy hunting is larger than donations from pro-hunting groups. All views expressed here are personal.</span></em></p>
Bans on importing hunting trophies risk harming, not helping, endangered species.
Amy Dickman, Professor of Wildlife Conservation, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/185907
2022-06-29T11:23:18Z
2022-06-29T11:23:18Z
Trophy hunting will not save Africa’s lions – so the UK ban on imports is a positive step for wildlife conservation
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471413/original/file-20220628-23-niwf4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=120%2C60%2C6579%2C4365&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Over the past 25 years, lion numbers have decreased by 43% throughout Africa, as their range has declined by more than 90%.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-lion-resting-grass-during-safari-1720635907">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past 25 years, I have spent a lot of time counting lions as part of my job. Only last month, I spent three hours with two males – possibly brothers – right next to my car in Maze National Park, Ethiopia. Lions come in the night, very quietly. Despite weighing well over 20 stone (around 150kg), you do not hear their footsteps. What you hear is their breathing, the turbo of the killing machine.</p>
<p>Had I turned on a light immediately, they would have run away. These lions are skittish, even if they face no threat from trophy hunters in Africa’s national parks. So we spend half an hour in the pitch dark before I finally switch on a small red light to count the eye reflections. Another pause, then a bigger red light enables us to see their sex and age.</p>
<p>We get lucky: with the big spotlight they move to a discrete distance, but we still get to watch them for an hour before retiring to our tents a few hundred metres away. The lions have long lost interest in us but the ranger makes a campfire which smoulders all night, just to be safe. This park has no outposts, no visitors and no emergency services, so we need to stay out of trouble.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471197/original/file-20220627-11-msasrl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471197/original/file-20220627-11-msasrl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471197/original/file-20220627-11-msasrl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471197/original/file-20220627-11-msasrl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471197/original/file-20220627-11-msasrl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471197/original/file-20220627-11-msasrl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471197/original/file-20220627-11-msasrl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Assisting with translocating a livestock-raiding lion to Waza National Park, Cameroon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Maybe you have counted lions in a zoo or wildlife park: “I see three – no wait, there’s a tip of another tail and a flickering ear, so four, or five?” People on safari in popular destinations where lions are habituated to cars may have had the same experience. In the wilderness, however, lions are hard to spot – across much of their range you don’t see them very often at all, especially during the day.</p>
<p>I have spent countless nights sitting on top of my vehicle, playing buffalo or warthog cries with a megaphone, trying to catch a glimpse of lions attracted by these sounds. I have walked for days to find footprints or put up automated camera traps. For every day of fieldwork there is a day of grant writing before and a day of reporting afterwards – but yes, it is a wonderful job.</p>
<p>I once found lions in a part of Ethiopia <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35460573">where they had not been documented</a> and added a blob on the distribution map. Unfortunately, over the last 25 years, it has been much more common to reduce or delete entries from our <a href="https://www.ewt.org.za/sp-aug-2020-science-snippets-an-update-on-the-african-lion-database/#:%7E:text=The%20African%20Lion%20Database%20(ALD,of%20Lions%20across%20the%20continent.">African Lion Database</a>.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1500664112">research</a> shows that during this time, lion numbers have decreased by 43% throughout Africa, and that their range has declined by more than 90%. There are now roughly 25,000 lions in 60 separate population groups, half of which consist of less than 100 lions. Their existence is particularly threatened across West, Central and East Africa.</p>
<hr>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>I first went to Cameroon in 1992 to do my masters project in Waza National Park, and have worked in various parts of Africa ever since (I currently live in Mali). My main research focus with <a href="https://www.wildcru.org/about-wildcru/">WildCRU</a> – Europe’s first university-based conservation research unit – is the mitigation of human-lion conflicts. I <a href="https://www.wildcru.org/members/dr-hans-bauer/">study the difficult balance</a> between people’s livelihoods and the conservation of biodiversity, working close-up at village level but also at national and international perspectives.</p>
<p>This led to me being asked to give evidence to the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on <a href="https://appgtrophyhunting.wordpress.com/">Banning Trophy Hunting</a>, which on 29 June 2022 presented its report on the impacts of trophy hunting to the environment secretary, George Eustice. This follows the UK government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/importing-of-hunting-trophies-banned-to-protect-worlds-threatened-species">announcement in December 2021</a> that it would ban the importing of body parts of 7,000 species including lions, rhinos, elephants and polar bears. On average, roughly ten lion “trophies” are imported into the UK each year, among many other threatened species.</p>
<p>There are many ways to look at this issue, and the debate usually ends up in a deadlock between utilitarians and moralists. I won’t hide my sympathy for the latter – I work with organisations such as the <a href="https://www.bornfree.org.uk/about-us/?gclid=CjwKCAjwh-CVBhB8EiwAjFEPGS7Gn-484ZitXXUlfeACcZqItg65A-o5rLuEJ8MNWCr4GzUGgYH-xRoCx-cQAvD_BwE">Born Free Foundation</a>. But after a week in the field living on pasta and tinned tomato sauce, I will eat bushmeat in a village with no alternatives if it has been harvested legally and sustainably.</p>
<p>The future of trophy hunting in Africa was not on the table during the APPG’s discussions about a UK import ban – and if it was, it would be for African scientists to advise their governments of the pros and cons. In my view, however, the evidence is clear that trophy hunting has not delivered for wildlife in most parts of Africa, and that local communities benefit next to nothing from its continued practice.</p>
<h2>How trophy hunting works</h2>
<p>Trophy hunting is a controversial topic in conservation circles. In some cases, the fact that lions are doing better in parts of southern Africa has – wrongly, in my view – been attributed to it. But in itself, trophy hunting is not the lions’ biggest threat either; <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/threat-analysis-for-more-effective-lion-conservation/45236AADD7F142BC04FFC22E17AFA4A5">my research</a> shows that more are killed when they attack livestock, or perish when their habitat and prey is diminished by agricultural encroachment or poaching.</p>
<p>In Africa, trophy hunting’s popularity grew during colonial times when all sorts of slain animals were sent back to Europe. Nowadays, antelopes are this industry’s most hunted animals – but the most prestigious targets remain the “big five”: lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471189/original/file-20220627-15980-gynpjj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471189/original/file-20220627-15980-gynpjj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471189/original/file-20220627-15980-gynpjj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471189/original/file-20220627-15980-gynpjj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471189/original/file-20220627-15980-gynpjj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471189/original/file-20220627-15980-gynpjj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471189/original/file-20220627-15980-gynpjj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Lion image from a camera trap in Dinder National Park, Sudan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>A client might pay a local entrepreneur or hunting guide anywhere between £10,000 and £100,000 for a “bag” that includes a lion – and the super-rich may pay (or donate) even more. It’s a lot of money for a holiday, and trophy hunting mostly attracts rich, white, middle-aged men from western countries.</p>
<p>Hunting guides are businessmen (almost all are male). They generally lease government land that has been designated for conservation through “sustainable use”. Known as trophy hunting “blocks”, these areas vary widely (anywhere between 500km² and 5,000km²) and each has annual quotas for the amounts of different species that may be shot by trophy hunters.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-closer-to-a-much-better-count-of-africas-lions-140945">Getting closer to a much better count of Africa's lions</a>
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<p>In theory, this restricts the killings to a level the population can sustain. Hunting guides then manage their blocks to maintain these wildlife numbers, including organising anti-poaching patrols. The guides employ staff, pay the land lease, trophy fees and a bunch of other costs – including to a taxidermist and export company to deliver the skin and skull to their client after the kill. It is a big industry that <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13932">claims to be good for both wildlife and local people</a>, but these guides are not charity workers; they maximise their benefits and minimise their costs.</p>
<p>Trophy hunting also does not focus (as is sometimes suggested) on killing off the older, weaker animals in any block. Wildlife populations grow fastest when their densities are low, so that food and aggression are not limiting factors. In order to minimise any such competition – and to offer the biggest trophies – trophy hunts will target healthy animals, not just the old and infirm.</p>
<h2>Lions and livestock</h2>
<p>The methodology used for setting trophy hunting quotas varies from country to country. Cameroon, for example, has traditionally had very high quotas for lions, but these were not based on scientific rigour. In 2015 we published <a href="https://chm.cbd.int/api/v2013/documents/9AC174A3-DA9D-FD8C-764C-E2691FA90EE8/attachments/205672/Bauer_et_al_2015_AJE_Benoue.pdf">our first survey results</a> based on observations done by three teams tracking lions over a vast range.</p>
<p>Each team drove for thousands of kilometres across Cameroon, very slowly, always with two trackers stationed on the bonnet of each 4x4 looking for footprints. We got stuck, camped, waited for trophy hunters to depart before being allowed into a particular area, struggled to get diesel, tolerated the heat and the tsetse flies – it was all part of our daily routine following the lions.</p>
<p>Ultimately, we counted 250 lions, 316 leopards and 1,376 spotted hyenas. Cameroon does not offer a trophy hunting quota for leopards, and hyenas are not popular with hunters – but as a result of our count, the country’s annual lion quota was reduced from 30 to ten. Today this quota is still applied throughout northern Cameroon’s <a href="https://en.unesco.org/biosphere/africa/benoue">Bénoué ecosystem</a>, which has 32 trophy hunting blocks in between its three national parks.</p>
<p>Of these 32 blocks, however, more than ten no longer have any resident lions. And when the blocks lose their lions, this also threatens those living in the national parks – as there is a big difference between having 250 lions spread across 30,000km² of contiguous habitat, or three isolated populations of 50 in parks of 3,000km² each.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471193/original/file-20220627-14-269xfm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471193/original/file-20220627-14-269xfm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471193/original/file-20220627-14-269xfm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471193/original/file-20220627-14-269xfm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471193/original/file-20220627-14-269xfm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471193/original/file-20220627-14-269xfm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471193/original/file-20220627-14-269xfm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Grazing livestock can be easy prey for lions at night.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>When I visited Cameroon again in 2021, I observed cattle everywhere – which is not a good combination with lions. Many of these herds had come from neighbouring countries – <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/pastoralism#:%7E:text=Pastoralists%20are%20people%20who%20practice,is%20key%20to%20this%20system.">pastoralists</a> running from the threat of terrorists in Mali and Niger. As a result, the pressure on these areas, and those who manage them, is intense. It is hard enough to integrate local communities in conservation work, much harder with nomadic people.</p>
<p>Whenever livestock grazes in an area with lions, you inevitably get some depredation. Lions will kill some livestock and, in retaliation, people will kill some lions. This is perhaps the biggest challenge in lion conservation, and all the programmes I know are working to mitigate it. There are tools available to reduce the damage, from flashlights and watchdogs to mobile enclosures and more. But this only works if you know the people living there and can collaborate towards a common goal – not if you have different people passing through every time.</p>
<p>In fact, the pastoralists I have met are usually quite <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/culture-of-tolerance-coexisting-with-large-carnivores-in-the-kafa-highlands-ethiopia/F3ABFD5C2FD5B224AAF55F2DAA022105">tolerant</a> – they like lions. A herder in Cameroon once told me: “If a lion attacks one cow this year, I will know that God has not forgotten me.” Another in Ethiopia said: “We do not think lions take our livestock to hurt us. As a result, we do not refer to it as an ‘attack’ or ‘killing’ – they are taking what they need.”</p>
<p>Nonetheless, some people – pastoralists and others – inevitably pay a high price for co-existing with lions, and they would prefer them in someone else’s backyard.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eP-nV-JSCGg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>I have collared lions in several countries. I know the thrill of a hunt, but a dart gun does not kill – and the information you get from a lion’s collar is amazing. In Waza National Park, I followed lions this way and some behaved very well – but the worst offender killed a hundred-thousand dollars’ worth of cattle in our time there. The park’s warden <a href="https://web.universiteitleiden.nl/cml/bieb_internet/dissertations/pdf/2003_thesis_bauer.pdf">asked me</a>: “How long do you think the local people will pay this price for lion conservation?”</p>
<p>Almost all lion trophy hunting zones in Africa are part of larger ecosystems that include national parks, and in most cases the hunt quotas are based on the entire population of lions, including those living in the parks. An argument used by trophy hunters is that they are protecting extra land with extra lions – but it’s not that simple.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/outrage-over-cecil-the-lion-slaying-three-years-ago-left-little-in-its-wake-99163">Outrage over Cecil the lion slaying three years ago left little in its wake</a>
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<p>While trophy hunting blocks do add lions and extra habitat, they can still become a drain on the overall population when lions move out of the parks into emptied territories within the blocks. These so-called “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source%E2%80%93sink_dynamics#:%7E:text=Source%E2%80%93sink%20dynamics%20is%20a,patch%20might%20affect%20a%20population.">source-sink dynamics</a>” became a global news story in July 2015 because of Cecil, the black-maned lion that my <a href="https://www.wildcru.org/research/cecil-the-lion/">WildCRU colleagues were satellite-tracking</a> when he was killed by an American trophy hunter.</p>
<p>Cecil had been <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/cecil-lion-baited-killed-book-alleges/story?id=53528189">lured</a> from Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe and was shot by Walter Palmer, a dentist from the Minneapolis area. It was actually quite a routine occurrence, but the death of Cecil the Lion created a worldwide media storm – feeding into the UK’s proposal for a ban on trophy hunt imports.</p>
<h2>The model starts to unravel</h2>
<p>Throughout most of Africa, lion numbers are declining. While trophy hunting is far from the only reason for this, the evidence clearly shows it has failed in its promise to provide a significant boost to wildlife conservation. I once thought it might offer benefits too, but studying its impacts and costs has taught me otherwise.</p>
<p>Trophy hunting is allowed in countries throughout East, Central and West Africa including Burkina Faso, Benin, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Sudan and the Congo – and in all these countries, lion declines have been particularly steep. The Central African Republic is the most extreme example: almost half the country was designated as hunting blocks, yet wildlife there has all but disappeared. In 2012, the late researcher and conservationist <a href="https://www.iucn.org/news/protected-areas/201804/philippe-bouch%C3%A9">Philippe Bouché</a> published <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10661-011-2475-y">Game Over!</a> – the title said it all.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471195/original/file-20220627-22-4f7sn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471195/original/file-20220627-22-4f7sn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471195/original/file-20220627-22-4f7sn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471195/original/file-20220627-22-4f7sn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471195/original/file-20220627-22-4f7sn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471195/original/file-20220627-22-4f7sn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471195/original/file-20220627-22-4f7sn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A male lion in Zakouma National Park, Chad.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photograph: Chiara Fraticelli</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Trophy hunting has proved increasingly vulnerable to, on one hand, rising management costs due to the increased threats of agricultural encroachment and poaching (of both lions and their prey), and on the other, reduced income from smaller wildlife populations.</p>
<p>Two rules-of-thumb are widely used: a sustainable annual “harvest” is <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01576.x">one lion per 2,000km²</a>, and the annual management of a trophy hunt block costs around <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1805048115">US$1,000 per km²</a> . Together, they suggest it costs around two million dollars to “produce a lion”. These numbers vary hugely between areas and, of course, trophy hunters shoot other species at the same time, but exceptional conditions are needed for the hunt companies to break even. At the same time, local communities living with wildlife are, understandably, demanding their fair share. The model starts to unravel and fall apart.</p>
<p>In Zambia and Tanzania, for example, 40% and 72% respectively of trophy hunting areas have been abandoned. Management costs are rising and private operators do not find it profitable any more, except in a handful of the best areas. This is not due to any outright ban but rather, the inability to balance of costs and benefits.</p>
<p>Across Africa, in the vast majority of cases, trophy hunting has not delivered more lions – whether because of financial imbalances, increased terrorism, land mismanagement or increased livestock mobility (or a combination of these factors). This failure to deliver undermines the already contested justification for the continued killing of lions by trophy hunters. And as the decline continues, many communities stand to lose a wildlife heritage that could, under a different approach to conservation, provide them with employment and stability.</p>
<h2>Success stories?</h2>
<p>Namibia and Botswana in southern Africa are often cited as models for conservation, which implies their experience could be replicated elsewhere. Trophy hunting has been presented as a success factor in these countries. But in reality, how instructive are the experiences of two large countries with a combined population of less than 5 million people for the other billion-plus Africans living in more densely populated areas?</p>
<p>Certainly, these two countries have a lot of wildlife – but is this due to the effects of trophy hunting, or to very low human population densities, diversified tourism industries and well-resourced wildlife institutions? In Botswana, trophy hunting was banned from 2014 to 2020, but despite abundant polemicising from both pro- and anti-hunting advocacy groups, I’m not aware of any evidence of a significant impact on its national lion and elephant numbers. In short, Botswana’s conservation efforts will succeed with or without trophy hunting.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three lions walking together" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471582/original/file-20220629-25-rz01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471582/original/file-20220629-25-rz01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471582/original/file-20220629-25-rz01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471582/original/file-20220629-25-rz01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471582/original/file-20220629-25-rz01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471582/original/file-20220629-25-rz01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471582/original/file-20220629-25-rz01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Lion numbers are holding up well in Botswana.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pride-lions-botswana-1375251266">Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>While southern Africa has, in general, been quite successful in keeping its wildlife species stable, this is also not always through natural processes. There has been a lot of habitat engineering and captive breeding, so that many of the animals you find in confined nature reserves are, in fact, bred and auctioned.</p>
<p>In South Africa, for example, around <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0217409">8,000 lions live in captivity</a> for the benefit of a small number of rich owners, having been bred like livestock. This model does nothing to improve habitat or biodiversity levels, nor does it support rural socio-economic development. The country’s overall trophy hunting quota is around five wild lions and 500 captive lions each year, and while the <a href="https://africageographic.com/stories/usa-bans-trophy-imports-captive-south-african-lions/">US banned trophy imports</a> from South Africa in 2016, most imported lion trophies into the UK have been killed there.</p>
<p>Another issue for Africa as a whole is that biologists have flocked to southern Africa’s conservation hotspots such as the Okavango Delta in Botswana and Kruger National Park in South Africa, which possess good infrastructure and lots of wildlife. As a result, there is an over-representation of people who have worked there among Africa’s community of conservation science, advocacy and practice. Many may never have worked outside southern Africa, and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-01343-6">may not be aware</a> of what is happening in the rest of the continent.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-role-in-the-trade-in-lion-bones-a-neglected-story-101842">South Africa's role in the trade in lion bones: a neglected story</a>
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<p>I’m not denying that some countries have been successful in their conservation efforts, and that trophy hunting has, in isolated cases, been part of that success. But the “if it pays, it stays” approach which seems to underpin many arguments in favour of trophy hunting has much more often led to the loss of natural ecosystems. This decay affects the vast majority of lion ranges, and an even greater majority of African citizens.</p>
<p>The banning of trophy hunt imports in the UK and elsewhere can, I believe, help to reduce or even reverse this decline. The UK ban is supported by a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/importing-of-hunting-trophies-banned-to-protect-worlds-threatened-species#:%7E:text=The%20Government%20consulted%20on%20a,with%2086%25%20supporting%20further%20action.">large majority of British voters</a>. France, the Netherlands and Australia have already banned lion trophy imports, and the EU and US have restricted their imports. Since most clients want their trophy, that means significantly fewer potential clients overall, indirectly affecting Africa’s policy options.</p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>Throughout the continent, most policymakers stick to the prevailing narrative that trophy hunting supports conservation. In this way, a small white elite continues to have exclusive access to conservation areas that are off-limits for the average citizen to visit, or for public agencies to invest in. Trophy hunting is getting in the way of much-needed innovation and investment.</p>
<p>I agree with trophy hunters that the land they use is important habitat for lions and their prey. No one wants these areas to spiral down. However, the current situation feels like that famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog">frog in boiling water story</a> – countries in Africa are afraid to jump out until they no longer can. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471187/original/file-20220627-21-6fbazs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471187/original/file-20220627-21-6fbazs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471187/original/file-20220627-21-6fbazs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471187/original/file-20220627-21-6fbazs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471187/original/file-20220627-21-6fbazs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=913&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471187/original/file-20220627-21-6fbazs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=913&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471187/original/file-20220627-21-6fbazs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=913&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Hans Bauer assisting authorities to move a confiscated lion cub in Ethiopia. Photograph: Aziz Ahmed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The largest and most important conservation area in West Africa is the 25,000km² <a href="https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/52602.html#:%7E:text=Together%20with%20the%20adjacent%20Arly,conservation%20area%20in%20West%20Africa.">W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) region</a>, on the boundary between Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. With around 400 lions, it is the only three-digit lion population in West Africa, and it also possesses the largest West African populations of elephant and buffalo.</p>
<p>Half of WAP’s land is managed for trophy hunting. Yet over 20 years, these blocks have <a href="https://www.iucn.org/content/big-game-hunting-west-africa-what-its-contribution-conservation">contributed less than 1%</a> of the region’s total conservation budget. Much of the area is now increasingly threatened by terrorist incursions and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/burkina-fasos-wildlife-reserves-have-become-a-battle-zone-overrun-by-militants-and-poachers/2020/09/12/dae444bc-f1c0-11ea-9279-45d6bdfe145f_story.html">large parts have been abandoned</a>, including the hunting blocks.</p>
<p>In Benin, however, the situation is changing. Lion trophy hunting has been ditched and a <a href="http://fsoactf.org/en/">trust fund established</a> that promises to fund the country’s conservation activities in perpetuity. While mainly funded by Benin and German government agencies, the fund has an independent international structure and several other donors have contributed. The park’s management, now delegated to a non-profit organisation, is striving to improve local livelihoods by generating employment and offering support for community initiatives that do not harm the local wildlife.</p>
<p>Of course, we should not expect wildlife to fix poverty and instability where 50 years of development work have been unsuccessful. But I visit Benin every year and where I used to find a dozen friendly but unorganised staff, I now see hundreds of local people trained, employed and proud. In the past, some children might have gone to school reluctant to learn things they would not need as subsistence farmers. After visiting the park, however, I see signs that they want to learn skills and compete for career options their parents did not have.</p>
<p>Another glimpse of a better future can be seen in Akagera National Park, Rwanda, which was completely depleted in the 1980s and 1990s. Rwanda is the only country in Africa with a population density higher than India’s. It is a country facing a huge number of challenges, yet Akagera is a <a href="https://www.observatoire-comifac.net/publications/edap?lang=en">conservation success story</a>. Following an initial investment in the area’s recovery, it is now breaking even through ecotourism with primarily Rwandan visitors. While this cannot be expected to work everywhere, it has worked in this most unlikely of places.</p>
<p>The true cost of saving African lions, and their prey and habitats, is <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1805048115">estimated</a> to be around US$1billion per year. With such funding, Africa could quadruple its lion numbers up to 100,000 without creating any new protected areas. At the moment, lions exist at only about a quarter of their ranges’ full capacities. Funding and community engagement are both critical to increasing this figure. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-arrived-at-a-1-billion-annual-price-tag-to-save-africas-lions-105411">How we arrived at a $1 billion annual price tag to save Africa's lions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Ultimately, international solidarity is a much more substantial, and sustainable, source of funding than trophy hunting. Our approach to the extinction crisis should be similar to the one for climate: biodiversity justice as well as climate justice. The 2021 <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop26-experts-react-to-the-un-climate-summit-and-glasgow-pact-171753">COP26 climate summit</a> in Glasgow discussed the proposed <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02846-3">annual fund of US$100 billion</a> to help less wealthy nations adapt to climate change and mitigate further rises in temperature. A similar fund for supporting global biodiversity will be proposed at the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/21/montreal-to-host-delayed-cop15-summit-to-halt-alarming-global-biodiversity-loss">COP15 summit</a> in Montreal in December 2023. A billion dollars for Africa’s lions and other wildlife may sound unrealistic, but in the arena of international policy, it should not really be a problem.</p>
<p>African nations are sovereign, and hold the key to the future of the lion. Some may be keen to retain trophy hunting – but they know that demand is shrinking as UK politicians are the latest to respond to the concerns of their constituents.</p>
<p>Above all, the trophy hunting debate is divisive, draining energy from conservationists in Africa and around the world who agree on most other issues. Now is surely the time to focus our efforts on far better alternatives for the conservation of lions and other endangered species.</p>
<p>Remember those two lions in Maze National Park? They are part of a small population which has the park as its core area, but which roam the entire landscape in that part of southern Ethiopia. Sometimes a few lions make it across to the next park for some welcome genetic exchange. Maze’s head warden has lots of rangers to assist in monitoring them, but only one motorbike. There is no hotel for hours around, no fuel station, no media. He does not need trophy hunters, he needs a car.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/embracing-uncertainty-what-kenyan-herders-can-teach-us-about-living-in-a-volatile-world-174075?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Embracing uncertainty: what Kenyan herders can teach us about living in a volatile world
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<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185907/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Prof. Dr. Hans Bauer works at WildCRU and has received research funding from various organisations, including the Born Free Foundation, National Geographic, Panthera, Zoo Leipzig, US Fish and Wildlife Service. He is affiliated with the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group and the University of Antwerp. Views expressed here are mine, not those of any of these institutions.</span></em></p>
An Africa-based conservation expert explains why trophy hunting has not delivered for wildlife in most parts of Africa, and that local communities benefit next to nothing from its continued practice
Hans Bauer, Research fellow: Northern Lion Conservation, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/176277
2022-02-03T16:39:59Z
2022-02-03T16:39:59Z
Psychology of trophy hunting: why some people kill animals for sport
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444305/original/file-20220203-15-ue3f83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C5078%2C3967&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">African elephant being hunted</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-elephant-being-hunted-cross-hair-1472162405">Roger Brown Photography/shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Do you have any desire to stalk and kill an elephant? Probably not, but some relish the idea.</p>
<p>Recently the world’s <a href="https://safariclub.org/sci-concludes-its-50th-annual-convention/">largest trophy hunting convention</a> took place in Las Vegas, organised by Safari Club International, an influential US-based hunting lobby group. Attendees bid in an auction on a trip to hunt and shoot polar bears, with some of the funds raised earmarked to fight UK government plans to ban hunting trophies.</p>
<p>The proposed new laws will be some of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/importing-of-hunting-trophies-banned-to-protect-worlds-threatened-species">toughest in the world</a>, banning imports of dead animal trophies not only from the “big five” most desirable hunted animals – lions, leopards, elephants, rhino and buffalo – but also around 7,000 other endangered and threatened species. </p>
<p>Trophy hunters pay large sums of money, often tens of thousands of dollars, to travel around the world to kill wild animals. Who can forget the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/cecil-african-lion-anniversary-death-trophy-hunting-zimbabwe">killing of Cecil the lion</a> in 2015 in Zimbabwe? He was hunted over many hours with a bow and arrow, before being skinned and beheaded by a dentist and committed trophy hunter from Minnesota.</p>
<p>Many of us feel genuine bewilderment about why men (and some women) have the desire to kill like this. Can psychology help shed some light on what lies behind the motivation to hunt?</p>
<h2>Perhaps it’s about achievement</h2>
<p>Hunters themselves argue that hunting large prey is integral to our evolutionary past – that it’s part of our human DNA. </p>
<p>But anthropological research suggests that hunting large prey provides too much food at any one time, which <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513800000325?casa_token=ym6Xg5X06PkAAAAA:WVCteJ2h_RK0HXv40m6fINrOOjE5IUplEk6vd9lfWKi1PzAfQKpRRxdVwygOXEwAKKRcdXA-1g">does not necessarily lead</a> to future benefits. </p>
<p>One study offers a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/016230959190011E">different evolutionary explanation</a> called the “costly signalling theory” – the dead prey was an easily visible display of skill and courage and therefore increased the fitness status and sexual advantage for members of the ancestral hunting group (a bit like the feathers of a peacock).</p>
<p>Could trophy hunting be the modern-day equivalent?</p>
<p>To gain some insight into the psychological motivations of trophy hunters, researchers <a href="https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/bigthun/2/">analysed 455 hunting stories</a> from online hunting forums, picking out 2,864 individual phrases from these stories to identify the reasons for hunters feeling satisfied after their kills.</p>
<p>They found “achievement” to be the most frequently reported, followed by “appreciation” of the animals (including “love” of the animals they kill) and “affiliation”, the sense of being part of a community of hunters and the resulting strengthening of social bonds.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Hunter closing eyes while standing next to killed boar" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444310/original/file-20220203-19-ep744x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444310/original/file-20220203-19-ep744x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444310/original/file-20220203-19-ep744x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444310/original/file-20220203-19-ep744x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444310/original/file-20220203-19-ep744x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444310/original/file-20220203-19-ep744x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444310/original/file-20220203-19-ep744x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A hunter often shows deep appreciation and love for their kill.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hunter-closing-eyes-while-standing-next-87173878">MCarper/shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another study analysed the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10871209.2015.1046533">non-verbal communication</a> of the hunters, especially the type of smile of hunters in social media posts where they posed with their dead prey. They found that smiles of “true pleasure” were significantly more likely when hunters were photographed with carnivores rather than herbivores and when the prey was large rather than small. The authors concluded that this research highlights the importance of the notion of inner achievement in trophy hunting.</p>
<p>But this may be too limited a conclusion. </p>
<p>These smiles are more than just natural signs of pleasure. They are social displays exaggerated for social media posts and part of an image involving both the hunter and the hunted – a display of power, dominance and control. Just as the “costly signalling” theory suggests, the animal is a mere prop in a story about the hunters so they can signal their status and fitness in a photo, which is a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00390.x?casa_token=5WtfvR0kxfcAAAAA%3A8Oy2jCciCQ-ZK7iJDaQkxCohFQrGTVpSMyOgtYxR9p2PjTGpM2lehUrH65pPGoZI4tCqKlwH5lMr">reconstruction in memory</a> of the hunt itself. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1426340042226774016"}"></div></p>
<h2>The dark triad</h2>
<p>And this is where psychology can begin to shed some light on what motivates people to hunt. </p>
<p>It has been suggested that narcissism, machiavellianism and (non-clinical) psychopathy are all involved, the so-called <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118970843.ch194">“dark triad” of personality characteristics</a>.</p>
<p>Narcissists have an <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-05058-000">inflated sense of self</a> and crave positive attention. To maintain this inflated level of self-esteem they must engage in strategies to maintain and develop their self-image, like posing with a lion they’ve just killed. <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/1996-02773-004">Machiavellians often manipulate</a> social situations for their own ends, just like the carefully managed social media images, while psychopaths are usually callous and lack empathy – they simply <a href="https://academic.oup.com/scan/article/5/1/59/1731641?login=true">do not experience</a> the same level of emotion about the suffering of others, whether human or animal. So animals can be used as props to maintain their self-image of superiority without guilt or conscience.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trophy-hunting-can-it-really-be-justified-by-conservation-benefits-121921">Trophy hunting – can it really be justified by 'conservation benefits'?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In a study of the link between dark triad traits and <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-21784-001">attitudes towards animals</a>, researchers found that animal cruelty is an indicator of violent antisocial behaviour. They also found that less positive attitudes towards animals were associated with higher levels of all three of the traits and that higher levels of psychopathy were associated with actual behaviour, for example, “having intentionally killed a stray or wild animal for no good reason” and “having intentionally hurt or tortured an animal for the purpose of teasing it or causing pain”.</p>
<p>This research was not conducted with trophy hunters themselves, and whether these findings apply to them depends on how you view trophy hunting. If you assume it requires a less positive attitude toward animals and is a sanctioned act of animal cruelty, then these results might well be relevant. It seems likely that a lack of empathy and a degree of callousness would facilitate trophy hunting, and the images would allow the maintenance of narcissistic flow for these people.</p>
<p>I believe that psychology may well hold the key to <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Trophy-Hunting-A-Psychological-Perspective/Beattie/p/book/9780367278168#">understanding trophy hunting</a> and why it flourishes in this narcissistic age of ours. Understanding hunter motivation is important, not least because it can lead to improved wildlife management policy and practice, and can tell us, ultimately, what can be done to combat trophy hunting.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoff Beattie has acted as a consultant to the Born Free Foundation.</span></em></p>
To many of us trophy hunting is repellent. But here’s a look at why killing wild animals might be pleasurable to some.
Geoff Beattie, Professor of Psychology, Edge Hill University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/155587
2021-03-02T10:19:20Z
2021-03-02T10:19:20Z
Recreational hunting, conservation and livelihoods: no clear evidence trail
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386982/original/file-20210301-14-k2dfgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In some African countries, lion trophy hunting is legal.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Riaan van den Berg</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In sub-Saharan Africa, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320706003831">almost 1,400,000 km² of land</a> spread across many countries — from Kenya to South Africa — is dedicated to “trophy” (recreational) hunting. This type of hunting can occur on communal, private, and state lands. </p>
<p>The hunters – mainly foreign “tourists” from North America and Europe – target a wide variety of species, including lions, leopards, antelopes, buffalo, elephants, zebras, hippopotamus and giraffes. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/big-game-banning-trophy-hunting-could-do-more-harm-than-good-52854">Big game: banning trophy hunting could do more harm than good</a>
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</em>
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<p>Debates centred on the role of recreational hunting in supporting nature conservation and local people’s livelihoods are among the <a href="https://therevelator.org/trophy-hunting-conservation/">most polarising</a> in conservation today. </p>
<p>On one hand, people argue that recreational hunting generates funding that can support livelihoods and nature conservation. It’s estimated to generate <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320706003831">US$200 million</a> annually in sub-Saharan Africa, although <a href="https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/factsheets/factsheet-how-much-does-hunting-contribute-african-economies">others dispute</a> the magnitude of this contribution.</p>
<p>On the other hand, hunting is heavily criticised on ethical and moral grounds and as a potential threat to some <a href="https://www.humanesociety.org/news/defend-wild">species</a>. </p>
<p>Evidence for taking a particular side in the debate is still unfortunately thin. In our recently published <a href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(21)00060-9">research</a>, we reviewed the large body of scientific literature on recreational hunting from around the world, which meant we read and analysed more than 1000 peer-reviewed papers. </p>
<p>We used this vast body of information to summarise the diverse implications of hunting for nature conservation and the livelihoods of people.</p>
<p>We found that studies quantified the revenues generated by hunting, but they often stopped short of determining on how these revenues benefited conservation and local people.</p>
<p>Likewise, there is only a little research documenting the effectiveness of recreational hunting areas for conserving ecosystems, and who really benefits from the revenues generated.</p>
<p>Ultimately, we still do not have enough evidence to answer the pressing questions of where and how hunting contributes to sustainable conservation efforts that also benefit local people. While it is not self-evident why this is so, it is important that future research addresses these gaps.</p>
<h2>Targeted species</h2>
<p>A lot of the research we examined focuses on how hunting affects a particular species. The most-studied species are large mammals from North America, Europe, and Africa – such as red deer, white-tailed deer, wild boar, moose, and lions. Of these, only the lion is of <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15951/115130419">conservation concern</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386583/original/file-20210226-15-5ozc90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386583/original/file-20210226-15-5ozc90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386583/original/file-20210226-15-5ozc90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386583/original/file-20210226-15-5ozc90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386583/original/file-20210226-15-5ozc90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386583/original/file-20210226-15-5ozc90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386583/original/file-20210226-15-5ozc90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386583/original/file-20210226-15-5ozc90.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 12 most-studied species in recreational-hunting research (a), and the percentage of studies dedicated to mammals and birds (b). IUCN Red List (iucnredlist.org) threat status: LC = Least Concern; VU = Vulnerable.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">One Earth © the authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The impacts on the populations targeted by hunters varied among species. For example, red deer hunting <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2006.01183.x">appears</a> to be sustainable, while there is evidence that reindeer hunting has caused some populations to <a href="https://esj-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/1438-390X.12030">decline</a>. Hunting did not cause population declines in <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.01.014">studies</a> of 17 African hoofed mammal species, with only eland declining due to hunting. </p>
<h2>Impacts on lions</h2>
<p>The impacts of hunting also varied within species, with <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0073808">lions</a> being a good example. </p>
<p>Evidence shows that while lion hunting is well-regulated and sustainable in some <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.12951">places</a> – such as <a href="http://niassalion.org/niassa-national-reserve/">Niassa National Reserve</a> in Mozambique – in other places it is detrimental to <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0005941">local populations</a>. For example, the lion population in Zambia’s <a href="https://www.southluangwa.com">South Luangwa National Park</a> declined from 125 lions in 2009 to 94 in 2012. Trophy hunting was the leading cause of death, with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320714003875">46 males harvested</a>. These declines resulted in a trophy hunting ban in 2013. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386587/original/file-20210226-23-byfk0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386587/original/file-20210226-23-byfk0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386587/original/file-20210226-23-byfk0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386587/original/file-20210226-23-byfk0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386587/original/file-20210226-23-byfk0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386587/original/file-20210226-23-byfk0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386587/original/file-20210226-23-byfk0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386587/original/file-20210226-23-byfk0o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The world map shows the country contribution (as number of studies) to research based on countries where the studies on recreational hunting were done.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">One Earth © the authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hunting has also negatively affected carnivores elsewhere in the world. For example, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0005941">puma</a> (cougar) populations in North America and <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2014.1840">brown bears</a> in Europe. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, we also found that while the literature is extensive, there were biases toward certain continents and either “charismatic” species, or species that are not under imminent threat of extinction. </p>
<h2>How hunting affects ecosystems and people</h2>
<p>Far less research has been done to measure the broader impacts of hunting on ecosystems. Or how hunting contributes to, or detracts from, the livelihoods of local people.</p>
<p>In terms of livelihoods, research from <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-africas-conservation-and-trophy-hunting-dilemma-140029">South Africa</a> and <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.12643">Namibia</a> concluded that stopping hunting would negatively affect conservation initiatives and local livelihoods by the loss of the major revenue it generates. Trophy hunters spend <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2018.e00510">US$250 million</a> in South Africa each year.</p>
<p>Recreational hunting was particularly important in areas where ecotourism was not a viable alternative because of a lack of infrastructure, rare wildlife, or a dearth of <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0135595">spectacular scenery</a>, such as much of the <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/XwjAKu5ECgGn1iqD7">Northern Conservation Zone</a> in Botswana.</p>
<p>In West and Central Africa, there are various <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-01343-6">constraints</a> to the revenue that trophy hunting can generate. These include few remaining trophy species – such as lions – and policies, such as the European Union’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/banning-trophy-hunting-imports-wont-save-the-worlds-wildlife-109034">bans on the imports of trophies</a>. There are also high costs associated with countering threats from poaching and agricultural encroachment. </p>
<p>These constraints have meant the revenue generated from trophy hunting are not enough to cover the costs needed to manage hunting blocks effectively. Trophy hunting, for example in <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cfa/ifr/2016/00000018/a00101s1/art00010">Cameroon</a>, wasn’t enough to provide a meaningful contribution to local communities. </p>
<p>In terms of the broader impacts of hunting on ecosystems, we found evidence for some benefits from North America, Europe, and Africa. </p>
<p>Most <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.13131#:%7E:text=We%20review%20the%20literature%20that,food%20and%20rear%20and%20release.&text=63%25%20of%20the%20122%20significant,non%E2%80%90game%20species%20were%20positive.">evidence</a> suggests that habitat management for game birds is positive for many other species in agricultural landscapes. For instance, in North America, fees from waterfowl hunters have made it possible to conserve or restore more than <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10871209.2017.1310960">50,000 km²</a> of wild bird habitat.</p>
<p>However, recreational hunting can also mean that predators are killed to make way for popular game species kept at artificially high densities via <a href="https://conservationbytes.com/2015/11/04/game-bird-madness/">breeding and introduction programs</a>.</p>
<p>In South Africa, benefits generated from trophy hunting of white rhinos incentivised landowners to conserve and restore this species across more than <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12741">16,000 km²</a>. This helped conserve other species and ecosystems.</p>
<h2>New research agenda needed</h2>
<p>Even though the literature on recreational hunting is extensive,
research must be extended towards less-charismatic species and to all continents where recreational hunting happens. For example, we need a lot more evidence to support or debunk some claims that hunting increases the quantity and quality of conservation interventions.</p>
<p>Likewise, there is still only limited research addressing questions pertaining to the sustainability of recreational hunting, who benefits from it, and how local people feel about it. Assessing the role of recreational hunting in diverse contexts is essential to develop equitable ecosystem conservation and restoration practices, while simultaneously contributing to the livelihoods and aligning with the values of local people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155587/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Enrico Di Minin receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC) for funding under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement #802933). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Haukka receives funding from the Kone Foundation and was previously supported by an University of Helsinki early-career grant to Enrico Di Minin.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Hausmann receives funding from the European Research Council for funding under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (grant agreement #802933 to Enrico Di Minin)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christoph Fink receives funding from the European Research Council for funding under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (grant agreement #802933 to Enrico Di Minin)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Corey J. A. Bradshaw receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gonzalo Cortés-Capano receives funding from the European Research Council for funding under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (grant agreement #802933 to Enrico Di Minin). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hayley Clements receives funding from Kone Foundation and a Jennifer Ward Oppenheimer Research Grant</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ricardo A. Correia is currently supported by funding from the University of Helsinki. </span></em></p>
Debates centred on the role of recreational hunting in supporting nature conservation and local people’s livelihoods are among the most polarising in conservation today.
Enrico Di Minin, Associate Professor in Conservation Geography, University of Helsinki
Anna Haukka, PhD student, University of Helsinki
Anna Hausmann, Postdoctoral fellow, University of Helsinki
Christoph Fink, PhD Student, University of Helsinki
Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University
Gonzalo Cortés-Capano, Researcher and PhD candidate, University of Helsinki
Hayley Clements, Researcher, Stellenbosch University
Ricardo Correia, Post-doctoral researcher, University of Helsinki
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/144156
2020-08-25T14:31:35Z
2020-08-25T14:31:35Z
Banning trophy hunting can put wildlife at risk: a case study from Botswana
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353453/original/file-20200818-18-zzzwof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Before the trophy hunting ban, Botswana specialised in big game such as elephants, buffalos and leopards. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Wildlife tourism is an important segment of Botswana’s tourism industry, representing <a href="https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284416752">80%</a> of the total annual revenue of trips to Botswana. Key to this are protected areas which have <a href="https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284416752">led to the growth</a> of the country’s wildlife tourism.</p>
<p>Wildlife tourism can take place either in the animals’ natural environments such as national parks, game reserves or other protected areas or in captivity, such as zoos or rehabilitation centres. Activities during these tours can be classified into two main groups; non-consumptive (viewing and photographing of wild animals) and consumptive which refers to activities such as trophy hunting and fishing.</p>
<p>Since the start of trophy hunting operations in 1996 in Botswana, trophy hunting has grown steadily. The industry <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320706003831?casa_token=MldVRKBaa4UAAAAA:YxIqUpcdPpEq2gi-WYMhXp7nSu-1oJ3hsyScp3US3UI6cJKCWpUOMYvCWrTMf7BwLEOFs4nhYw">employed</a> an estimated 1,000 people, received 350 hunters annually and sold more then 5,500 hunting days per year. In 2011, a year before the trophy hunting ban <a href="https://firstforhunters.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/303/">was announced</a> in the country, the industry netted Botswana <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254339531_Exploitation_or_Conservation_Can_The_Hunting_Tourism_Industry_in_Africa_Be_Sustainable">US$20 million</a> in revenue annually from 2,500 animals sold to trophy hunters. Botswana <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254339531_Exploitation_or_Conservation_Can_The_Hunting_Tourism_Industry_in_Africa_Be_Sustainable">specialised</a> in big game such as elephants, buffalo and leopard which generated higher hunting fees from few animals.</p>
<p>The main reason given by the Botswana government for the trophy hunting ban was the decline in the number of wildlife due to trophy hunting – a reason that was widely <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315588293_Effects_of_the_safari_hunting_tourism_ban_on_rural_livelihoods_and_wildlife_conservation_in_Northern_Botswana">questioned</a> by trophy hunting operators. </p>
<p>The ban on trophy hunting had an adverse impact as highlighted by various <a href="https://www.car.org.bw/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Botswana-CBNRM-2016-Review.pdf">data sources</a>. We therefore set out in 2018 to <a href="https://repository.nwu.ac.za/handle/10394/34910">study</a> the impact of the ban of trophy hunting on local communities. We chose two communities, Sankuyo (400 inhabitants in Northern Botswana) and Mmadinare (12,000 inhabitants in Eastern Botswana). The two communities that were selected for the study, had prior involvement in hunting. </p>
<p>We collected data through interviews with community members and leaders of the community-based organisations trusts. These are legal entities established to represent interests of communities and are often made up of multiple villages of close geographical proximity. </p>
<p>We also interviewed former employees from the hunting sector and small business owners. Some of the questions asked were: how did hunting tourism benefit the community? Was hunting seen as a positive impact on the community? What are the current challenges that the community face since the ban of trophy hunting? Have attitudes toward wildlife changed from the times of trophy hunting?</p>
<h2>Human-wildflife conflict</h2>
<p>Participants said they’d lost income as a result of the trophy hunting ban. The study didn’t focus on determining how much or what percentage was lost. Participants said the ban also led to more instances of human-wildlife conflict. </p>
<p>In addition, community members said wild animals were a risk to their livelihoods as they were a danger to livestock and crop production. The 2016 <a href="https://www.car.org.bw/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Botswana-CBNRM-2016-Review.pdf">Review of Community Based Natural Resources Management in Botswana</a>, indicated that the top three most important livelihood sources for communities were livestock, social welfare and crops. This can undermine conservation efforts, especially if the benefits of co-existing with wildlife are minimal. </p>
<p>Another finding was that both communities were outraged that they weren’t consulted on the trophy hunting ban in 2014. One of the participants, a business owner, said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Aah, I don’t know I just heard them saying it will be the last hunting season and they didn’t explain why.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another participant, former hunting employee, reiterated the business owner’s sentiments: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>What I remember is them informing us that hunting is being stopped. As for asking for our opinions, I don’t remember them coming to do that. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The results of the study also showed that the two communities experienced the benefits of trophy hunting differently. Community tourism benefits from trophy hunting are more pronounced in smaller communities. </p>
<p>In Sankuyo community members, former hunting employees and small business operators all said that they benefited through employment contribution, the sale of meat, as well as financial contribution to community development. But in Mmadinare, the larger community, the members felt they didn’t benefit that much from trophy hunting. Although some former hunting employees did mention benefits such as sale of meat, employment and skills development. </p>
<p>The study found that both communities experienced challenges as a result of the ban on trophy hunting. The participants decry an increase in the number of wildlife in the areas and expressed that this has led to an escalation of human-wildlife conflict. This conflict involve mostly elephants, kudus, antelopes and buffaloes which invaded people’s farms. </p>
<p>A former hunting employee in Sankuyo said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the past because of trophy hunting it was not easy to see animals around. Nowadays, they are everywhere, sometimes we see them in our yards. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The result was that almost half of the participants (47.8%) of in both communities expressed that their attitudes were negative towards wildlife as a result of escalation in such conflicts. This puts the sustainability of wildlife resources in jeopardy. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/elephants-reduced-to-a-political-football-as-botswana-brings-back-hunting-117615">Last year</a> Botswana’s parliament passed a motion to lift a ban on elephant hunting, which had been in place <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/02/overpopulation-botswana-to-start-auctions-of-elephant-hunting-licences/">since 2014</a>. This will only allow the hunting of elephants and hunting licenses were auctioned in February 2020 as elephants <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/botswana-auctions-elephant-hunting-licenses-lifting-ban-200208071518075.html">were seen</a> as the main contributors to animal and conflicts with in certain areas. </p>
<p>Our research supports this, and further recommends the lifting of the ban on the remaining animals listed under the ban. This can help to alleviate challenges experienced by households in communities like Sankuyo, where trophy hunting was a key source of income. The lifting of the ban will also reverse the negative attitudes within communities that threaten conservation efforts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144156/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
How communities in Botswana are counting the costs of a trophy hunting ban.
Peet Van Der Merwe, Professor in Tourism, North-West University
Lelokwane Lockie Mokgalo, Lecturer, Botswana Accountancy College
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/126439
2019-11-14T15:31:05Z
2019-11-14T15:31:05Z
South Africa struggles to manage wildlife ranching: why it’s a problem
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301327/original/file-20191112-178484-vykw8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Game farms in South Africa often supply the canned hunting sector.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past few decades, South Africa has seen a dramatic conversion from livestock or crop farming to wildlife ranching – known locally as game farming. The result has been a rapid rise in areas enclosed by game fences and a high demand for wildlife. Animals are increasingly being traded privately and at wildlife auctions. </p>
<p>But regulation hasn’t kept up with this growth. This is despite the fact that key environmental and agricultural laws have been passed since 1994 that affect the wildlife sector in a number of ways. This includes property rights, the redistribution of land and the conservation of biodiversity. The policy changes were driven mainly by the need to integrate South Africa into <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669580802154132">the international community</a> and to bring about economic and social transformation in a democratic state.</p>
<p>In the 1990s the state facilitated the early development of game farming by passing favourable legislation. The <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/1991-105.pdf">Game Theft Act of 1991</a> was hailed <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275276405_Extensive_wildlife_production_on_private_land_in_South_Africa.">as a “game changer” </a> in the wildlife industry as the law gave farmers the right to own game as long as they had appropriate fencing.</p>
<p>Eight years later the <a href="https://www.nda.agric.za/doaDev/sideMenu/animalAndAquacultureProduction/docs/Animal%20improvement%20act(2).pdf">Animal Improvement Act</a> tightened up breeding rules in the livestock sector. But certain species of wildlife were exempted under this act. The result is that the law hasn’t kept up with developments in the private wildlife sector. These include new challenges that have emerged like breeding for colour variants, exotic species and canned hunting. </p>
<p>The result has been huge gaps in the way that game farms are regulated by the state at national and provincial levels. In <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02589001.2014.936678?casa_token=b9dz5edw2HoAAAAA%3AAigUceJucJybzoE54tl_D0h0sTiTCM-5eckg5L6YX8mf2D3CqWhGDw1Vmz4MFpHa4Ollppc3bMkXBQ">a paper</a> published in 2014 I looked at how the fractured state in the governance of private game farming in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa was affecting the sector. My findings remain relevant.</p>
<p>In the intervening years, the power of the private wildlife sector has been entrenched. Game farmers in KwaZulu-Natal often complain about strict local wildlife regulations. But, as my research showed, they benefit from the fact that there are holes in the law, plus the fact that there’s a strong, autonomous conservation body at provincial level that has historically acted in their favour.</p>
<p>I concluded that schisms between the various government departments, locally and nationally, combined with a lack of clear direction on the private game farming sector have meant that their operations haven’t been directed towards being more socially or environmentally sustainable. </p>
<h2>What’s wrong</h2>
<p>Game farming connects the wildlife and agricultural sectors. Both are inherently connected to land.</p>
<p>Land needs to be equitably distributed and sustainably utilised to meet varied needs of a diverse South African population. The country has a long way to go on both scores.</p>
<p>Land distribution remains persistently skewed. At least 80% of the country’s land is privately owned, most of it in the hands of white farmers. On top of this there are still mass evictions of former farm workers, former labour tenants and even land restitution claimants. These evictions have mostly happened during the past two decades. It has also been the period during which wildlife farming has grown.</p>
<p>Game farming also has environmental consequences. Take the issue of game breeding. The high demand for the “new forms” of species puts pressure on game farmers to increase introduction of exotic species. The genetic manipulation of species, for example to create unusual colour variants, as well as intensive captive breeding methods are being used to produce “new” variants. </p>
<p>Variant species are seen as problematic because they have the potential of affecting species in the wild if they’re released to intermingle. </p>
<p>In addition, trophy hunting remains a controversial issue on its <a href="https://theconversation.com/trophy-hunting-in-africa-the-case-for-viable-sustainable-alternatives-115649">contribution to conservation</a>.</p>
<h2>What’s missing</h2>
<p>At the national level, there is a schism between government departments.</p>
<p>The first area of tension is over which department should take the lead. Should it be the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries or the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development? </p>
<p>The issues being played out include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>whether game farmers should be regulated as just another agricultural activity.</p></li>
<li><p>whether biodiversity conservation concerns should take precedence. </p></li>
<li><p>whether wildlife should be treated in the same way as livestock.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The government <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/lions-cheetahs-and-rhino-among-33-wild-species-reclassified-as-farm-animals-35911810">recently gazetted</a> a list of 33 wildlife species that will now be treated as livestock. This opens the door to these species being treated as farming stock. </p>
<p>The change surprised environmentalists. It suggests that the government is gradually yielding to the demands of game farmers. </p>
<p>My research also found that game farmers in KwaZulu-Natal are protected by the semi-autonomous conservation authority, Ezemvelo KwaZulu Natal Wildlife, to their advantage. The organisation has a strong tradition of cooperation with private landowners in the province which has ensured that their interests are protected. However, the conservation authority still has difficulty in keeping track of what happens on game farms and enforcing legislation.</p>
<h2>Recommendations</h2>
<p>There is a need for a coherent policy which clarifies the position and role of game farming in South Africa. This needs to take on board the country’s political and socioeconomic context, including the land question.</p>
<p>Government and all other institutions need to have the capacity to safeguard natural resources as well as to ensure marginalised communities are looked after. One possible route could be to delegate powers to local level, though this would not necessarily be regarded as a positive move by game farmers.</p>
<p>This article is based on a longer <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02589001.2014.936678">article</a> first published in the Journal of Contemporary African Studies. The study and the publication of the special issue were funded by the <a href="https://www.nwo.nl/en">Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research</a> (grant number W01.65.306.00) and the South Africa Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126439/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tariro Kamuti received funding from the South African National Biodiversity Institute. He is affiliated with the Society for South African Geographers and Regional Studies Association, UK. </span></em></p>
Private game farming isn’t being managed in a socially or environmentally sustainable way.
Tariro Kamuti, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Cape Town
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/121921
2019-10-10T12:01:38Z
2019-10-10T12:01:38Z
Trophy hunting – can it really be justified by ‘conservation benefits’?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296224/original/file-20191009-3872-l72cir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cecil the lion, before he was a trophy.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cecil-male-lion-november-2012-rip-143309854?src=DnZHBh5b58HBPzukG4YqmQ-1-1">Shutterstock/paula french</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Killing animals for fun is an activity which divides opinion. It can also be a highly emotive issue, with high profile cases like the death of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Loveridge/publication/301638394_Cecil_A_Moment_or_a_Movement_Analysis_of_Media_Coverage_of_the_Death_of_a_Lion_Panthera_Leo/links/572ceb5e08aee0229759801a/Cecil-A-Moment-or-a-Movement-Analysis-of-Media-Coverage-of-the-Death-of-a-Lion-Panthera-Leo.pdf">Cecil the lion</a> sparking global media coverage and outcry. There were even <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/11/wildlife-watch-cecil-lion-hunter-charges-dropped/">calls</a> for the American dentist who admitted killing Cecil to be charged with illegal hunting. </p>
<p>But despite the strong feelings it occasionally provokes, many people may be unaware just how common trophy hunting is. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) <a href="https://d1jyxxz9imt9yb.cloudfront.net/resource/36/attachment/regular/Killing_For_Trophies.pdf">reports</a> that between 2004 and 2014, a total of 107 countries participated in the trophy hunting business. In that time, it is thought over 200,000 hunting trophies from threatened species were traded (plus a further 1.7m from non-threatened animals).</p>
<p>Trophy hunters themselves pay vast sums of money to do what they do (IFAW claims upwards of $US100,000 for a 21-day big game hunting trip). But reliable data on the economic benefits this brings to the countries visited remains <a href="https://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-how-much-does-hunting-contribute-to-african-economies/">limited and contested</a>.</p>
<p>Now the UK government has <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-measures-protect-animal-welfare-and-increase-woodland-cover">announced</a> it is considering banning the trade of hunting trophies from endangered species – making it a crime to bring them back into the country.</p>
<p>Advocates of trophy hunting – including major conservation organisations such as the <a href="https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/Rep-2012-007.pdf">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a> and the <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/wildlife/species_news/wwf_and_trophy_hunting/">World Wide Fund for Nature</a> – argue that hunting wild animals can have major ecological benefits. Along with some <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/05/botswana-lifts-ban-on-elephant-hunting/">governments</a>, they claim that “well-managed” trophy hunting is an effective conservation tool, which can also help local communities. </p>
<p>This argument depends in part on the generation of significant income from the trophy hunters, which, it is claimed, can then be reinvested into conservation activities. </p>
<p>The broad idea is that a few (often endangered) animals are sacrificed for the greater good of species survival and biodiversity. Local human communities also benefit financially from protecting animal populations (rather than seeing them as a threat) and may <a href="https://businessperspectives.org/images/pdf/applications/publishing/templates/article/assets/6400/ee_2015_01_Ali.pdf">reap the rewards</a> of employment by hunting operations, providing lodgings or selling goods.</p>
<p>Indeed, research on trophy hunting does show that it can produce <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989418302336">substantial financial benefits</a>, is likely to be <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322864922_Local_perceptions_of_trophy_hunting_on_communal_lands_in_Namibia">supported by local communities</a>, and can be associated with <a href="https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/trophy_hunting_conservation_and_rural_livelihoods.pdf">conservation gains</a>. </p>
<p>But it remains <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/acv.12205?casa_token=MNvVdCfSGxoAAAAA:Gz4P_BHOCmwSkz2MCRuHRAHfHrowqqksSy47s077jJfVBjwCJvORN3pWwZmnpz-2_pA_xucJaUSvX-Fc">unclear</a> in exactly what circumstances trophy hunting produces a valuable conservation benefit. We cannot assume a scheme that works in one country, targeting one species, under a specific set of circumstances, is applicable to all other species and locations.</p>
<p>Also, the purported benefits of trophy hunting rely on sustainable management, investment of profits, and local community involvement. But given the levels of <a href="https://www.transparency.org/cpi2018">perceived corruption</a> and lack of <a href="https://naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Missing%20the%20Mark.pdf">effective governance</a> in some of the countries where trophy hunting is carried out, one wonders how likely it is these <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0073808">conditions can be met</a>. </p>
<p>And if trophy hunting is really so lucrative, there is every chance the profits will instead be used to line the pockets of rich (possibly foreign) <a href="http://www.wildlife-baldus.com/download/influence_of_corruption_on_hunting.pdf">operators and officials</a>.</p>
<h2>Death and suffering</h2>
<p>This brings us to the question of ethics. Just because an intervention has the potential to produce a social benefit, does not mean the approach is ethical. And if it is not ethical, should it be considered a crime? </p>
<p>This is something of regular concern for social policy. If the evil that a programme introduces is greater than the evil it purports to reduce, then it is unethical to implement it. </p>
<p>I would argue that even if convincing evidence does exist that trophy hunting can produce conservation benefits, it is unethical to cause the death and suffering of individual animals to save a species. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1094210955565850624"}"></div></p>
<p>In common with many green criminologists, I take a critical approach to the study of environmental and animal-related crime. This means that I am interested in behaviour that can be thought of as harmful, and <a href="https://greencriminology.org/about-green-criminology/">may be worthy of the label “crime”</a>, even if it has not been formally criminalised. </p>
<p>When considering global harms and those that impact heavily on the most powerless in society, this approach is particularly important. </p>
<p>Conservation is concerned with biodiversity and animal populations. Contrast this with an animal rights or <a href="https://www.greencriminology.org/monthly/feb2013/The%20Green%20Criminology%20Monthly%20-%20February%202013%20-%20Species%20Justice%20-%20The%20Future%20Protection%20of%20Wildlife%20and%20the%20Reform%20of%20Wildlife%20Laws%20by%20Angus%20Nurse.pdf">species justice</a> perspective, where instead of focusing on rights that benefit humans over all other species, the interests and intrinsic rights of individual and groups of animals are considered. </p>
<p>From this viewpoint, trophy hunting undoubtedly causes harm. It brings pain, fear, suffering and death. Add to this the <a href="https://www.nwf.org/Home/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2018/Feb-Mar/Animals/When-Animals-Grieve">grief</a>, mourning and fracturing of familial or social groups that is <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/do-animals-experience-grief-180970124/">experienced</a> by animals such as elephants, whales, primates and giraffes. In light of these harms, trophy hunting is surely worthy of the label “crime”. </p>
<p>Allowing trophy hunting also perpetuates the notion that animals are lesser than humans. It turns wildlife into a commodity, rather than living, feeling, autonomous beings – beings that I have argued <em>should</em> be viewed as <a href="http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/29252/1/Non-human%20victimology%20Accepted.pdf">victims</a> of crime. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199830060/obo-9780199830060-0073.xml">Anthropocentric</a> views also facilitate and normalise the exploitation, death and mistreatment of animals. The harmful effects can be seen in <a href="https://mercyforanimals.org/the-problem">intensive farming</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/19/visitors-turn-backs-on-marine-parks">marine parks</a> and “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jun/03/canned-hunting-lions-bred-slaughter">canned hunting</a>”, where (usually lions) are bred in captivity (and sometimes drugged) as part of trophy hunting operations. Where money can be made from animals, exploitation, and wildlife crime, seem likely to follow.</p>
<p>Instead, local communities must be involved in decisions about conservation and land management, but not at the expense of endangered species, or of individual animals hunted for sport. Alternative conservation approaches like photo tourism, and schemes to reduce human-animal conflict must be embraced. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296439/original/file-20191010-188807-13n2bjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296439/original/file-20191010-188807-13n2bjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296439/original/file-20191010-188807-13n2bjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296439/original/file-20191010-188807-13n2bjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296439/original/file-20191010-188807-13n2bjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296439/original/file-20191010-188807-13n2bjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296439/original/file-20191010-188807-13n2bjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Getting a good shot.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/horizontal-colour-photograph-infocus-leopard-resting-338259110?src=UYLbe99vQlnPzkEOLzJwqg-1-1">Shutterstock/Villiers Steyn</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Banning trophy hunting would provide a much needed incentive to develop creative conservation approaches to wildlife protection and human-animal co-existence. And there is still <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0094109">substantial conservation income</a> to be earned without resorting to trophy hunting. </p>
<p>So governments around the world should introduce bans on trophy imports – alongside providing support for alternative, ethical developments that benefit both wild animals and local communities. Anything less is complicit support of a crime against some of the world’s most vulnerable wildlife.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121921/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Flynn has received research funding from WWF-UK, but this is not related to the work she discusses here. She is a member of the Vegan Society Research Advisory Committee and has attended a parliamentary reception organised by the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting. The views expresed here are her own.</span></em></p>
A green criminologist weighs up the evidence.
Melanie Flynn, Senior lecturer in Criminology, University of Huddersfield
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/119366
2019-06-30T09:40:17Z
2019-06-30T09:40:17Z
Botswana has an elephant poaching problem, not an overpopulation problem
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281551/original/file-20190627-76705-1tx7g4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Elephants in the Kwedi Area of the Okavango Delta, Botswana.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/Gernot Hensel</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Botswana government recently <a href="https://theconversation.com/elephants-reduced-to-a-political-football-as-botswana-brings-back-hunting-117615">reintroduced</a> trophy hunting after a five-year moratorium. It did so on the <a href="https://www.thepatriot.co.bw/analysis-opinions/item/6725-botswana%E2%80%99s-voice-on-elephants-enough.html">pretext</a> that Botswana has “too many elephants”.</p>
<p>But a new <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(19)30675-X.pdf">academic paper</a> shows that this argument doesn’t hold. </p>
<p>The researchers <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(19)30675-X.pdf">compared</a> the results of two aerial surveys in northern Botswana. The first was conducted in 2014, the second in 2018. Both were conducted during the dry season. This allowed for easy detection of changes over time. </p>
<p>A 94,000km2 area was studied and the elephant population estimated at 122,700 in 2018. This was roughly similar to the 2014 numbers. </p>
<p>But comparing results from the 2014 and 2018 aerial surveys, the scientists found that the numbers of elephant carcasses have increased, especially for newer carcasses dead for less than roughly 1 year. Populations can remain stable despite increased carcass counts because of new births and immigration from other range states. </p>
<p>Were these changes poaching-induced? The survey shows that they were. Carcasses suspected of poaching were physically checked. Evidence of skull hacking and attempts to cover tracks were clear. The elephants were killed in clusters, suggesting poaching <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/06/elephants-poached-in-botswana/">hot-spots</a>. </p>
<p>The paper has been published amid a fierce debate about the future of <a href="https://theconversation.com/elephants-reduced-to-a-political-football-as-botswana-brings-back-hunting-117615">Botswana’s preferred conservation model</a>. Restoring trophy hunting rights is likely to <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2019-05-29-the-elephants-in-the-room-the-myths-informing-botswanas-hunting-policy/">amplify</a> the poaching problem rather than solve it. </p>
<p>Trophy hunting and poaching both target large bulls with big tusks. Hunting may therefore create an additive effect to poaching, leading to exponential decline of the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.1769">rare genetics</a> carried by “big tuskers”.</p>
<h2>The findings</h2>
<p>Elephant population health and its future prospects are partially determined by carcass ratios. This is the number of carcasses divided by the sum of carcasses plus live elephants. If the carcass ratio is high, it might indicate a population in decline. “Fresh” carcasses indicate death within a year of the survey, whereas old carcasses indicate death more than a year prior. “Very old” carcasses belong to elephants who died more than ten years before the survey.</p>
<p>The estimated overall carcass count increased by 21% between 2014 and 2018. The combined fresh and recent number increased by 593% over the same time.</p>
<p>A number of factors could affect carcass ratios. These include drought, disease, poaching and excessive hunting. </p>
<p>One of the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2014.11.017">signs</a> that poaching is responsible for animal deaths is if they occur in clusters. The survey identified clustering effects in the 2018 survey that were not present in the 2014 survey. </p>
<p>The density of fresh and recent carcasses in observed hot-spots was 0.04/km2 but only 0.001/km2 in surrounding areas (buffer zones). Population decline in the hot-spots was roughly 16% while the increase in the surrounding areas was 10%.</p>
<h2>Cause of death</h2>
<p>To verify the cause of death for carcasses suspected of poaching, the researchers used a helicopter to visit carcasses on the ground or photograph them from low altitude. Poachers hack skulls for tusk removal and move branches over the carcass to try and cover their tracks. </p>
<p>Poaching was confirmed for 94 fresh or recent carcasses. For older carcasses, 62 of the 76 checked were verified as poached. That’s 156 illegally killed elephants directly observed within a few months, and a total carcass ratio of 8%, which may indicate a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5012305/">population at risk of decline</a>. As the scientists note:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In Zimbabwe’s Sebungwe ecosystem, numbers of carcasses increased in the early 2000s while elephant populations generally remained stable. This stable period was followed by a population collapse, with 2014 numbers down by 76% from the early 2000s.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In addition, their evidence showed that the vast majority of poached carcasses were older bulls. This is because they carry bigger tusks with more ivory. Poachers preferentially select these bulls, especially in previously unexploited populations. These are also the bulls that photographers pay to see.</p>
<p>What does this tell us about the future of elephants in Botswana?</p>
<h2>Unsustainable policy</h2>
<p>Botswana’s decision to reintroduce trophy hunting means that it’s now possible to <a href="https://www.huntinafrica.com/elephant-hunting">pay around $40,000</a> to kill a “tusker” with ivory weighing between 40 to 70 pounds. Botswana’s annual quota has been set at 400 bulls per annum, for bulls older than 35. Trophy bulls are normally selected from the oldest 10% of the male population.</p>
<p>This is unsustainable.</p>
<p>Only a small proportion of the 400 are likely to have large tusk genetics. Botswana’s independent bull elephant population is currently estimated at between 18,474 and 22,816. If 4,000 of these were trophy bulls (unlikely), removing 400 a year (plus poaching of at least 200), would mean that big tuskers would be shot out within seven years. </p>
<p>Older males are <a href="https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/19/1/9/227240">critical</a> for maintaining cogent elephant sociology. They <a href="https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/19/1/9/227240">suppress</a> the musth cycles of younger bulls and <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/if-elephants-arent-persons-yet-could-they-be-one-day">deter</a> delinquent behaviour. Consequently, hunting might lead to more human and elephant conflict. </p>
<p>Bulls also breed <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347207001431">most successfully</a> beyond the age of 40. Their absence will therefore negatively affect breeding cycles. Killing them off comes with extensive opportunity costs for Botswana. Photographic tourists – paying up to <a href="https://www.uyaphi.com/botswana/lodges/luxurious-lodges">$2,000</a> per person per night – may now choose other destinations to see big tuskers. </p>
<p>Botswana’s Minister of Tourism, Kitso Mokaila, has <a href="http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=81470&dir=2019/june/21">stated</a> that “photographic tourism is a model that does not work for Batswana”. Mokaila also intimated that leases would not be renewed, cowing the industry into silence. </p>
<p>While the photographic safari industry could certainly benefit communities more, this does <a href="http://www.ecolarge.com/work/the-200-million-question-how-much-does-trophy-hunting-really-contribute-to-african-communities/">not</a> amount to an argument in favour of hunting. Self-drive tourism options, for instance, have not been tried in the Central Conservation Areas, which would bring counter-poaching presence and revenue to those communities. </p>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>With declining diamond rents and few economic alternatives to tourism, Botswana may need to rethink its position on hunting and must take action now to stop poaching in its tracks. This requires that local communities become <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/is-community-based-natural-resource-management-in-botswana-viable/">drivers</a> of conservation, true participants rather than ‘consulted’ stakeholders. And appropriate land-use planning must be followed, especially in conservation areas that are not conducive to photographic tourism.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119366/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ross Harvey has previously worked for the South African Institute of International Affairs, which received research funding from Stop Ivory and the Humane Society International. He is currently an independent economist affiliated with The Conservation Action Trust.</span></em></p>
In light of Botswana’s decision to allow trophy hunting again, new evidence suggests elephant poaching has been on the rise.
Ross Harvey, Independent Economist; PhD Candidate, University of Cape Town
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/117615
2019-05-23T15:40:56Z
2019-05-23T15:40:56Z
Elephants reduced to a political football as Botswana brings back hunting
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275923/original/file-20190522-187153-8b2emi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Splashing in the Zambezi River at Botswana's Chobe National Park.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Botswana <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/05/botswana-lifts-ban-on-elephant-hunting/">has reinstated</a> trophy hunting after a 5-year <a href="https://saiia.org.za/news/behind-the-scenes-botswana-research-feature/">moratorium</a> on the practice. </p>
<p>In the wake of evidently declining wildlife numbers, former president Ian Khama imposed the ban in <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/01/three-developing-nations-move-to-ban-hunting-to-protect-vanishing-wildlife/">early 2014</a>. Elephant numbers had <a href="https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/SSC-OP-060_A.pdf">plummeted</a> by 15% in the preceding decade. The hunting industry had been granted a total quota of between <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/ios/opinion/confusion-over-botswanas-elephant-population-18283610">420 and 800</a> elephants a year during that time. Evidence of abuse was prolific and communities were <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/05/botswana-lifts-ban-on-elephant-hunting/">not benefiting</a> from the fees that hunters were paying. </p>
<p>Over the past five years Botswana has earned a <a href="http://theconversation.com/why-botswana-is-no-longer-a-safe-haven-for-elephants-102776">reputation</a> as the continent’s last elephant haven. It harbours just <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/2354/">over a third</a> of Africa’s remaining savanna elephants. </p>
<p>Khama’s successor, Mokgweetsi Masisi, has been in the job for just over a year. He’s <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/africa/2019-02/28/c_137857144.htm">promoted</a> a conservation doctrine that is diametrically opposed to Khama’s. </p>
<p>Masisi recently hosted a conference in Kasane that brought together heads of state and environment ministers from Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Its pretext was to formulate a <a href="https://africageographic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ELEPHANT-PLANNING-MANAGEMENT-FRAMEWORK.pdf">common vision</a> for managing southern Africa’s elephants under the banner of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA). But the conference was <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-05-17-iss-today-elephants-pay-the-price-for-politics/">used to drum up support</a> for Botswana’s intended reversion to elephant hunting. </p>
<p>Tourism and Environment Minister, Kitso Mokaila, claimed that the country has too many elephants. This “overpopulation” narrative has also fuelled the idea that hunting – <a href="https://conservationaction.co.za/media-articles/more-confusion-over-the-fate-of-botswanas-elephants/">and even culling</a> – will reduce growing human and elephant conflict. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/23/botswana-lifts-ban-elephant-hunting-seeks-win-rural-voters-ahead/">many believe</a> that elephants have been reduced to a political football in Masisi’s election campaign to curry favour with rural communities who feel aggrieved over the hunting ban. The elections will be held in <a href="http://electionsbotswana.org/">October this year</a>. </p>
<p>A cabinet sub-committee <a href="https://africageographic.com/blog/hunting-ban-in-botswana-should-be-lifted-says-government-committee-elephants-culled/">report</a> produced earlier this year recommended that the hunting ban be lifted. It therefore comes as no surprise that Masisi has done so. </p>
<p>At the conference, he <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ivory-delegates-given-elephant-foot-stools-p75vr23tw">gave</a> elephant footstools to his fellow heads of state, a symbol of support for “<a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/re-thinking-the-application-of-sustainable-use-policies-for-african-elephants-in-a-changed-world/">consumptive use</a>”. This is a conservation doctrine that endorses the exploitation of wildlife in the form of either trophy hunting or trade in derivative parts such as ivory. </p>
<h2>A turn for the worst</h2>
<p>The narrative that Botswana’s elephant population is exploding and has exceeded the country’s carrying capacity is <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/22/botswana-may-lift-elephant-hunting-ban-turn-culled-animals-pet/">repeatedly</a> used to rationalise trophy hunting and the ivory trade. Mokaila <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-16/is-elephant-hunting-legal-trophy-hunt-election-topic-in-botswana">claimed</a>, for instance, that Botswana’s elephant population was at 160 000, nearly three times the “carrying capacity” of 54 000.</p>
<p>But a scientific aerial <a href="http://elephantswithoutborders.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2018-Botswana-report-final-version-compressed-upload.pdf%22">survey</a> of northern Botswana – where the country’s elephants are concentrated – conducted in 2018 disputes this. The survey estimated a national population of 126 114, indicating stability since 2014. It also revealed a sharp increase in poaching. The survey report noted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>These results suggest there is a significant elephant-poaching problem in northern Botswana that has likely been going on for over a year. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The survey also found that nearly all carcasses suspected of being poached were bulls. Bulls are targeted for their large tusks. This suggests that Botswana is fast becoming a poaching hotspot for the growing <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/values-culture-and-the-ivory-trade-ban/">demand</a> for illicit ivory in East Asia. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276154/original/file-20190523-187147-1qh4i6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276154/original/file-20190523-187147-1qh4i6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276154/original/file-20190523-187147-1qh4i6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276154/original/file-20190523-187147-1qh4i6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276154/original/file-20190523-187147-1qh4i6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276154/original/file-20190523-187147-1qh4i6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276154/original/file-20190523-187147-1qh4i6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Botswana’s elephants are being used as a political campaigning tool.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Provided by author.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If the country’s not careful, poaching will take root in the same way it has in <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150713-elephants-poaching-ivory-tanzania-africa-world/">Tanzania</a> and Mozambique over the last decade. </p>
<h2>The numbers</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FScTsmi9P4k">Proponents</a> argue that hunting “surplus” bull elephants reins in elephant numbers and provides direct jobs (and bushmeat) to <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2019-03-12-anti-hunting-brigade-wants-to-take-away-part-of-my-culture/">local communities</a> who live in the daily reality of growing human and wildlife conflict. </p>
<p><a href="https://africasustainableconservation.com/2019/03/07/university-of-botswana-backs-committee-proposals-on-regulated-hunting/">Arguments</a> in favour of hunting invariably appeal to the obsolete idea of “carrying capacity” – that a landscape can only withstand the impact of a certain maximum number of elephants. But conservation scientists <a href="https://doi-org.ezproxy.uct.ac.za/10.1016/S1462-9011(03)00078-9">aren’t convinced</a> that this applies in large, unfenced and highly variable ecosystems such as Botswana’s. Arguing, for instance, that an area can only sustain 0.4 elephants per square kilometres <a href="https://conservationaction.co.za/media-articles/killing-elephants-is-not-a-wise-way-to-win-votes/">is arbitrary</a>.</p>
<p>Adult bulls are also not surplus to herd requirements; they only breed successfully beyond the age of 35 and sire most of their young after 40. Hunting of a few select trophy males hardly contributes to population control. It is similarly unlikely to mitigate human and elephant conflict as it forces elephants to concentrate in smaller areas, making them more aggressive.</p>
<h2>Trophy hunting</h2>
<p>Either way, <a href="https://conservationaction.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/etudesAP_configAP_EN.pdf">trophy hunting is in decline</a> and its conservation efficacy is increasingly being <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-03-14-to-peter-flack-hunting-plays-no-role-in-conservation/">questioned</a>. Nonetheless, Masisi <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BotswanaGovernment/videos/suspension-of-hunting-review/174985953384461/">appears</a> to have bought the narrative that well governed hunting is the silver bullet to conservation. </p>
<p>But hunting is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/conl.12565">hardly ever well governed</a> and unethical players <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/re-thinking-the-application-of-sustainable-use-policies-for-african-elephants-in-a-changed-world/">undermine</a> the rationale behind a quota system. In an open system, incentives to over exploit one’s hunting quota are stronger than incentives to stick to the rules. This <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.456.6238&rep=rep1&type=pdf#page=87">tends to result</a> in a tragedy of the commons – over-exploitation of natural resources beyond the ecosystem’s maximum sustainable yield. </p>
<p>On top of this, the voices of communities <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14724049.2014.980744">benefiting</a> from photographic tourism have not yet been heard. Photographic safaris are fundamentally more sustainable than trophy hunting. <a href="https://www.wttc.org/about/media-centre/press-releases/press-releases/2019/botswana-tourism-now-accounts-for-one-in-seven-of-all-dollars-in-the-economy/">In 2018</a>, tourism (<a href="http://www.botswana.co.za/Botswana_Regional_Info-travel/botswana-tourism-future.html">mostly photographic</a> and with no hunting) supported 84 000 jobs. By contrast, at its peak in 2009, hunting only supported 1000 jobs. </p>
<h2>In conclusion</h2>
<p>Botswana is at risk of <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/how-botswana-hunting-proposal-could-put-tourism-industry-at-risk-19897524">losing</a> its sterling conservation reputation. Support for trophy hunting and the ivory trade is <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-break-the-impasse-between-opposing-camps-in-ivory-trade-debate-96489">regressive</a> and may damage its tourism reputation.</p>
<p>For a country that has been overly dependent on diamond rents, which are now in decline, Botswana cannot afford policy decisions that undermine its second largest economic sector.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117615/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ross Harvey has previously worked for the South African Institute of International Affairs, which received research funding from Stop Ivory and the Humane Society International. He is currently an independent economist affiliated with The Conservation Action Trust. </span></em></p>
Lifting the trophy hunting moratorium in Botswana is more about politics and less about elephant conservation.
Ross Harvey, Independent Economist; PhD Candidate, University of Cape Town
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/115649
2019-05-15T14:04:44Z
2019-05-15T14:04:44Z
Trophy hunting in Africa: the case for viable, sustainable alternatives
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274311/original/file-20190514-60563-hsiu9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Photographic camps are more beneficial to communities than hunting.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For decades, the public has been fed the myth that trophy hunting is absolutely necessary <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/conl.12565">for sustainable conservation</a> in Africa. Some sections of the academy, as well as the hunting lobby, continue to argue that banning trophy hunting will have a negative effect on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534715003031">wildlife biodiversity</a>.</p>
<p>Their rationale is that trophy hunting contributes a significant amount of revenue, which African countries rely on for funding wildlife conservation. In essence the argument is: a few animals are sacrificed through regulated quotas for the greater good of the species. This opens the door for Western tourists to shoot charismatic mega-fauna and make a virtue of it. </p>
<p>In reality, trophy hunting revenues make up a very small percentage of total tourism revenues in Africa. For most African countries with an active trophy hunting industry, among them South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Namibia, the industry generates only between 0.3% and 5% of <a href="http://www.ecolarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Ecolarge-2013-200m-question-FINAL-lowres.pdf">total tourism revenues</a>. Clearly, trophy hunting’s economic importance is often overstated.</p>
<p>It’s also <a href="https://conservationaction.co.za/media-articles/does-trophy-hunting-really-benefit-conservation-and-local-communities/">claimed</a> by proponents that local communities benefit significantly from trophy hunting. The evidence suggests otherwise. A 2013 <a href="http://www.ecolarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Ecolarge-2013-200m-question-FINAL-lowres.pdf">analysis</a> of literature on the economics of trophy hunting done by Economists at Large, a network of economists who contribute their expertise to economic questions that are of public interest, showed that communities in the areas where hunting occurs derive little benefit from this revenue. On average communities receive only about 3% of the <a href="http://www.ecolarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Ecolarge-2013-200m-question-FINAL-lowres.pdf">gross revenue</a> from trophy hunting. </p>
<p>Another line of argument is that non-consumptive forms of wildlife tourism are not lucrative enough to sustain conservation efforts. The hunting lobby has therefore built a narrative where hunting is the only viable means of financing sustainable conservation in Africa.</p>
<p>I recently completed a <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ctSNDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT212&dq=the+trophy+hunting+controversy+mkono&ots=ENzkVlLkSF&sig=10kKKdd8wCsvoI5dtpNT5e9nY4I#v=onepage&q=the%20trophy%20hunting%20controversy%20mkono&f=false">book chapter</a> in which I explore these and other claims made by the hunters, focusing in particular on how they choose their words to rationalise and sanitise their pastime.</p>
<h2>Trophy hunting’s paradoxes</h2>
<p>Trophy hunters often <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/23f46b47-b4a4-4305-8b06-d57e44e70902">claim</a> that they kill animals because they love animals. They rationalise their choice, for instance, by arguing that trophy hunting allows broader animal populations to be conserved.</p>
<p>As I argued <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ctSNDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT212&dq=the+trophy+hunting+controversy+mkono&ots=ENzkVlLkSF&sig=10kKKdd8wCsvoI5dtpNT5e9nY4I#v=onepage&q=the%20trophy%20hunting%20controversy%20mkono&f=false">in my chapter</a>, the paradox of killing an animal you allegedly “love” cannot be resolved in the sphere of ethics.</p>
<p>In the chapter I explore the words that are used by hunters as euphemisms to describe trophy hunting, while avoiding the word “killing”. Examples include words like <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/I_love_animals_but_I_kill_them_too_hunting_alaskan_style">“harvesting</a>” and “taking” that serve to sanitise killing. This “euphemisation” is exemplified by Walter Palmer, who shot the beloved Zimbabwean lion, Cecil, in the infamous <a href="https://theconversation.com/outrage-over-cecil-the-lion-slaying-three-years-ago-left-little-in-its-wake-99163">“Cecilgate” incident</a>. Palmer issued a statement in response to the outcry, <a href="http://www.startribune.com/read-the-full-statement-from-walter-palmer/318947551/">stating</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted. I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favourite…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This choice of words isn’t accidental. The effect is that we lose sight of what’s actually being done to lions, rhinos, elephants, and other precious species. </p>
<h2>Alternatives and the way forward</h2>
<p>The proponents of trophy hunting claim that there are no viable alternatives for Africa. They suggest that non-consumptive forms of wildlife tourism such as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03736245.2017.1299639?needAccess=true">photo-safaris</a>, where tourists view and photograph animals, do not generate sufficient benefits to justify keeping the wildlife habitat. If we stop trophy hunting, they say, wildlife will lose its economic value for local communities. Wildlife habitat will be lost to other land uses. </p>
<p>The truth is that well managed, non-consumptive wildlife tourism is sufficient for funding and managing conservation. Botswana, for example, which in 2014 banned all commercial hunting in favour of photo-tourism, continues to <a href="https://www.thedodo.com/why-trophy-hunters-are-dea-1602184461.html">thrive.</a> In a 2017 <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08941920.2017.1315655?needAccess=true">study</a>, residents of Mababe village in Botswana noted that, compared to hunting, which is seasonal, photographic camps were more beneficial to the community because people are employed all year round. </p>
<p>Trophy hunting is not the solution to Africa’s wildlife conservation challenges. Proper governance, characterised by accountability, rigorous, evidence-based policies and actions, and driven by a genuine appreciation of the intrinsic – not just economic – value of Africa’s majestic fauna, is.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115649/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Muchazondida Mkono receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>
Trophy hunting is not the solution to Africa’s wildlife conservation challenges. There are other ways.
Mucha Mkono, Research Fellow (Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow), Business School, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/109034
2018-12-19T11:56:01Z
2018-12-19T11:56:01Z
Banning trophy hunting imports won’t save the world’s wildlife
<p>Well-meaning celebrities and MPs recently published <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/17/ban-imports-of-hunting-trophies-to-the-uk">a letter</a> in the Guardian, calling for a ban on trophy hunting imports into the UK. To the novice conservationist, this surely sounds like a good thing, right? After all, trophy hunting kills animals so how could it possibly be good for conservation? </p>
<p>Unfortunately, these arguments are, at best, <a href="https://theconversation.com/trophy-hunting-is-not-poaching-and-can-help-conserve-wildlife-29938">ill-informed</a> and, at worst, they divert attention from the most pressing causes of biodiversity loss.</p>
<p>The Guardian letter states that, over the last decade, hundreds of trophies have been imported into the UK. The <a href="https://trade.cites.org">CITES trade database</a> lists the number of trade-restricted wildlife products entering and leaving a country. A quick perusal of it shows that, between 2008-2017, the UK imported more than 800 CITES-listed trophy products, averaging fewer than 100 trophies imported per year.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1074697924259561472"}"></div></p>
<p>To put this into perspective, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/24/elephant-poaching-drops-africa-but-populations-continue-to-fall">more than 100 elephants</a> are thought to be illegally poached every two days for their ivory, meaning the elephants killed for trophies and imported into the UK are an infinitesimally small number compared to the massive threat of poaching. </p>
<p>Poaching for the illegal ivory trade is <a href="https://theconversation.com/trophy-hunting-is-not-poaching-and-can-help-conserve-wildlife-29938">not the same thing</a> as legal trophy hunting and, while every death counts towards the decline of a species, we must not forget that trophy hunting helps reduce the greatest threat to terrestrial mammals: <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/wildlife/problems/habitat_loss_degradation/">habitat loss</a>.</p>
<h2>Trophy hunting is a red herring</h2>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, trophy hunting is morally repugnant. I cannot understand why anyone would want to kill an animal for fun – just as I can’t understand why anyone with other dining options would eat an animal, as we don’t need meat to survive. </p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12232">Ethically</a>, it makes sense to ban trophy hunting imports if the goal is to provide the greatest good for the greatest number of animals. But there are issues with this line of reasoning.</p>
<p>Habitat loss, where land is converted for human use, remains the biggest driver of <a href="https://www.fauna-flora.org/conservation-challenges/habitat-loss">wildlife declines</a>. Hunting reserves <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-killing-lions-like-cecil-may-actually-be-good-for-conservation-45400">retain natural land</a> for the benefit of trophy species like zebras and impalas, as well as a whole host of other biodiversity, such as birds, plants, insects and small mammals. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trophy-hunting-is-not-poaching-and-can-help-conserve-wildlife-29938">Trophy hunting is not poaching and can help conserve wildlife</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In effect, trophy animals become martyrs killed so other wild animals can benefit from the ever-dwindling resource of land.</p>
<p>By diverting attention from these more pressing causes of wildlife decline by focusing on banning trophy imports, we may be left patting ourselves on the back and thinking that we’ve done our part for conservation and can all go home. I wish conservation needed such an easy fix, but sadly that is not the case.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251337/original/file-20181218-27746-1votb2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251337/original/file-20181218-27746-1votb2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251337/original/file-20181218-27746-1votb2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251337/original/file-20181218-27746-1votb2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251337/original/file-20181218-27746-1votb2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251337/original/file-20181218-27746-1votb2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251337/original/file-20181218-27746-1votb2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Habitat loss and climate change are significantly more pressing concerns for biodiversity than trophy hunting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/deforestation-aerial-photo-rainforest-jungle-borneo-1098811376?src=sAzpQi5gEfzFJGzZoVWk2A-1-0">Rich Carey/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If these animal-loving politicians and celebrities are serious about conserving wildlife, they may be more effective focusing their energy towards the much bigger issues of <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/biodiversity-the-ravages-of-guns-nets-and-bulldozers-1.20381">agricultural expansion</a>, the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/illegal-wildlife-trade-is-one-of-the-biggest-threats-to-endangered-species-and-the-uk-is-a-key-a8103381.html">illegal wildlife trade</a> and the ever-expanding threat of <a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/wildlife-warming-world">climate change</a>. </p>
<p>If we addressed these more drastic problems we would likely save far more animals from untimely death while ensuring we have wildlife populations for generations to come.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-arrived-at-a-1-billion-annual-price-tag-to-save-africas-lions-105411">How we arrived at a $1 billion annual price tag to save Africa's lions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If we really want to <a href="http://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/15241/">“bend the curve”</a> on biodiversity loss, we may do better by<a href="https://josephpoore.com/Science%2520360%25206392%2520987%2520-%2520Accepted%2520Manuscript.pdf">reducing our meat intake</a>, hold politicians accountable for the UK’s <a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/tackling-climate-change/reducing-carbon-emissions/what-can-be-done/">climate change targets</a> and reduce our <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/the-human-footprint%23">overall consumption</a> of goods.</p>
<p>Like the signatories of the Guardian’s letter, I too want to protect the world’s wildlife. But let’s not kid ourselves into thinking red herrings like banning UK trophy hunting imports will be the silver bullet needed for addressing the sixth mass extinction. Knee-jerk reactions, while imbued with noble intents, will not save lions, elephants and rhinos.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109034/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niki Rust does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Few people could argue that hunting wildlife for trophies is moral, but conservationists have bigger fish to fry to reverse biodiversity loss
Niki Rust, Postdoctoral Researcher, Newcastle University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/106715
2018-11-15T14:47:24Z
2018-11-15T14:47:24Z
Counting the contribution of hunting to South Africa’s economy
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245739/original/file-20181115-194513-yptxbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Buffalo in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The hunting of wild animals is <a href="https://theconversation.com/hunting-in-africa-to-ban-or-not-to-ban-is-the-question-44269">an emotive issue</a>, drawing fire from anti-hunting organisations, environmentalists as well as many ordinary citizens. But it also has its supporters, some of whom argue that hunting, in particular, is a valuable source of income and that it contributes to conservation of wildlife, that can be used to protect threatened species and be put to other good uses.</p>
<p>Africa remains one of the most <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-hemingway-to-blixen-why-africa-still-attracts-hunters-52329">sought after</a> destinations for hunters. The North West University’s Tourism Research in Economic, Environs and Society <a href="http://commerce.nwu.ac.za/sites/commerce.nwu.ac.za/files/files/TREES/Research%20report/TREES%20Portfolio_2016.pdf">unit</a>, which I’m a part of, set out to establish what financial contribution hunting makes. This is a particularly important question given the poverty challenges facing the country. </p>
<p>From our <a href="https://journals.co.za/content/jefs/8/1/EJC170564">research</a>, conducted in South Africa, we established that hunting contributes immensely to economic development. We looked at two main groups of hunters: international hunters, also referred to as the trophy hunters almost all of whom are foreigners, and local hunters, known locally as the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235419550_The_Economic_Impact_of_Hunting_in_the_Northern_Cape_Province">biltong hunters</a> who hunt for meat (Biltong is a local dried meat similar to jerky). </p>
<p>The research found that hunters (consumptive wildlife tourist) spend double and more the amount than non-consumptive wildlife tourists. Non-consumptive wildlife tourism refers to bird watching, game viewing (safari’s) and trails, to name a few. </p>
<p>By our calculations trophy and biltong hunters contribute a combined R13.6 billion ($909 million) to the South African economy in 2016/2017 season. This is only the direct contribution. If one would like to determine the economic impact of hunting one also needs to determine the indirect and induced impact. We are still in the process of publishing this data. </p>
<h2>What’s spent and where</h2>
<p>An estimated 7600 trophy hunters visited South Africa in 2016. Their trips lasted, on average, 12 days, and on average they spent R262 000 (US$20 000) per trip. Based on these numbers we calculated that trophy hunting contributed close to <a href="http://news.nwu.ac.za/trophy-hunting-worth-r198-billion-south-african-economy">R2 billion</a> ($130 880 815.00) to the South African economy. Our calculations also show that between 70% and 80% of trophy hunters’ spending takes place in the area of the hunt. This includes the accommodation, game hunted and in some cases also the trophy handling and processing. </p>
<p>For their part, biltong hunters spent on average R58 000 ($4 000) per season. When multiplied with the number of frequent biltong hunters in South Africa (200 000), it totals R11.66 billion. What makes the spending of hunters so important is that hunting mainly occurs in rural areas, which are in dire need of job creation and economic development.</p>
<p>In addition, hunting creates jobs, particularly in rural areas where employment is most needed. <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2222-34362014000400002">Research</a> conducted in three of the top hunting provinces – the Northern Cape, Free State and Limpopo provinces – showed hunting created 31 500 jobs in the three provinces – 17 806 in Limpopo, 9 072 in the Northern Cape and 4 558 in the Free State. </p>
<p>Typical employment created directly includes guides, professional hunters, skinners, trackers, catering, housekeeping, maintenance, conservation management, anti-poaching and taxidermy, to name a few.</p>
<h2>Investment</h2>
<p>Most of the land used for hunting in South Africa was originally farmland used for crops, cattle and other farming activities. To transform the land for hunting purposes required spending on new infrastructure, including for example accommodation, staff accommodation, cooling rooms, slaughtering facilities and meat processing facilities. Recent research conducted from one of my PhD students found that the average spend by product owners on infrastructure is just over R7 million (US$ 490 000), with some even spending up to R30 million (US$ 2.1 million). This all adds up to infrastructure development in rural areas. </p>
<p>This again created an economic stimulus in these rural areas.</p>
<h2>Species conservation</h2>
<p>There is more wildlife in South Africa than there was 50 or 60 years ago. There are now estimated 19 million head of game in the country compared to the 1950 when there were less than half a million <a href="https://www.loot.co.za/product/peter-flack-the-south-african-conservation-success-stor/mfjr-1852-g960">individuals left</a>.</p>
<p>The reason for this is that there is more land under conservation in South Africa today than in the 1950s or 1960s, mainly driven by hunting which gave wildlife an economic value. It’s <a href="https://www.loot.co.za/product/peter-flack-the-south-african-conservation-success-stor/mfjr-1852-g960">estimated</a> that the private wildlife industry is managing an estimate 20 million hectares, compared to the +-6 million hectares owned by the state (national parks, provincial parks and others state-owned conservation areas). </p>
<p>These private reserves rely heavily on hunting to keep their businesses going and hunters need game to hunt. Therefore private reserve owners often need to breed game for this purpose. </p>
<p>One consequence is that species such as the tsessebe, roan antelope, sable, bontebok and rhino have been saved from extinction as private wildlife reserve owners bread with these species, as it has financial gain for them. Hunting, therefore, remains very relevant to South Africa, and southern Africa.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106715/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peet Van Der Merwe receives funding from NRF and WRSA.
We conduct research for WRSA, SA Hunters and PHASA</span></em></p>
The economic, social and conservation reasons why hunting remains relevant in southern Africa.
Peet Van Der Merwe, Professor in Tourism, North-West University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/93185
2018-04-19T21:51:49Z
2018-04-19T21:51:49Z
On the hunt for science in ‘science-based’ hunts
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215456/original/file-20180418-163982-nyfxx0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=243%2C1268%2C4596%2C1977&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A grizzly bear looks up from its meal in British Columbia. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kyle Artelle)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For years, British Columbia’s wildlife management practices, especially its wolf cull and grizzly bear hunt, have been controversial. </p>
<p>In 2015, then-Premier <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/clark-defends-grizzly-bear-hunt-says-bcs-wildlife-policies-based-on-science/article26607129/">Christy Clark defended the province’s wildlife policies, stating they were grounded in sound science</a>.</p>
<p>That, at least, was the claim. And not one unique to British Columbia. </p>
<p>In fact, hunting in Canada and the United States <a href="http://wildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/North-American-model-of-Wildlife-Conservation.pdf">is guided by the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation</a>, which states that “science is the proper tool to discharge policy.” But does this claim hold up to scrutiny?</p>
<h2>Standard practice?</h2>
<p>My colleagues and I study ecology, conservation and the management of natural resources, from individual black and grizzly bears in B.C.’s Great Bear Rainforest to wildlife populations at provincial, continental and global scales. </p>
<p>Several years ago, our research found that management of the B.C. grizzly bear <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-grizzly-outlook-for-hunted-bears-in-canada-25248">trophy hunt risked killing more bears than government policy had deemed sustainable</a> because of the considerable unaddressed uncertainty in <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0078041">grizzly bear population estimates, population growth rates and poaching rates</a>. </p>
<p>Yet the government responded by increasing that risk, <a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2013/12/06/green-light-for-expanded-grizzly-bear-hunting-in-british-columbia/">reopening hunting in areas that had been previously closed due to overhunting</a> and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/british-columbias-controversial-spring-grizzly-bear-hunt-now-open/article17764866/">increasing hunting quotas elsewhere</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fierce-debate-roars-to-life-over-grizzly-bear-hunt-83869">Fierce debate roars to life over grizzly bear hunt</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This move seemed to contradict our findings and was <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/343/6177/1311.1">surprising for a management system</a> described by its supporters as “science-based.” (<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jwmg.21189">Debate on the grizzly bear trophy hunt continues</a>.)</p>
<p>It left us wondering if this was an anomaly or symptomatic of hunt management across Canada and the U.S.</p>
<h2>Missing science</h2>
<p>Many management agencies claim that science guides their hunt management policies. But what that means is rarely defined. We focused on the hallmarks of science that could provide these approaches with the checks and balances they require to ensure rigour. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215100/original/file-20180416-587-106jqh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215100/original/file-20180416-587-106jqh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215100/original/file-20180416-587-106jqh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215100/original/file-20180416-587-106jqh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215100/original/file-20180416-587-106jqh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215100/original/file-20180416-587-106jqh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215100/original/file-20180416-587-106jqh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The grey wolf is subject to a controversial cull in British Columbia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kyle Artelle)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These hallmarks include having clear objectives, evidence, independent review and transparency. </p>
<p>In practice, that means having a well-defined intended outcome for the management actions; having data about hunted animals, including how many individuals there are in the population and the number killed annually; making that information about hunt management freely available to the public; and enabling outside experts to ensure the quality of the work and identify potential shortcomings.</p>
<p>When <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/3/eaao0167.full">we looked at how hunts were managed across the U.S. and Canada</a>, we found criteria related to these hallmarks were missing more often than not.</p>
<p>We looked at 667 hunt management systems, such as moose hunting in Alaska and deer hunting in Alberta. (Each management system might contain several plans and policies for a hunted species.) </p>
<p>Most of the systems fell short of what might be expected for “science-based” management. For example, only six per cent of the systems were independently reviewed, while only 11 per cent described how their hunt quotas were set. </p>
<h2>Serious implications</h2>
<p>The implications are not trivial. </p>
<p>For many hunted species, <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/349/6250/858">adult mortality from hunting exceeds that of all other predators combined</a>. As such, management errors could have considerable impacts on the hunted population. A solid scientific foundation could help buffer against such errors — and their associated costs.</p>
<p>More broadly, these findings suggest that the public should be cautious when so-called “science-based” claims are used to support controversial policy. </p>
<p>Of course, natural resource management isn’t only about science. Decision-makers must also consider other factors, including social values, political realities, economic constraints and stakeholder interests. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215455/original/file-20180418-163986-p5f7yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215455/original/file-20180418-163986-p5f7yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215455/original/file-20180418-163986-p5f7yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215455/original/file-20180418-163986-p5f7yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215455/original/file-20180418-163986-p5f7yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215455/original/file-20180418-163986-p5f7yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215455/original/file-20180418-163986-p5f7yc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bighorn sheep in Alberta, an often sought-after ‘Big Game’ species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kyle Artelle)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But this reality underlines the need for transparency in such management, to clearly communicate to the public where the science ends and other considerations begin. This would allow for honest and transparent discussions on how natural resources are managed on the public’s behalf. </p>
<h2>Improvements ahead</h2>
<p>Some agencies have <a href="https://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/52020/title/Science-Behind-Hunting-Quotas-Unavailable--Study/">criticized us for focusing only on publicly available documents</a>. The science might be there, they argued, but not publicly disclosed. But the sentiment, <em>We have good data, the best data, don’t worry about it</em>, is not how science works. Transparency is a core requirement, and ensuring others can independently verify findings is key for ensuring rigorous approaches. </p>
<p>Fortunately, there is an easy way forward in such cases. By publicly sharing cloistered evidence, agencies could increase their transparency and allow independent groups and the public to make a better assessment of their approaches. </p>
<p>We have also heard from others who have found our work helpful for their management on the ground. For example, one manager who is currently revising their agency’s management plans is using the framework to test the updated plans and provide guidance for further improvement. </p>
<p>Natural resource management can be contentious and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.12958">subject to considerable political interference</a>. However, everyone — hunters, conservationists and members of the public alike — expect well-informed, rigorous and honest decision-making. Checks and balances can help us get there.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93185/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kyle Artelle works with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, is a postdoctoral fellow with the University of Victoria, and is a recent graduate from the Earth2Ocean Reseach Group at Simon Fraser University. This work was funded by a Vanier Fellowship.</span></em></p>
Wildlife hunts are supposed to be grounded in sound science, but new research casts doubt on this assumption.
Kyle A. Artelle, Biologist with Raincoast Conservation Foundation and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Victoria, University of Victoria
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/87966
2017-11-29T07:30:38Z
2017-11-29T07:30:38Z
Trophy hunting could cause extinction in stressed populations – new research
<p>People are now the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34011026">most important predators</a> for many animal populations on the planet, but people are rather different from “ordinary” predators. While a lion or an eagle is just trying to get dinner, human predators can be motivated by other aspects of an animal than simply how much meat it can provide.</p>
<p>Trophy hunters obsessively target animals with the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/sports/bighorn-sheep-hunting.html">largest horns</a>, <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/rich-trophy-hunters-pay-up-6529008">antlers</a> or <a href="https://www.discountafricanhunts.com/blog/the-best-lion-hunting-areas-in-africa.html">manes</a>. Poachers focus on <a href="https://www.discountafricanhunts.com/blog/the-best-lion-hunting-areas-in-africa.html">elephants with the largest tusks</a> – and there is a subset of insect collectors who will pay premium prices for stag or rhinoceros beetle specimens with really huge horns or mandibles.</p>
<p>All of these focus their predation on what biologists call “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_selection">sexually selected</a>” traits. These evolve because they give the (usually male) animal that carries the trait an advantage in competition for mates, either by allowing him to dominate and exclude rival males – think of red deer stags – or because females of his species actively prefer to mate with males with large, loud or bright sexually selected traits, as in the case of birds of paradise.</p>
<p>How these sexually selected traits evolve is a question that has been a difficult issue for biologists for some years: why should females prefer males with a long tail or with especially bright colours – and what is it about stags with large antlers that allows them to win contests and dominate groups of females?</p>
<p>An increasing body of evidence now supports the idea that the expression of these traits is linked in some way to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicap_principle">the genetic “quality” of a male</a>. Males who have <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/either-go-big-or-go-generic-how-sexual-selection-advertising-180961311/">lost the genetic lottery</a> and who are carrying more than their share of genes that are detrimental to health do not have the resources to grow a big tail or a large set of antlers. Conversely, those lucky males who happen to have a particularly good set of genes can afford the handicap of carrying around a super-sized rack of antlers or set of horns, or will be able to grow extra long and brightly coloured feathery plumes.</p>
<h2>Selective harvest</h2>
<p>This is useful for our understanding of animal behaviour, but it also has wider implications for the evolution of these species. Researchers have recently found that strongly sexually selected species can evolve faster in response to environmental challenges than species where mating is more random.</p>
<p>Because males with higher genetic quality gain the majority of matings in these species, their “good genes” can spread through a population much faster than they would if mating were random. This means that strong sexual selection can allow a population to adapt faster to a changing environment, and in some scenarios <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/weird-science/why-do-males-exist-sex-lives-beetles-provide-explanation-n360706">these species can avoid extinction</a> when the environment changes because of this fast evolutionary response.</p>
<p>In our <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/284/1868/20171788">newly-published research</a>, we asked the question of how this might change when those highest-quality males are removed by “selective harvest”. It’s prohibitively difficult to test these ideas with real hunted populations, so we developed a computer simulation which allowed us to examine what happens when you take these animals out of a population.</p>
<p>Our results are clear – and worrying. If the environment is relatively stable, then even quite severe harvesting of high-quality males is sustainable. But if the population is already stressed by a changing environment, then removing even a small percentage of the best males can lead to extinction. The trouble is, almost all animal populations today are facing increasing stress from changing environments.</p>
<p>This goes against the conventional wisdom. Since there is usually little paternal care of offspring in these animals – and because it seems reasonable to assume that females will not have problems getting fertilised if we remove, say, 15% of the males – it is usually assumed that trophy hunting and similar selective harvests are unlikely to drive animals to extinction when only a <a href="https://www.thedodo.com/can-trophy-hunting-actually-he-711586080.html">small proportion of males are hunted</a>. Our results suggest otherwise.</p>
<h2>Better management would make a difference</h2>
<p>Should we, therefore, ban trophy hunting and insect collecting? The argument about trophy hunting in particular goes on – but we do not think that our research adds great weight to either position. So far, it is only based on a computer model – clearly we need some tests of our results based on real data.</p>
<p>What we might consider, however, is changing management practices. We examined how different management altered the outcome of our model, and again we found a clear result. If a minimum age limit is applied to hunted animals, so that only old animals who have already had a chance to mate and spread their genes are removed, then the increased extinction risk that we found goes away.</p>
<p>If a population must be hunted, then restricting hunting to older males only and managing the population sensibly by adjusting quotas when there are signs of stress should ensure that any risk of extinction is minimised.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87966/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Knell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Computer models have produced some very worrying results.
Rob Knell, Reader in Evolutionary Ecology, Queen Mary University of London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/87815
2017-11-21T02:26:50Z
2017-11-21T02:26:50Z
Trophy hunting and wildlife conservation: 5 essential reads
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195518/original/file-20171120-18561-bcael.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/bqy3sY">USFWS</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The following is a roundup of previously published articles.</em></p>
<p>On March 1, 2018 the Interior Department <a href="https://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/memo-withdrawal-of-certain-findings-ESA-listed-species-sport-hunted-trophies.pdf">announced</a> that it will follow a case-by-case process for deciding whether to allow hunters to import trophies (body parts) from elephants, lions and <a href="http://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_bontebok.html">bontebok</a> killed in several African countries into the United States. </p>
<p>Previously, in November 2017 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) had <a href="https://www.fws.gov/international/permits/by-activity/sport-hunted-trophies-elephants.html">announced</a> that it was reversing an Obama administration policy barring trophy imports from elephants killed in Zimbabwe and Zambia into the United States. Agency leaders asserted that these countries were successfully protecting elephant herds, and that legal hunting helped African communities earn money and created an incentive to protect elephants. Following a strong public backlash, President Trump put the policy on hold, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/18/politics/elephant-trophy-reversal-reactions/index.html">surprising agency employees</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"932397369655808001"}"></div></p>
<p>The new action responds to a <a href="https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/B1CC447E18C6CB95852581FE0055A684/$file/16-5358-1710175.pdf">ruling</a> on December 22, 2017 from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. The court held that the Obama administration had not followed proper procedures in finding that trophy imports did not support conservation. In announcing the case-by-case approach, USFWS <a href="https://www.fws.gov/international/permits/by-activity/sport-hunted-trophies-elephants.html">said</a> that it was “revising its procedure for assessing applications to import certain hunted species.” Some aspects of U.S. policy on trophy imports remain under litigation.</p>
<p>These five articles from The Conversation offer perspectives on hunting and its relationship to wildlife conservation.</p>
<h2>1. Nothing to celebrate</h2>
<p>Many Americans object to hunting, but their reasons vary. Joshua Duclos, a doctoral candidate in philosophy at Boston University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-hunting-moral-a-philosopher-unpacks-the-question-68645">identifies two central arguments</a>. First, opponents say humans do not need to hunt in order to survive. Second, many observers “find the derivation of pleasure from hunting to be morally repugnant,” especially when they see a hunter smiling over the body of a dead animal.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195519/original/file-20171120-18541-1087q1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195519/original/file-20171120-18541-1087q1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195519/original/file-20171120-18541-1087q1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195519/original/file-20171120-18541-1087q1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195519/original/file-20171120-18541-1087q1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195519/original/file-20171120-18541-1087q1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195519/original/file-20171120-18541-1087q1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195519/original/file-20171120-18541-1087q1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trophy hunter on a private game reserve in Cameroon, 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/Un18Rf">Nathan Hughes Hamilton</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That was especially true in 2015 when Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer was <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-shaming-of-walter-palmer-for-killing-cecil-the-lion-45689">vilified</a> for killing Cecil, a renowned lion in Zimbabwe. Palmer killed Cecil during a trophy hunt in which Cecil was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/29/world/africa/american-hunter-is-accused-of-killing-cecil-a-beloved-lion-in-zimbabwe.html">lured out of a national park</a> where he was legally protected. But Zimbabwe declined to prosecute Palmer, and later <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/11/wildlife-watch-cecil-lion-hunter-charges-dropped/">dropped charges against his guide</a>.</p>
<h2>2. An economic argument for trophy hunts</h2>
<p>While acknowledging that Cecil was killed illegally, conservation scholars Niki Rust and Diogo Veríssimo argue that legal hunting with well-enforced quotas <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-killing-lions-like-cecil-may-actually-be-good-for-conservation-45400">can advance conservation</a>. They point out that hunters bring revenue to remote areas that are unlikely to become ecotourist destinations:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Conservation costs money – so does the damage done by lions killing livestock. It is not clear whether photographic tourism alone could cover these financial burdens.” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>3. Maybe, with strict limits</h2>
<p>But Montana State University ecologist Scott Creel cites statistics showing that lion populations in Zimbabwe, Zambia and other African nations have declined despite guidelines for sustainable takes. In a study of these regimes, Creel and his colleagues <a href="https://theconversation.com/lion-hunting-only-makes-sense-if-its-part-of-a-package-of-interventions-61531">concluded</a> that limits needed to be much stricter. They proposed a formula that would allow killing approximately one male lion, at least seven years old, per year in a 2,000 square kilometer range for three consecutive years, followed by three years for recovery.</p>
<p>Moreover, Creel argues, trophy hunting at any level will not be sustainable unless African nations also control poaching, habitat loss and retaliatory killing of lions that attack humans or livestock. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195520/original/file-20171120-18574-15202lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195520/original/file-20171120-18574-15202lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195520/original/file-20171120-18574-15202lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195520/original/file-20171120-18574-15202lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195520/original/file-20171120-18574-15202lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195520/original/file-20171120-18574-15202lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195520/original/file-20171120-18574-15202lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195520/original/file-20171120-18574-15202lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ernest Hemingway on safari in Africa, 1934.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Ernest_Hemingway_on_safari%2C_1934.jpg">JFK Presidential Library</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Focus on broader threats</h2>
<p>Trophy hunting isn’t just an issue in Africa. The government of British Columbia announced plans in 2017 to phase out trophy hunting of grizzly bears, although hunting bears for meat would continue. Officials said trophy hunting did not threaten the province’s grizzly population, but <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/plan-to-end-grizzly-trophy-hunting-in-bc-announced-1.4247060">public opinion had turned against the practice</a>.</p>
<p>Assessing Canadian debates over grizzlies, Courtney Hughes and Lindsey Dewart of the University of Alberta note that habitat loss, population fragmentation and climate change all threaten the bears <a href="https://theconversation.com/fierce-debate-roars-to-life-over-grizzly-bear-hunt-83869">more seriously than trophy hunting</a>, and call for steps to address those problems:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“That’s why now, more than ever, we need consolidated action to manage grizzlies – not more argument. If we want grizzly bears to remain in our future, we need to set aside our differences and find some common ground.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"910189520036990979"}"></div></p>
<h2>5. Introduced vs. native species</h2>
<p>Trophy hunting also takes place in Australia and New Zealand, but the targets are introduced species, such as feral goats and estate-bred deer. In contrast, James Cook University historian Claire Brennan observes that Australia’s native saltwater crocodiles <a href="https://theconversation.com/croc-safari-why-selling-licences-to-rich-hunters-isnt-fair-65151">once were widely hunted</a>, which led to their decline. Now crocs are protected, even though they can threaten humans. </p>
<p>“Australians need to consider if they really wish to entice elite international hunters to Australia using a native species (even one as unlovable as the saltwater crocodile) as prey,” Brennan states. Her clear implication: Managing an introduced pest is a more legitimate rationale for trophy hunting than targeting a native species.</p>
<p><em>Editors’ note: This is an updated version of an article originally published Nov. 20, 2017.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87815/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The Trump administration is considering requests from hunters to import wildlife trophies (body parts) on a case-by-case basis. Does this approach promote conservation or threaten endangered species?
Jennifer Weeks, Senior Environment + Cities Editor, The Conversation
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/83869
2017-09-18T00:10:26Z
2017-09-18T00:10:26Z
Fierce debate roars to life over grizzly bear hunt
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185761/original/file-20170913-3814-hmmsv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=198%2C83%2C3273%2C2696&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grizzly trophy-hunting is at the heart of a ferocious debate in North America.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s no shortage of controversy surrounding the British Columbia government’s decision to stop the grizzly bear <a href="http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/ndp-government-to-enact-bc-wide-ban-%20on-grizzly-trophy-hunt-while-allowing-hunt-for-meat">trophy</a> hunt.</p>
<p>The province announced in late August that it’s moving towards permanently <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/08/14/bc-bans-grizzly-bear-trophy-hunting-will-completely-ban-grizzly-hunt-in-great-bear-rainforest.html">closing</a> grizzly trophy hunting by the end of November, with immediate closure in the <a href="https://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/canada/placesweprotect/great-bear-rainforest.xml">Great Bear Rainforest</a>. Hunting grizzlies for their meat is still permitted. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/grizzly-bear-hunt-ban-trophy-ndp-conservation-emotion-1.4251815">Supporters</a> of trophy hunting view the ban as a political decision that ignores scientific information, diminishes economic opportunities and tarnishes hunters’ reputations. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/plan-to-end-grizzly-trophy-hunting-in-bc-announced-1.4247060">Opponents</a> applaud the ban, arguing the hunt is outdated, lacks concrete evidence to support its existence and is barbaric. </p>
<p>Certainly the ban could signal changes for future grizzly bear management across other jurisdictions. </p>
<h2>A North American debate</h2>
<p>Outfitters in the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-grizzly-trophy-ban-british-columbia-1.4248778">Yukon</a> have already raised concerns, calling for more scientific studies to inform bear management decisions. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.outdoorcanada.ca/Why_its_time_for_a_renewed_grizzly_hunt_in_Alberta">Alberta</a>
may also face increased scrutiny and pressure to reconsider a grizzly hunt in light of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jwmg.21104/abstract">research</a> on bear populations and public tolerance for <a href="http://www.pinchercreekecho.com/2014/11/18/ranchers-ask-how-many-bears-is-enough">conflict</a>. </p>
<p>There’s also controversy about hunting grizzlies in the United States, with <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-grizzly-yellowstone/yellowstone-grizzly-bears-to-lose-endangered-species-protection-idUSKBN19D2IC">Yellowstone’s</a> recent decision to remove the bears from their endangered status list and the move to stop protecting bears on <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/08/trump-team-letting-hunters-kill-bear-cubs-is-top-priority.html">Alaskan</a> reserves.</p>
<p>So what to make of these arguments for and against trophy hunting grizzlies?
Is trophy hunting a legitimate management tool? And is it even ethical to control the grizzly population that way?</p>
<h2>Hunters say bear population kept under control</h2>
<p>Supporters say trophy hunting is an effective population management tool, and can help mitigate human-bear conflicts. In B.C., trophy hunters say grizzly bears are the most closely managed and conservatively hunted species in the province. </p>
<p>Prior to the ban, the former B.C. government released a 2016 <a href="http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/wildlife/management-issues/docs/grizzly-bear-harvest-management-2016.pdf">scientific review</a> on grizzly bear hunting and said adequate safeguards were in place to ensure long-term stability of bear populations. However, habitat loss was instead noted as a significant challenge, and improvements in monitoring bears were required. </p>
<p>The review also noted B.C. produced more DNA-based population estimates for grizzlies than any other jurisdiction. Consequently, hunters argue bear management must be informed by science rather than opinion or <a href="https://www.goabc.org/grizzly-bear-management-program/">emotions.</a> </p>
<p>Even the <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/how_we_work/our_global_goals/species_programme/species_news/wwf_and_trophy_hunting/">World Wildlife Fund</a> (WWF) has suggested “in certain limited and rigorously controlled cases … scientific evidence has shown that trophy hunting can be an effective conservation tool.” </p>
<h2>Hunting male bears</h2>
<p>This view is supported in other literature, with <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/3784302?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">some researchers</a> adding a regulated bear hunt may increase public acceptance of living alongside grizzly bears. However, this could also be perceived as giving people the power to manage problem bears as they deem fit — not necessarily a palatable concept for everyone.</p>
<p>Biologists also point out that trophy hunters generally target male bears because they’re bigger, and that may not pose the greatest threat to the grizzly population as it would if female bears were the primary focus.</p>
<p>Of 73 <a href="http://aep.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/wildlife-management/grizzly-bear-recovery-plan/documents/GrizzlyBearMortalityRatesAlberta-Apr2015.pdf">licences</a> allocated in 2005 for grizzly bear hunting in Alberta, only 10 bears were hunted and killed.
Instead, poaching, death after being mistaken for the more common black bears and roadway collisions <a href="http://aep.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/wildlife-management/grizzly-bear-recovery-plan/reduce-human-caused-mortality.aspx">may pose greater risk.</a></p>
<p>In B.C., however, opponents contend that hunting <a href="http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/indicators/plants-and-animals/grizzly-bears.html">kills an average of 297 bears annually</a>.</p>
<p>Opponents also argue that the lack of monitoring hunting raises serious questions about whether it’s an effective way to control the grizzly population or reduce bear-human conflict.</p>
<h2>Is it a management tool?</h2>
<p>A 2015 <a href="http://bearproject.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2015-A183_176-Gosselin-The-relative-importanc-of-direct-and-indirect-effects-of-hunting-mortality-on-the-population-dynamics-of-brown-bears.pdf">study</a> on brown bears suggests hunting bears has negative indirect effects on the bear population, particularly cub mortality. </p>
<p>Additionally, the same <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.12576/pdf">authors</a> found that because hunting is not evenly distributed across bear habitats, social structure can be destabilized, and in turn this can impact the population.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185722/original/file-20170912-3748-mvgr6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C0%2C2784%2C2005&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185722/original/file-20170912-3748-mvgr6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185722/original/file-20170912-3748-mvgr6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185722/original/file-20170912-3748-mvgr6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185722/original/file-20170912-3748-mvgr6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185722/original/file-20170912-3748-mvgr6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185722/original/file-20170912-3748-mvgr6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A grizzly bear fishes for his lunch along a river in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park near Bella Coola, B.C., in 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As for conflict reduction, a 2016 <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep25936">study</a> found that bear hunting did not reduce the frequency of bear/human confrontations. Human behaviour and poor garbage management were likely conflict culprits.</p>
<p>A 2009 <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01729.x/full">study</a>, meantime, suggested the complex life histories, behaviours and social systems of animals like grizzlies mean any predictions that scientists make about trophy hunting as a management tool are unreliable.</p>
<h2>Bear-viewing more lucrative?</h2>
<p>Economic opportunities are also commonly raised in the grizzly hunt debate.</p>
<p>Guide outfitters in B.C. say <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/hunting+generates+million+economic+activity+annually+victoria+says/8875723/story.html">hunting</a> has brought in more than $350 million annually (for bears and other wildlife) from national and international hunters. Some say the ban will result in lost revenue, affecting not just personal livelihoods but entire communities. </p>
<p>Additionally, outfitters caution bear-viewing could result in <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312165792_Consequences_of_brown_bear_viewing_tourism_A_review%22%22">habituation</a>, meaning bears become overly comfortable with human presence and therefore pose safety risks.</p>
<p>Opponents, however, argue trophy hunting is a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/us/politics/trophy-hunting-fees-do-little-to-help-threatened-species-report-says.html">corrupt</a> practice globally, where revenues are unfairly or disproportionately meted out across communities and only benefit a few. </p>
<p>Furthermore, they say a live bear is far more economically valuable than a dead one. The <a href="http://pacificanalytics.ca/sites/default/files/reports/Economic_Impact_of_Bear_Viewing_and_Bear_Hunting_in_GBR.pdf">Center for Responsible Travel</a> found more revenue was generated from bear-viewing in the Great Bear Rainforest, and provided more job opportunities. </p>
<h2>Swapping bullets for binoculars</h2>
<p>Some outfitters suggest the hunting ban wouldn’t affect their businesses, because they’d shift to bear-viewing. Some B.C. resorts have already encouraged hunters to trade in their <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bullets-for-binos-grizzly-tag-exchange-nimmo-bay-tweedsmuir-1.4107232">bullets for binoculars</a> as an incentive to never hunt grizzlies again. </p>
<p>Opponents also believe trophy hunting is immoral and wasteful. To some, it’s inconceivable to kill an animal for sport. </p>
<p>Many were disappointed in the B.C. trophy hunting decision because they’d hoped for a complete ban on grizzly hunting, particularly since the animals are not commonly <a href="http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-trophy-hunting-ban-falls-short-1.22355004">eaten</a> like elk or deer. Hunting of animals that are <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-hunting-moral-a-philosopher-unpacks-the-question-68645">consumed</a> as food is regarded as less offensive.</p>
<p>On the motivations of trophy hunters, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wsb.796/full">studies suggest</a> the “prospect of displaying large and/or dangerous (animals) at least in part underlies the behaviour of many contemporary hunters.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185718/original/file-20170912-3765-s1zrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185718/original/file-20170912-3765-s1zrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185718/original/file-20170912-3765-s1zrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185718/original/file-20170912-3765-s1zrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185718/original/file-20170912-3765-s1zrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185718/original/file-20170912-3765-s1zrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185718/original/file-20170912-3765-s1zrtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, the U.S. president’s sons, are seen here with a leopard they hunted in 2011 in Zimbabwe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(HuntingLegends.com)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The same authors suggest men who hunt carnivores are <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201703/why-men-trophy-hunt-showing-and-the-psychology-shame">signalling</a> they can afford it, which helps them accrue <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/sport-and-competition">status</a> and attention, particularly from potential mates.</p>
<p>So, what are wildlife managers to do when society remains so deeply divided on trophy hunting? Who gets to decide how grizzly bears should be managed? </p>
<p>This debate is certainly not new to wildlife management, and has become an increasingly contentious topic as biologists, policy makers and the broader public ponders how to <a href="https://www.wildcru.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Report_on_lion_conservation_App.pdf">govern</a> the animals that share our planet. </p>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>In B.C., the government has attempted to temper the debate by permitting hunting grizzlies for meat, despite compliance concerns. In the Yukon, there’s a call for more studies to help inform decision-making, and our ongoing research, not yet published, has found some in rural Alberta are asking questions about reopening a grizzly hunting season.</p>
<p>Perhaps trophy hunting isn’t the greatest threat to North America’s grizzly bears. Certainly, <a href="http://theprovince.com/opinion/op-ed/martin-watts-allowing-unsustainable-logging-worse-for-grizzly-be%20unts%20ars-than-hunt">habitat</a> loss and <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/05/controversial-science-behind-yellowstone-grizzly-losing-esa-protection/">population fragmentation</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/wild-things/climate-change-grizzly-bears-may-hibernate-less">climate change</a>, pose even greater risks. </p>
<p>That’s why now, more than ever, we need consolidated action to manage grizzlies — not more argument. If we want grizzly bears to remain in our future, we need to set aside our differences and find some common ground.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Courtney Hughes received educational support funding from Alberta Environment and Parks. Additionally she received the Young Professional Stewardship Grant from the Prairie Conservation and Endangered Species Conference, Alberta Heritage Scholarship from Advanced Education and Technology, and the Margaret Brown Award in Environmental Studies and Wildlife Resources from the University of Alberta.
Courtney is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Alberta, and is employed full time by Alberta Environment and Parks. She is also the social science advisor for the Grizzly Bear Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindsey Dewart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A bitter debate has erupted over the British Columbia government’s recent decision to end grizzly bear trophy hunting. Here are the pros and cons of stopping the hunt.
Courtney Hughes, Conservation Biology PhD Candidate, University of Alberta
Lindsey Dewart, Assistant researcher, University of Alberta
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/76228
2017-04-19T15:17:25Z
2017-04-19T15:17:25Z
Leopards need maximum protection: this includes suspending trophy hunting
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165226/original/image-20170413-25888-i0ifav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A leopard shows its spots in the Soutpansberg Mountains, South Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sam Williams</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Trophy hunting of large carnivores in southern Africa is a <a href="https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.3390/ani6050026">hotly debated</a> topic. This was evident after Cecil the lion was <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-debate-over-cecil-the-lion-should-be-about-conservation-not-hunting-45445">shot and killed</a> in Zimbabwe in 2015.</p>
<p>One argument in support of trophy hunting is that, if done sustainably, it <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.12.006">can</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S003060531200035X">benefit</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-killing-lions-like-cecil-may-actually-be-good-for-conservation-45400">conservation</a> by providing much needed funding.</p>
<p>But how do we know which populations of animals can sustain trophy hunting? In South Africa there has been a temporary <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/25/south-africa-bans-leopard-hunting-2016">moratorium</a> on trophy hunting of leopards since 2016.</p>
<p>This is because there is “uncertainty about the numbers”, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/13/south-africa-bans-leopard-hunts-uncertainty-numbers">according to</a> John Donaldson, director of research at the <a href="http://sanbi.org">South African National Biodiversity Institute</a>.</p>
<p>There is every reason to argue that leopards should be managed very carefully. They are of increasing conservation concern, and have recently been uplisted to vulnerable on both the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15954/0">global</a> and <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17803.69921">South African</a> national <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org">Red List</a> assessments. </p>
<p>Working in South Africa’s Soutpansberg Mountains, <a href="http://community.dur.ac.uk/r.a.hill/primate_and_predator_project.htm">we</a> set out to fill in some of the gaps in our understanding of this vulnerable species.</p>
<p>In 2008 the mountains had one of the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0082832">highest recorded population densities</a> (the number of animals per 100 km²) of leopards in Africa outside of protected areas. But our <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.161090">new study</a> shows that since then leopard density has declined by two thirds. Unless things change they will disappear from the area by 2020. The biggest threat to these animals appears to be illegal human activity such as shooting without permits, snaring and poisoning. </p>
<p>Based on our findings we believe that trophy hunting isn’t responsible for the precipitous decline in numbers. Nevertheless, it’s important that the moratorium is extended while researchers such as our collaborators at <a href="https://www.panthera.org">Panthera</a> assess whether these results are representative on a broader scale. We also propose stepping up efforts to mitigate the impacts of illegal human activities to protect the remaining leopards.</p>
<h2>Leopard tracking</h2>
<p>How did we gain these new insights? Leopards are incredibly elusive animals, making them extremely difficult to study. We took advantage of the fact that each leopard has different coat markings and that allows them to be individually identified, like a fingerprint. We used images taken by camera traps to determine which leopards were seen at which locations and on what date, allowing us to model changes in their density over time.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The camera traps were telling us that leopards were disappearing fast.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sam Williams</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By running a network of camera traps continuously from 2012 to 2016, we were able to estimate the leopard population density in 24 sequential study periods. This helped us build the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.161090">most detailed picture yet</a> of whether leopard numbers were growing or declining. </p>
<p>The camera traps were telling us that leopards were disappearing fast, but what they didn’t tell us was why this was happening. To find out we fitted GPS collars to eight leopards. This allowed us to track them for 15 months, until the batteries ran out and the collar detached. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.161090">Only two collared leopards survived</a>, although one of these animals would have been poisoned if we hadn’t intervened.</p>
<p>The remaining six leopards were killed by snares, were shot without permits for perceived cattle predation, or went missing, almost certainly dead. Many farmers indicated that they killed leopards in retaliation for the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2017.03.002">perceived risks</a> to livestock but our <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2017.03.002">dietary analysis</a> has revealed no evidence of this.</p>
<h2>Searching for solutions</h2>
<p>Our findings demonstrate that although trophy hunting isn’t the cause of the leopard’s problems, it’s a luxury in this area that it cannot afford. We recommend that if the moratorium on leopard hunting in South Africa is lifted, hunting should not be permitted in zones where leopards are in rapid decline, as this would not be sustainable.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A farmer introduces his new livestock-guarding dog to his cattle herd.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Philip Faure</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sound management of trophy hunting is <a href="https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/ndf_forleopard.pdf">incredibly important</a>, but our study shows that conservationists also need to increase their efforts to reduce the effects of illegal human activities on wildlife. This could have a bigger impact on enhancing the conservation status of large carnivores. We recommend helping to <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/conservation-education-and-outreach-techniques-9780198716686?cc=us&lang=en&">educate</a> and engage with communities to reduce levels of human-wildlife conflict.</p>
<p>There are an array of non-lethal techniques available to manage predation, such as using <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wsb.352">livestock-guarding</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605315000113">dogs</a>, building robust <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-006-9124-8">enclosures</a>, and <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2003.00061.x">herding</a> livestock, that can be <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0030605313001610">more effective</a> at reducing predation than killing predators. </p>
<p>We hope that more countries follow South Africa’s lead in basing wildlife management policies on the best available scientific evidence. And if government authorities and non-profit organisations can provide greater support to communities to enable them to adopt predator-friendly practices this could be just what the leopard needs to bounce back.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76228/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sam Williams receives funding from Durham University, University of Venda, Earthwatch Institute, and an anonymous donor. He is affiliated with Durham University, the Primate and Predator Project, and University of Venda. </span></em></p>
Sound wildlife management is incredibly important, and could enhance the conservation status of large carnivores like the leopard, which has recently been listed as a vulnerable species.
Sam Williams, Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, Durham University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/68645
2017-01-05T01:37:09Z
2017-01-05T01:37:09Z
Is hunting moral? A philosopher unpacks the question
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149955/original/image-20161213-1620-rbh3fq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Three generations of a Wisconsin family with a nine-point buck</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/widnr/8231371477/in/album-72157628502788463/">Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year as daylight dwindles and trees go bare, debates arise over the morality of hunting. Hunters see the act of stalking and killing deer, ducks, moose and other quarry as humane, necessary and natural, and thus as ethical. Critics respond that hunting is a cruel and useless act that one should be ashamed to carry out.</p>
<p>As a nonhunter, I cannot say anything about what it feels like to shoot or trap an animal. But as a student of philosophy and ethics, I think philosophy can help us clarify, systematize and evaluate the arguments on both sides. And a better sense of the arguments can help us talk to people with whom we disagree.</p>
<h2>Three rationales for hunting</h2>
<p>One central question is why people choose to hunt. Environmental philosopher <a href="http://philosophy.tamu.edu/%7Egary/">Gary Varner</a> identifies <a href="http://animalethics.blogspot.com/2005/05/gary-e.html">three types of hunting: therapeutic, subsistence and sport</a>. Each type is distinguished by the purpose it is meant to serve.</p>
<p>Therapeutic hunting involves intentionally killing wild animals in order to conserve another species or an entire ecosystem. In one example, <a href="http://www.galapagos.org/conservation/conservation/project-areas/ecosystem-restoration/project-isabela/">Project Isabella</a>, conservation groups hired marksmen to eradicate thousands of feral goats from several Galapagos islands between 1997 and 2006. The goats were overgrazing the islands, threatening the survival of endangered Galapagos tortoises and other species.</p>
<p>Subsistence hunting is intentionally killing wild animals to supply nourishment and material resources for humans. Agreements that allow Native American tribes to <a href="http://us.whales.org/issues/aboriginal-subsistence-whaling">hunt whales</a> are justified, in part, by the subsistence value the animals have for the people who hunt them. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149958/original/image-20161213-1605-mq143m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149958/original/image-20161213-1605-mq143m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149958/original/image-20161213-1605-mq143m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149958/original/image-20161213-1605-mq143m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149958/original/image-20161213-1605-mq143m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149958/original/image-20161213-1605-mq143m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149958/original/image-20161213-1605-mq143m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crawford Patkotak, center, leads a prayer after his crew landed a bowhead whale near Barrow, Alaska. Both revered and hunted by the Inupiat, the bowhead whale serves a symbol of tradition, as well as a staple of food.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Alaska-Whale-Photo-Gallery/61c08e74bee5490280f3e38d63533e87/4/0">AP Photo/Gregory Bull</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast, sport hunting refers to intentionally killing wild animals for enjoyment or fulfillment. Hunters who go after deer because they find the experience exhilarating, or because they want antlers to mount on the wall, are sport hunters. </p>
<p>These categories are not mutually exclusive. A hunter who stalks deer because he <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/outdoors/2015/02/22/Nationwide-and-locally-more-women-are-going-fishing-and-hunting/stories/201502220139">or she</a> enjoys the experience and wants decorative antlers may also intend to consume the meat, make pants from the hide and help control local deer populations. The distinctions matter because objections to hunting can change depending on the type of hunting. </p>
<h2>What bothers people about hunting: Harm, necessity and character</h2>
<p>Critics often argue that hunting is immoral because it requires intentionally inflicting harm on innocent creatures. Even people who are not comfortable <a href="https://theconversation.com/gorillas-death-calls-for-human-responsibility-not-animal-personhood-60360">extending legal rights to beasts</a> should acknowledge that many animals are sentient – that is, they have the capacity to suffer. If it is wrong to inflict unwanted pain and death on a sentient being, then it is wrong to hunt. I call this position “the objection from harm.”</p>
<p>If sound, the objection from harm would require advocates to oppose all three types of hunting, unless it can be shown that greater harm will befall the animal in question if it is not hunted – for example, if it will be doomed to slow winter starvation. Whether a hunter’s goal is a healthy ecosystem, a nutritious dinner or a personally fulfilling experience, the hunted animal experiences the same harm.</p>
<p>But if inflicting unwanted harm is necessarily wrong, then the source of the harm is irrelevant. Logically, anyone who commits to this position should also oppose predation among animals. When a lion kills a gazelle, it causes as much unwanted harm to the gazelle as any hunter would – <a href="http://www.animal-ethics.org/antagonism-in-nature/">far more, in fact</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149962/original/image-20161213-1610-wkcg2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149962/original/image-20161213-1610-wkcg2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149962/original/image-20161213-1610-wkcg2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149962/original/image-20161213-1610-wkcg2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149962/original/image-20161213-1610-wkcg2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149962/original/image-20161213-1610-wkcg2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149962/original/image-20161213-1610-wkcg2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lions attack a water buffalo in Tanzania.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lions_hunting_a_buffalo.jpg">Oliver Dodd/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Few people are willing to go this far. Instead, many critics propose what I call the “objection from unnecessary harm”: it is bad when a hunter shoots a lion, but not when a lion mauls a gazelle, because the lion needs to kill to survive. </p>
<p>Today it is hard to argue that human hunting is strictly necessary in the same way that hunting is necessary for animals. The objection from necessary harm holds that hunting is morally permissible only if it is necessary for the hunter’s survival. “Necessary” could refer to nutritional or ecological need, which would provide moral cover for subsistence and therapeutic hunting. But sport hunting, almost by definition, cannot be defended this way.</p>
<p>Sport hunting also is vulnerable to another critique that I call “the objection from character.” This argument holds that an act is contemptible not only because of the harm it produces, but because of what it reveals about the actor. Many observers find the derivation of pleasure from hunting to be morally repugnant. </p>
<p>In 2015, American dentist Walter Palmer found this out after his African trophy hunt resulted in the <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/cecil-african-lion-anniversary-death-trophy-hunting-zimbabwe/">death of Cecil the lion</a>. Killing Cecil did no significant ecological damage, and even without human intervention, <a href="http://www.livescience.com/41572-male-lion-survival.html">only one in eight male lions survives to adulthood</a>. It would seem that disgust with Palmer was at least as much a reaction to the person he was perceived to be – someone who pays money to kill majestic creatures – as to the harm he had done.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"626179480244068352"}"></div></p>
<p>The hunters I know don’t put much stock in “the objection from character.” First, they point out that one can kill without having hunted and hunt without having killed. Indeed, some unlucky hunters go season after season without taking an animal. Second, they tell me that when a kill does occur, they feel a somber union with and respect for the natural world, not pleasure. Nonetheless, on some level the sport hunter enjoys the experience, and this is the heart of the objection.</p>
<h2>Is hunting natural?</h2>
<p>In discussions about the morality of hunting, someone inevitably asserts that hunting is a natural activity since all preindustrial human societies engage in it to some degree, and therefore hunting can’t be immoral. But the concept of naturalness is unhelpful and ultimately irrelevant. </p>
<p>A very old moral idea, dating back to the <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism/">Stoics of ancient Greece</a>, urges us to strive to live in accordance with nature and <a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/stoiceth/">do that which is natural</a>. Belief in a connection between goodness and naturalness persists today in our use of the word “natural” to market products and lifestyles – <a href="http://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/peeling-back-the-natural-food-label/">often in highly misleading ways</a>. Things that are natural are supposed to be good for us, but also morally good.</p>
<p>Setting aside the challenge of defining “nature” and “natural,” it is dangerous to assume that a thing is virtuous or morally permissible just because it is natural. HIV, earthquakes, Alzheimer’s disease and post-partum depression are all natural. And as The Onion <a href="http://www.theonion.com/article/study-finds-sexism-rampant-in-nature-130">has satirically noted</a>, behaviors including rape, infanticide and the policy of might-makes-right are all present in the natural world. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZHB4jhmXSFg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Alberta, Canada, commemorates a place where indigenous peoples of the North American Plains killed buffalo for more than 6,000 years by driving them over a cliff.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hard conversations</h2>
<p>There are many other moral questions associated with hunting. Does it matter whether hunters use bullets, arrows or snares? Is preserving a cultural tradition enough to justify hunting? And is it possible to oppose hunting while still eating farm-raised meat?</p>
<p>As a starting point, though, if you find yourself having one of these debates, first identify what kind of hunting you’re discussing. If your interlocutor objects to hunting, try to discover the basis for their objection. And I believe you should keep nature out of it. </p>
<p>Finally, try to argue with someone who takes a fundamentally different view. <a href="https://theconversation.com/confirmation-bias-a-psychological-phenomenon-that-helps-explain-why-pundits-got-it-wrong-68781">Confirmation bias</a> – the unintentional act of confirming the beliefs we already have – is hard to overcome. The only antidote I know of is rational discourse with people whose confirmation bias runs contrary to my own.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68645/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Duclos does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
What place does hunting have in our urbanized society? Is it acceptable to kill for fun? For conservation? Philosophy doesn’t have all the answers, but it can help us understand opposing views.
Joshua Duclos, Instructor of Philosophy, Boston University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/65151
2016-09-20T19:54:11Z
2016-09-20T19:54:11Z
Croc safari: why selling licences to rich hunters isn’t fair
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138374/original/image-20160920-16646-1dhr53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Crocodiles are protected in Australia, but it wasn't always so. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Crocodiles are protected in Australia. These impressive, if dangerous, animals are icons of the north. But it wasn’t always so. <a href="http://www.qhatlas.com.au/crocodile-hunting">Crocodiles used to be hunted freely</a> in northern Australia, an activity that led to their decline and eventual protection. </p>
<p>There have been calls to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-31/crocodile-cull-ruled-out-by-qld-government-daintree-attack/7463722">cull crocodiles to improve safety</a>, but experts argue that this will make <a href="https://theconversation.com/staying-safe-in-crocodile-country-culling-isnt-the-answer-60252">little difference to the risk</a>. Besides, crocodiles are already sustainably farmed for leather products. </p>
<p>However, there are also <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/should-we-allow-crocodile-safari-hunting/7820042">calls</a> – for instance, from <a href="https://twitter.com/RealBobKatter/status/737268761581871104/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5etfw">federal MP Bob Katter</a> – to allow crocodiles to be shot for safari. Selling hunting licences worth thousands of dollars to rich shooters, the argument goes, could provide vital income. </p>
<p>But this ignores Australia’s history of crocodile hunting. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138368/original/image-20160920-11090-13bioql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138368/original/image-20160920-11090-13bioql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138368/original/image-20160920-11090-13bioql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138368/original/image-20160920-11090-13bioql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138368/original/image-20160920-11090-13bioql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138368/original/image-20160920-11090-13bioql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138368/original/image-20160920-11090-13bioql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138368/original/image-20160920-11090-13bioql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crocodile hunters in the Northern Territory.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=30621473&isAv=N">Australian News and Information Bureau, July 1968/National Archives of Australia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Postwar crocodile hunting</h2>
<p>Immediately after the second world war, .303 rifles were widely available and were capable of reliably killing crocodiles. Crocodile skins suddenly increased in value — the Australian crocodile-hunting boom was the result.</p>
<p>The boom attracted hunters from southern Australia, including new immigrants. Some made significant amounts of money as the price of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-11/crocodile-hunters-from-1940s-in-unearthed-video/7315516">crocodile skins</a> rose, but the prospect of adventure was often a far more significant lure. For many, coming north to hunt crocodiles was a working holiday combined with a boy’s own adventure. It was also an opportunity for men restless from the war to put off settling back into domesticity.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138369/original/image-20160920-11117-d2q1xn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138369/original/image-20160920-11117-d2q1xn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138369/original/image-20160920-11117-d2q1xn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138369/original/image-20160920-11117-d2q1xn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138369/original/image-20160920-11117-d2q1xn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138369/original/image-20160920-11117-d2q1xn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=954&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138369/original/image-20160920-11117-d2q1xn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=954&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138369/original/image-20160920-11117-d2q1xn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=954&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=5966626&isAv=N">Australian News and Information Bureau, July 1968/National Archives of Australia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That mood of adventure was captured in a 1956 home movie, aptly titled <a href="http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/northern-safari/clip3/">Northern Safari</a>. Shown as a feature film, it packed cinemas in Australia and overseas. Northern Safari documented a family trip north and showed the accessibility of hunting in northern Australia to anyone with the time and practical skills to get there.</p>
<p>In addition to this accessible but rugged style of hunting, some postwar entrepreneurs began to offer organised hunting. Aimed at people with more money, less time and a greater desire for comfort, the commercial Australian safari was born. </p>
<p>The Australian Crocodile Shooters’ Club actively promoted safari cruises to hunters who wished to shoot in luxury. In 1952 it established one of [Australia’s first safari camps](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50532888](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50532888) in the Gulf of Carpentaria.</p>
<p>However, the <a href="http://littledarwin.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/unforgettable-safari-with-great-white.html">Australian safari at this time</a> was less exclusive than the original African version. While expensive, hunters might subsidise their holidays through the sale of crocodile skins – and the services and amenities provided could not be described as truly luxurious.</p>
<h2>Safari hunting in the present</h2>
<p>Nevertheless, the Australian safari has evolved since the ban on crocodile hunting and has taken its place among international safari organisations. Safari operations cater to visiting sportsmen by providing access to introduced species and game fish. The Australian experience is one of many such distinct experiences promoted at the annual <a href="https://www.safariclub.org/what-we-do/events">Safari Club International</a> convention.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138370/original/image-20160920-11127-10osvd2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138370/original/image-20160920-11127-10osvd2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138370/original/image-20160920-11127-10osvd2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138370/original/image-20160920-11127-10osvd2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138370/original/image-20160920-11127-10osvd2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138370/original/image-20160920-11127-10osvd2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138370/original/image-20160920-11127-10osvd2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138370/original/image-20160920-11127-10osvd2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An NT croc hunter in 1949.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=11171139&isAv=N">National Archives of Australia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>New Zealand provides an example of how such tourist trophy hunting operates. Based on privately owned red deer estates, some hunting providers sell clients the right to hunt an animal selected for its probable value under the Safari Club International scoring system. </p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-7939.2012.01219.x/epdf">Estate deer</a> are bred for their trophy value and their antlers command scores unmatched by red deer found on public land. Access to them is limited and the cost of hunting one of the highest-scoring stags is more than NZ$20,000. Estate deer hunting is largely invisible to ordinary New Zealand hunters.</p>
<p>Despite the enthusiasm of proponents, there is widespread unease about the killing of big game. As with the red deer industry in New Zealand, the <a href="http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?act=view_file&file_id=EC122p33.pdf">safari industry in Australia at present</a> depends on introduced species of game, and so avoids controversy.</p>
<p>Overseas the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-02/cecil-the-lion-world-reacts-to-trophy-hunting/6666204">death of Cecil the lion</a> brought public unease about big game hunting into the open, as did the participation of touring New Zealand <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11305600">rugby players</a> in a legal hunt in South Africa. Privileged access to native game and the killing of large native animals for sport has been made more visible by the sharing of images via the internet, and that visibility has demonstrated widespread <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/10/joyce-carol-oates-steven-spielberg-animatronic-dinosaur">public unease with the safari</a>.</p>
<h2>So who gets to hunt?</h2>
<p>Scientific commentators agree that <a href="https://theconversation.com/staying-safe-in-crocodile-country-culling-isnt-the-answer-60252">crocodile culling</a> is unlikely to decrease the number or severity of crocodile attacks on humans in Australia. Neither is hunting crocodiles in Australia about managing an introduced pest. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138371/original/image-20160920-11123-seu6zt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138371/original/image-20160920-11123-seu6zt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138371/original/image-20160920-11123-seu6zt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138371/original/image-20160920-11123-seu6zt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138371/original/image-20160920-11123-seu6zt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138371/original/image-20160920-11123-seu6zt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138371/original/image-20160920-11123-seu6zt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138371/original/image-20160920-11123-seu6zt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A croc hunter stuffing crocodiles for sale in 1949.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=6849665&isAv=N">National Archives of Australia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Instead, it is desirable because of the adventure involved, because for some hunting provides a meaningful connection with nature and because for others killing large animals brings prestige. These motivations aren’t being discussed.</p>
<p>If the crocodile safari were to be re-established in Australia it wouldn’t be the freely available experience it once was. Modern safari hunting is expensive and the preserve of only a few. Australians need to consider if they really wish to entice elite international hunters to Australia using a native species (even one as unlovable as the saltwater crocodile) as prey.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65151/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Brennan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Should shooting crocs be allowed for elite hunters?
Claire Brennan, Lecturer in History, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/61531
2016-07-08T04:42:37Z
2016-07-08T04:42:37Z
Lion hunting only makes sense if it’s part of a package of interventions
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129168/original/image-20160704-19094-18oodho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The death of Cecil the lion helped shed light on broader issues in the lion hunting world.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cecil the lion’s <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/cecil-the-lion-killed-by-hunter/">death</a> just outside Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park put a recognisable face on the difficult problem of setting policy for lion hunting. Conservation biologists and wildlife managers have been grappling with the issue across sub-Saharan Africa. But there is no one simple answer.</p>
<p>Trophy hunting can be used to generate revenue and promote the protection of ecosystems. These might otherwise be converted to agriculture, accelerating the continent’s rapid loss of wildlife for reasons that include habitat conversion and fragmentation. </p>
<p>On the other hand, lions are both rare and highly coveted by hunters. Field studies consistently show that lion numbers in <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9286929&fileId=S0030605312001457">Zimbabwe</a>, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320714003875">Zambia</a>, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01576.x/full">Tanzania</a>, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320711003661">Cameroon</a> and Mozambique have declined with over-harvesting – which is excessive numbers lost due to trophy hunting. This has occurred despite <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v428/n6979/abs/nature02395.html">scientific guidelines</a> to promote sustainability.</p>
<p>Lions, and their habitat, have <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-012-0381-4">declined by 70%</a> over recent decades. This is due to a combination of habitat loss and fragmentation, decline of prey numbers, snaring, human conflict, retaliatory killing and excessive legal hunting. Most nations have a network of protected areas, including national parks that do not allow hunting and game reserves or game management areas that do.</p>
<p>Given that the status quo is not working, what can be done to save the king of beasts? That is the question our <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Scott_Creel">recent study</a> involving scientists and managers at the Zambian Carnivore Programme, Montana State University and the Zambian Department of National Parks and Wildlife attempted to answer.</p>
<h2>The gap between theory and practice</h2>
<p>The current strategy for sustainable hunting of lions is known as age-restricted harvesting. This is where only male lions above a certain age, typically six years, can legally be shot. </p>
<p>In theory, such a system can be sustainable. This is because old males form a small part of most lion populations and these old males have often been ejected from prides by younger and stronger males. In practice, there are problems with identifying a male’s age just by looking at him. There are also challenges enforcing age-based rules. </p>
<p>A more fundamental problem is that existing guidelines were based on patterns in a very well-protected, growing lion population in <a href="http://www.tanzaniaparks.com/serengeti.html">Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park</a>. Most other lion populations face tougher conditions. </p>
<p>Our study aimed to determine whether lion hunting can be made sustainable for populations facing more typical challenges, including low prey numbers and the risk of being snared. These challenges are almost universal at this point for large lion populations in major ecosystems. Small lion populations in fenced areas tend to face fewer problems, but these populations are all small.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129170/original/image-20160704-19118-1gh6vyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129170/original/image-20160704-19118-1gh6vyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129170/original/image-20160704-19118-1gh6vyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129170/original/image-20160704-19118-1gh6vyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129170/original/image-20160704-19118-1gh6vyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129170/original/image-20160704-19118-1gh6vyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129170/original/image-20160704-19118-1gh6vyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129170/original/image-20160704-19118-1gh6vyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The current
system of hunting has many gaps in it, which has seen lion numbers drop.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Gaps in the system</h2>
<p>We projected population dynamics for African lions 25 years into the future, both without hunting and under a range of hunting scenarios. We used mathematical models that were based on seven years of data from lions in the Luangwa Valley, home to Zambia’s crown jewel, the <a href="http://www.zambiatourism.com/destinations/national-parks/south-luangwa-national-park">South Luangwa National Park</a>.</p>
<p>The scenarios we considered included maximum quotas for hunting blocks, age restriction, hunting periods punctuated by recovery periods with no hunting, and combinations of these strategies. Our analysis is based on hunting blocks located adjacent to a fully protected national park. This is often the case in the real world, with lions moving regularly between protected and hunted landscapes. </p>
<p>Many people might consider the death of Cecil a few meters from a national park boundary to be an anomaly, but our analysis found that lions were typically shot less than a kilometre from the park boundary. This is well within the normal range of movements of lions living in the park.</p>
<p>We confirmed that age restriction is helpful, but most hunting scenarios resulted in a long-term decline in trophy-aged males. This is both detrimental to lion populations and undesirable for hunters if they are concerned with sustainability. The best strategy requires a combination of tactics. </p>
<p>The analysis showed that a decrease in the availability of prime-aged males is minimised by the combination of a block quota of one, a three-on/three-off cycle of hunting and recovery, and a minimum hunted age of seven or eight years. In other words, hunting blocks can sustainably be allocated one trophy hunt per year. That is about one lion per 2,000km² of at least seven years old, for three consecutive years, followed by three years for recovery. </p>
<p>It is also clear that trophy fees must be increased to account for the reduced quota if hunting is to effectively yield protection of public land. Such an increase could perhaps be paired with paying some portion of the fee only if a lion is shot, rather than paying proactively. This would reduce the incentive to shoot a lion, any lion.</p>
<h2>Broader problems</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, even this scenario is likely to allow a long-term lion decline if the problems of poaching or habitat degradation worsen. Trophy hunting by itself might be sustainable, but not when added to a background of poaching, habitat loss and retaliatory killing.</p>
<p>If it does not effectively contribute to controlling the problems of prey depletion and lion snaring in areas that allow hunting, trophy hunting at any level will not be sustainable. Lion hunting cannot continue to rely on drawing lions out of adjacent, fully protected national parks at unsustainable rates, as it recently has. </p>
<p>Such a situation is part of the problem, not the solution. With serious reforms to employ a combination of quotas, age restriction and recovery periods, perhaps this slow motion extinction can be reversed. Future generations will judge us harshly if we stand by and let the last lion leave this world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61531/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Creel receives funding from the US National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society. He is a Professor in the Department of Ecology at Montana State University and a Research Scientist with the Zambian Carnivore Programme.</span></em></p>
New research from Zambia’s Luangwa Valley identifies reforms needed for lion trophy hunting.
Scott Creel, Professor, Montana State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/59217
2016-05-12T08:48:52Z
2016-05-12T08:48:52Z
Polar bears: climate change is a bigger threat than trophy hunting
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122117/original/image-20160511-18128-8cq8zm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martina Tyrrell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A prominent former activist has accused Greenpeace of betraying its original ideas for supporting trophy hunting of polar bears. Paul Watson, now founder and director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, made the claims in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/captpaulwatson/posts/10153970830180932:0">lengthy Facebook post</a> which has been shared 60,000 times. </p>
<p>Yet Watson <a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/303142/greenpeace-rejects-claims-it-supports-polar-bear-hunts">misrepresents Greenpeace</a>, Inuit hunting practices and polar bear trade data. He also demonstrates an adherence to an outmoded environmentalism in conflict with the human inhabitants of environments at risk.</p>
<p>Watson’s post came days after the US <a href="http://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2016/4/28/US-Supports-Protections-for-Pangolins-African-Grey-Parrots-Chambered-Nautilus-at-CITES-Meeting">announced</a> it will no longer pursue an international ban on commercial trade in polar bear hides, a move <a href="http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674u.s._drops_bid_to_ban_international_trade_in_polar_bear_products/">welcomed</a> by Inuit organisations, some polar bear specialists and environmental groups who had argued for years that climate change poses the greatest threat to polar bear populations. An ongoing campaign against trophy hunting affects Inuit livelihoods and diverts attention away from the bears’ real enemy: climate change.</p>
<p>Most of the world’s <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22823/0">25,000 or so</a> polar bears are found in northern Canada. Under the 1973 multilateral <a href="http://pbsg.npolar.no/en/agreements/agreement1973.html">Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears</a>, the country has a legal and scientifically managed <a href="http://www.peacepalacelibrary.nl/plinklet/index.php?ppn=121097382">polar bear hunt</a>. Only Inuit and trophy hunters guided by Inuit can hunt polar bears. On average, the quota allows for the killing of around 600 bears each year, and the number permitted is continually refined based on up-to-date scientific evidence.</p>
<p>The largest part of the quota is used directly by Inuit. Polar bear meat is eaten by humans and dogs, and pelts are transformed into clothing and bedding, or sold at auction in southern Canada, where they enter international markets. A large bear pelt in good condition can fetch <a href="http://naalakkersuisut.gl/%7E/media/Nanoq/Files/Attached%20Files/Fiskeri_Fangst_Landbrug/Trade%20Working%20Group%20Report/Review%20and%20Analysis%20of%20Canadian%20Trade%20in%20Polar%20Bears%20from%202005%202014.pdf">CN$6,000</a> or more (about US$4,700).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122119/original/image-20160511-18171-1f0jpuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122119/original/image-20160511-18171-1f0jpuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122119/original/image-20160511-18171-1f0jpuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122119/original/image-20160511-18171-1f0jpuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122119/original/image-20160511-18171-1f0jpuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122119/original/image-20160511-18171-1f0jpuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122119/original/image-20160511-18171-1f0jpuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122119/original/image-20160511-18171-1f0jpuw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Inuk guide (right) directs a trophy hunter towards his prey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martina Tyrrell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In some communities Inuit choose to <a href="http://www.abebooks.co.uk/9781896445434/Hunting-Business-Polar-Bear-Sport-1896445438/plp">divert part of the quota</a> to trophy hunters. In 2006, 153 bears were taken by trophy hunters. However, in 2008 the <a href="http://www.fws.gov/endangered/laws-policies/">US Endangered Species Act</a> listed polar bears as “threatened” and commercial importation of bear parts into the US was outlawed. As US citizens formed the largest trophy hunt market, by 2010-11 <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378013002240">just 26 bears</a> were killed for trophies.</p>
<p>Contemporary Inuit live in a mixed subsistence economy. The prohibitive cost of snow mobiles, boats, fuel, firearms and ammunition prevents many from participating in traditional hunting and fishing activities. Those who earn money through wage labour often lack the time to hunt, and those with time <a href="http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic65-3-305.pdf">often lack the money</a>. </p>
<p>Diverting a small portion of the polar bear quota to the trophy hunt allows Inuit hunters, in culturally appropriate ways, to earn money that is then <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41572841_Guiding_opportunity_identity_the_multiple_roles_of_the_polar_bear_conservation_hunt">reinvested in their traditional hunting practices</a>. Rather than the greed-driven Inuit portrayed by Watson, the CN$3,000-7,500 earned by one hunter once a year guiding a ten-day trophy hunt supports large extended families and helps indigenous people protect their culture.</p>
<p>And while Watson claims there is nothing “traditional” about guiding trophy hunters, such work provides Inuit with opportunities to use their land skills and environmental knowledge in ways they cannot when employed at gold or diamond mines or in construction work.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122138/original/image-20160511-18123-1sf09f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122138/original/image-20160511-18123-1sf09f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122138/original/image-20160511-18123-1sf09f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122138/original/image-20160511-18123-1sf09f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122138/original/image-20160511-18123-1sf09f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122138/original/image-20160511-18123-1sf09f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122138/original/image-20160511-18123-1sf09f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122138/original/image-20160511-18123-1sf09f5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For the Inuit this means trousers, boots – or cash.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/31856336@N03/11766767073/">Mike Beauregard</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since the US trophy hunt market closed in 2008, more Inuit have opted to <a href="https://faunalytics.org/feature-article/what-happened-to-climate-change-cites-and-the-reconfiguration-of-polar-bear-conservation-discourse/">sell their bear skins at auction</a>, in order to mitigate the loss of trophy hunt income. The claim made by Watson that 300 bears will be killed by trophy hunters this year is a misrepresentation of trade data. According to the Canadian government, parts from around 300 bears do enter international markets from the country <a href="https://www.ec.gc.ca/nature/default.asp?lang=En&n=A997D1CC-1">each year</a>. Yet only a small proportion of these have been killed by trophy hunters. The remainder, including pelts from bears killed up to 30 years ago, come from the Inuit hunt and generate much needed revenue for financially insecure families.</p>
<p>Whatever one’s feelings about the polar bear trophy hunt, neither an international ban on the commercial trade in polar bear parts nor an endorsement by environmental organisations will have any impact on the legal and well-managed polar bear hunt that exists in Canada. A ban on trade would only be to the economic and cultural detriment of Inuit.</p>
<p>Greenpeace has never endorsed polar bear trophy hunting. It has, however, started to <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/Global/canada/report/2014/03/Greenpeace%20Canada%20Policy%20on%20Indigenous%20Rights.pdf">work more closely</a> with indigenous peoples in Canada. It recognises, as does the WWF, IUCN and others, that small scale and culturally appropriate hunting by indigenous people does not threaten biodiversity. Indeed, it has developed a more nuanced understanding that biodiversity and cultural diversity go hand-in-hand. </p>
<p>Unlike more single-issue environmental groups, Greenpeace now recognises the need to collaborate with Inuit in the fight against climate change – a common foe that threatens both polar bears and humans.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59217/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martina Tyrrell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Banning the hunts would harm the Inuit more than it would help the bears.
Martina Tyrrell, Honorary Research Fellow, Human Geographer, University of Exeter
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/56638
2016-03-23T12:41:32Z
2016-03-23T12:41:32Z
How people can live next to lions without killing them – new study
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115887/original/image-20160321-30912-ukglb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The mane event</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/s/lion/search.html?page=2&thumb_size=mosaic&inline=330832193">Varun Aditya</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is a sense of haunting to the roar of a lion veiled in darkness. The emphatic “ooooaa!” demands attention as it starts in the abdomen and reverberates through the night air. Its direction and distance are secondary to one’s primordial reaction – a sudden dilation of the pupils and a flare of prickles on the neck. The call unmistakably announces a large carnivore, yet as each roar fades into solitary grunts it feels less like an act of aggression than the lonely imploring of a lost soul in the darkness.</p>
<p>The plight of Africa’s lions is lamentable. Since the 1960s, the world <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-012-0381-4">has lost</a> at least 70% of these magnificent cats, which until a few thousand years ago inhabited most of Europe, Asia and the Americas. Now we’re <a href="https://www.panthera.org/cat/lion">down to</a> around 20,000, all of them in Africa apart from <a href="http://www.asiaticlion.org">one sub-species</a> in India. Habitat loss and the encroachment of people are largely responsible – lions in Kenya and Tanzania are shot by wildlife officials if they consistently kill livestock, for instance. And trophy hunters <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150729-lion-trophy-hunting-conservation-animals-cecil/">still shoot</a> lions in the wild every year in countries where it is permitted, including Tanzania and Zimbabwe. </p>
<p>But if you were expecting a fable in which cunning Human steals from noble Lion, this story is not so clear-cut. Living with these predators <a href="http://www.livingwithlions.org">is not</a> easy. For many people in rural Africa, livestock pay for school fees and hospital bills, and insure against misfortune. Imagine finding half your nest egg has been taken overnight and, worse, worrying your family might <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2011/07/man-eating-lions-attack-dark-moon">be next</a>. Unsurprisingly, many lions that live near people end up shot or poisoned. Yet it doesn’t have to be this way. A new five-year study that I have been involved in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12632/suppinfo">shows that</a> when people directly benefit from lions, they become more tolerant of their faults. </p>
<h2>Conservancies</h2>
<p>We focused on an area surrounding the Mara National Reserve in Kenya, a protected zone at the northern extent of the Serengeti ecosystem. These fertile grasslands are the home of the Maasai, semi-nomadic pastoralists who share them with the great <a href="http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/wildebeest_migration">annual migration</a> of over a million wildebeest and their predators, including lions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116006/original/image-20160322-32294-7b5si3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116006/original/image-20160322-32294-7b5si3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116006/original/image-20160322-32294-7b5si3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116006/original/image-20160322-32294-7b5si3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116006/original/image-20160322-32294-7b5si3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116006/original/image-20160322-32294-7b5si3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116006/original/image-20160322-32294-7b5si3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116006/original/image-20160322-32294-7b5si3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Maasai tribeswoman.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-234545698/stock-photo-portrait-of-senior-african-woman-masai-mara.html?src=Aqbxf1k7Zo73ZFt1zu9VyA-1-6">Avatar_023</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Maasai have always speared any rogue that dares interfere with their livestock; and today there are far more people and livestock and much less space for lions. Yet many on the northern edge of the Mara have wisely noted the premiums that tourists are prepared to pay for the Serengeti experience. </p>
<p>Lions <a href="http://www.nbs.go.tz/nbs/takwimu/trade/The2013_International%20_Visitors'_Exit_Survey_Report.pdf">help attract</a> over 350,000 visitors to the area every year, generating $90 million (£63 million) in entrance fees alone. Beyond the national reserve, many families have combined landholdings into community conservancies which welcome visitors for a fee. They attract wildlife by managing and protecting resources such as livestock, water and unique habitats; and they distribute income fairly around the community to avoid feuds. Other families have declined this opportunity, relying purely on their livestock for income.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116164/original/image-20160323-28178-15v62yc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116164/original/image-20160323-28178-15v62yc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116164/original/image-20160323-28178-15v62yc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116164/original/image-20160323-28178-15v62yc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116164/original/image-20160323-28178-15v62yc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116164/original/image-20160323-28178-15v62yc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116164/original/image-20160323-28178-15v62yc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116164/original/image-20160323-28178-15v62yc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grant Hopcraft</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hence there is a 1,500sqkm patchwork of conservancies and other privately owned pastureland to the north of the Mara National Reserve. Together with the reserve itself, where no one lives and lions can roam freely, it amounts to a perfect three-way natural experiment to investigate the effects of conservancies on lions. Lead author Sara Blackburn and Laurence Frank, a veteran predator biologist, spent five years <a href="http://livingwithlions.org/mara/browse/all/all/">observing the</a> lifespan of 382 lions in the area. This is the first time anyone has looked at the survival rates of individual lions in relation to conservancies, rather than just counting them. </p>
<p>The natural <a href="https://www.panthera.org/cat/lion">life expectancy</a> of a lion living in the wild rarely exceeds 13 years. When we compared the survival of lions living outside national parks, our results consistently showed that survival is not determined by how many prey are available or the quality of the habitat – there are enough of both to sustain this population. The number of livestock in a lion’s territory makes no difference either. </p>
<p>The only factor that consistently cuts short a lion’s life, sometimes lowering the chances of survival by as much as 40%, is the number of homesteads in its territory that are <em>not</em> part of a community conservancy. Homesteads that are members of a conservancy, on the other hand, have no negative effect on lions’ survival chances. This suggests that when people receive income from lions via ecotourism, they become tolerant and lions survive. There is a good chance that the same would also be true for other animals that are <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13573912">declining</a> across the region, such as giraffe and impala.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-K9JX26zquE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/what-we-mourned-when-we-mourned-cecil">Cecil, the lion</a> shot by an American hunter last year, drew a line in the sand regarding the public’s opinion on conservation of this remarkable predator. These events have sparked heated debates about the role of <a href="http://conservationmagazine.org/2015/10/what-if-we-banned-trophy-hunting-in-africa/">trophy hunting</a> and <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/fences-divide-lion-conservationists-1.14207">using fences</a> to protect lions in the wild, even while recent footage of an agitated lion walking the streets of Nairobi highlights the continued struggle for space. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cZ0RlYL_EYQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>In this worrying context, our research points to how this story can end more happily. Community conservancies are a viable and working alternative to protecting wildlife. Although they exist in many parts of Kenya and Tanzania, we must continue encouraging governments to develop similar opportunities for local communities to benefit from wildlife through ecotourism. Evidence such as ours gives reason to be optimistic that community conservancies will continue to expand and benefit human and lion alike.</p>
<p><em>Sara Blackburn, an MSc student in biodiversity and conservation, assisted in the writing of the piece</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56638/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grant Hopcraft receives funding from the British Ecological Society, the EU's Horizon2020 research and innovation programme (AfricanBioServices grant agreement No 641918), and the Paul Tudor Jones Family Foundation. He is also affiliated with the Frankfurt Zoological Society, the Tanzanian Wildlife Research Institute, and Tanzania National Parks, and collaborates extensively with the Kenya Wildlife Service.
</span></em></p>
Forget fences and international agreements. This five-year study in the Serengeti has found the way forward.
Grant Hopcraft, Research Fellow, University of Glasgow
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/52854
2016-01-08T00:32:44Z
2016-01-08T00:32:44Z
Big game: banning trophy hunting could do more harm than good
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107606/original/image-20160107-13986-8bubab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Trophy hunting could keep conservation in business. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Trophy image from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Furious debate around the role of trophy hunting in conservation raged in 2015, after the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe, and a critically endangered black rhino in Namibia. Together, these two incidents triggered vocal appeals to <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34116488">ban trophy hunting</a> throughout Africa.</p>
<p>While to most people (including us) this might seem like an abhorrent way to generate money, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.12.006">we argue in a new paper</a> that trophy hunting, if done sustainably, can be an important tool in the conservationist’s toolbox.</p>
<h2>Widespread condemnation</h2>
<p>In July 2015 American dentist Walter James Palmer shot and killed a male lion called Cecil with a hunting bow and arrow, sparking <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-33694075">a storm of outrage</a>. Cecil was a favourite of tourists visiting <a href="http://zimparks.org/index.php/parks-overview/national/hwange">Hwange National Park</a> in Zimbabwe.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/25/cecil-the-lion-zimbabwe-conservation-johnny-rodrigues">Allegations</a> that aspects of the hunt were done illegally added considerable fuel to the flames, although Palmer was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/12/zimbabwe-will-not-charge-us-dentist-killing-cecil-lion">not charged</a> by the Zimbabwean government. </p>
<p>Likewise in May 2015, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/05/21/the-texas-hunter-who-paid-350000-to-kill-an-endangered-black-rhino-has-bagged-his-prey/">a Texan legally shot</a> a critically endangered black rhino in Namibia, which also generated considerable online ire. The backlash ensued even though the male rhino was considered “surplus” to Namibia’s black rhino populations, and the US$350,000 generated from the managed hunt was to be re-invested in conservation. The US government has endorsed hunting of black rhinos by allowing a <a href="http://www.fws.gov/international/permits/black-rhino-import-permit.html">limited import</a> of rhino trophies.</p>
<p>These highly politicised events are but a small component of a large industry in Africa <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.12.006">worth more than US$215 million per year</a>, “selling” iconic animals to (mainly foreign) hunters as a means of generating otherwise scarce funds.</p>
<h2>It’s mostly about the money</h2>
<p>Conserving biodiversity <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2012/oct/12/extinction-species-save-cost-biodiversity">can be expensive</a>. Generating money has become a central preoccupation of many environmental charities, conservation-minded individuals, government agencies and scientists. Making money for conservation in Africa is even more challenging, so we argue that trophy hunting should and could fill some of that gap.</p>
<p>The question of whether trophy hunting is ethically justifiable is a separate issue. While animal suffering can be minimised with good practice, the moral case for or against trophy hunting is a choice we must make as a society. </p>
<p>Beyond the ethical or moral issues, there are still many concerns about trophy hunting that currently limit its use as a conservation tool. One of the biggest problems is that the revenue it generates often goes to the private sector rather than distributing benefits to conservation and local communities.</p>
<p>It can also be difficult (but not impossible) to determine just how many animals can be sustainably killed. Some forms of trophy hunting have debatable value for conservation. For instance, “<a href="http://observer.com/2015/10/the-dark-world-of-canned-lion-trophy-hunting/">canned lion hunting</a>”, where lions are bred and raised in captivity only to be shot in specially made enclosures, provides no incentive for conserving lions in the wild.</p>
<p>At the same time, opposing sustainable trophy hunting could end up being worse for species conservation. While revenue from wildlife sightseeing is good, in most cases effective conservation requires much more. Without more funding creating incentives to conserve wildlife, many natural habitats will be converted to farmland, which is generally much worse for native wildlife and the entire ecosystem.</p>
<p>Trophy hunting can also have a smaller carbon and infrastructure footprint than ecotourism because it requires fewer paying customers for the same amount of revenue. Trophy hunting can even generate <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320706003831">higher revenue</a> than the most successful ecotourism enterprises. </p>
<p>Hunting can lead to larger wildlife populations because they are specifically managed to keep numbers higher. <a href="http://conservationbytes.com/2014/01/28/were-sorry-but-50500-is-still-too-few/">Larger animal populations are more resilient to extinction</a>, and hunters have an interest in their protection. This contrasts with ecotourism where the presence of only a few individual animals is sufficient to ensure that the expectations of many paying tourists are met.</p>
<h2>Making trophy hunting work</h2>
<p>To address some of the concerns about trophy hunting and to enhance its contribution to biodiversity conservation and the benefit to local people, we propose twelve minimum standards:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Mandatory levies should be imposed on trophy hunting operators by governments. These can be invested directly into trust funds for conservation and management.</p></li>
<li><p>Trophies from areas that help conservation and respect animal welfare should be certified and labelled.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://conservationbytes.com/2009/08/27/not-so-scary-maths-and-extinction-risk/">Populations must be analysed</a> to ensure that killing wildlife does not cause their numbers to fall.</p></li>
<li><p>Post-hunt sales of any part of the animals should be banned to minimise illegal wildlife trade.</p></li>
<li><p>Priority should be given to trophy hunting enterprises run (or leased) by local communities.</p></li>
<li><p>Trusts should be created to share benefits with local communities and promote long-term economic sustainability.</p></li>
<li><p>Mandatory scientific sampling of animals killed, including tissue for genetic analyses and teeth for age analysis, should be enforced.</p></li>
<li><p>Mandatory five-year (or more frequent) reviews of all animals hunted and detailed conservation plans should be submitted to government legislators before permits are extended.</p></li>
<li><p>There should be full public disclosure of all data collected.</p></li>
<li><p>Independent government observers should be placed randomly and without forewarning on trophy hunts as they happen.</p></li>
<li><p>Trophies must be confiscated and permits revoked when illegal practices are discovered.</p></li>
<li><p>Backup professional shooters and trackers should be present for all hunts to minimise welfare concerns.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Can developing nations implement these strategies? </p>
<p>Yes, they can, but only if the funding model is transparent and includes direct support from national governments, as well as mechanisms for oversight and regulation as we have outlined. Some form of regional and international cooperation might also be necessary to minimise the chance of corruption.</p>
<p>Without greater oversight, better governance, and management based on scientific evidence, we fear that the furore over trophy hunting will continue - to the detriment of biodiversity, hunters and local communities. Adopting our ideas could help avoid this.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52854/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Corey Bradshaw receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Enrico Di Minin receives funding from the European Research Council and the Academy of Finland </span></em></p>
The death of Cecil the lion ignited furious debate over trophy hunting in 2015. But conservationists argue that it’s a necessary evil.
Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Sir Hubert Wilkins Chair of Climate Change, University of Adelaide
Enrico Di Minin, Researcher in Conservation Science, University of Helsinki
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.