Umbabaat/Ingwelala controversial lion hunt

[Dzombo]

From what I have read in various reports. Incl the one a few posts back.
This lion was lured onto private land from the KNP.

So not so straight forward??

[Flutterby]

Ja, sounds fishy!

[Richprins]

I think baiting is a very common way of hunting lion, unethical but not illegal? I have seen a bait hanging from a tree myself in Timbavati, although the owners said it was for luring lions for game viewing purposes.

[Flutterby]

UPDATE: Hunting of Kruger lion regarded as sustainable

The hunt was approved on February 22 after which the lion was hunted on Friday, causing tensions to flare.

UMBABAT – A male lion was hunted on the border of the Kruger National Park on Friday after conservationists lost the fight to prevent the hunt.

Kholofelo Nkambule, senior manager of communications and public relations for the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) confirmed on Monday that a male lion was shot by an unknown trophy hunter in the Umbabat Private Game Reserve four days ago.

This was according to Michele Pickover, speaking for the EMS Foundation and Ban Animal Trading, who opposed the hunt and was concerned that the lion was part of the Western Pride. “This has increased the ongoing tension in the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR) between lodges that rely on tourists, and hunting of animals,” she said.

Whether or not the lion was the dominant member of the Western Pride as dreaded, has not yet been confirmed.
“The biggest question is why the APNR reserves, of which Umbabat is part of, on the unfenced western boundary of KNP, are permitted to hunt animals from one of Africa’s premier, state-owned game reserves,” asked Pickover.

Initially the MTPA and SANParks opposed an application for the hunt and both parties required population information from the APNR and Umbabat. Based on the information that was later supplied on enquiry, the hunt of one lion that was regarded as sustainable at 1,3 per cent of population, was approved on February 22 (provided that it took place within the legal framework that is in place).
According to Nkambule, the reasons for approval were based on the Constitution of South Africa: Section 24 (b), (iii).

Seeing that this is such an emotive and controversial issue, chairman of the Ingwelala Share Block (a share block within Umbabat) Kevin Alborough, notified all stakeholders on Wednesday that the hunt was underway in Umbabat.

In a meeting held on May 27, in the presence of Umbabat warden *Bryan Havemann, the process of applying and obtaining approval for species to be hunted each year and the correct protocols, was explained. Attendees were ensured that the leader of the Western Pride, named Skye, was not the target. An elderly male, that often encroached into the north-eastern region of Umbabat from the Kruger, was in the cross-hairs.

Whether or not this promise has been kept has not yet been confirmed. A recent report, that resulted in an outrage, stated that hunting a lion was expressly excluded by Kruger, but permission to hunt one was given anyway by the licensing authority, the MTPA.

To this, media specialist of SANParks, Isaac Phaahla, said they are not an authority that allows or gives permits for the hunting of animals, neither are they responsible for the monitoring of such activities, therefore it would be wrong of them to comment on the matter.
“The relevant authority that has overall responsibility is the MTPA. SANParks would like to urge those who have evidence of wrongdoing, to present evidence to the MTPA so that all those matters can be investigated,” he said.

“There are protocols and regulations that have to be followed by all reserves and areas open to the KNP, and this is guided by the policy framework on sustainable use or animal off takes for legal hunting,” he concluded.

[Richprins]

*Bryan Havemann began his career in the Kruger National Park as a researcher and field assistant, before being promoted to senior wilderness trails ranger and then senior section game ranger. Thereafter he was appointed as national director of conservation for WESSA. After four years with WESSA, Bryan joined African Parks and became the CEO of Akagera Management Company Ltd in Rwanda where he was responsible for the total management of the Akagera National Park.

The Timbavati Private Nature Reserve forms part of the larger Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR), comprising Timbavati, Klaserie and Umbabat Private Nature Reserves and Balule Nature Reserve. Collectively these reserves represent 180,000 hectares of land dedicated to conservation.

https://africageographic.com/blog/timba ... l-manager/


Havemann is very well-respected, and a Kruger pioneer. I'd take his opinions and actions very seriously.

[Lisbeth]

What a mess! As usual the right hand does not know what the left one is doing They do not even know if there are rules and what they are saying

The permit was obvious given in February, but when did the hunt take place? At the top of Flutterby's post is written "On Friday", but which Friday

[Flutterby]

Opinion post: Written by Simon Espley, CEO of Africa Geographic

A large male lion was trophy hunted on Thursday morning last week in the Greater Kruger National Park. We have confirmed by way of personal discussion with the warden of the area that the hunter is from the United States and that he paid in the region of R1-million to kill this wild lion. The hunter’s name is unknown at this stage. Wildlife activists claim that the lion was a pride male lion they call Skye, but this fact is yet to be confirmed.

The lion was killed in Umbabat Private Nature Reserve, which forms part of the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR), and falls within the Greater Kruger National Park. There are no fences between the private reserves and the Kruger National Park. Umbabat, in turn, is made up of many smaller private properties.

It’s highly likely that this tragic incident will justifiably trigger an emotional tsunami, with substantial consequences for Umbabat, neighbouring private game reserves and possibly even the entire Greater Kruger. At time of writing, there is already much speculation and finger pointing within Umbabat, APNR/Greater Kruger and amongst the broader public. Members of Umbabat are meeting today in Johannesburg to discuss the situation.

I tried to determine the facts as they currently stand, and can report as follows, after a lengthy telephone discussion this morning with Umbabat warden Bryan Havemann, and with representative of other affected parties. Havemann provided all documentation requested by me. Africa Geographic will keep you advised of further developments, as we become aware of them.

1. Was the hunt legal?

Havemann: Yes. The authority to hunt the lion was provided in a quota letter issued on 21 February 2018 by the relevant governing authority – Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency. The quota request by Mbabat was initially turned down, due to inadequate information being provided, but subsequently approved once the outstanding information was provided. Information published by wildlife activists this morning via a South African news platform was based on outdated information, and is not accurate.

2. Was the lion baited?

Havemann: Yes, the lion was baited. We baited the lion in order to make sure that we did not shoot lions that are prohibited in terms of the lion hunting protocol (see below).

3. How old was the lion?

Havemann: The lion met the requirements of the Greater Kruger lion hunting protocol of April 2018. These requirements are:

i) Older than 6 years;

ii) Reasonable steps taken to ensure that no pride males under 8 years old are selected;

iii) Consultation with lodges and landowners in the area;

iv) Males cannot be shot if in the presence of females;

v) No appearance of the recessive leucistic gene (‘white lions’).

4. Was the lion killed the lion referred to as ‘Skye’?

Havemann: I am unsure of the exact identity of the lion named ‘Skye’, as we do not name lions. We met with the local landowners and lodges during the run up to the hunt, as required by the lion hunting protocol, who provided photos of a male lion they have named ‘Skye’ (because he has a scar under his eye). We undertook to ensure that this named lion was not the target lion, and made sure that the Umbabat professional hunter was aware that this lion was out of bounds. A report by Umbabat chairman Lenny Willson described the lion killed by the hunter as follows: no facial scarring, age 8.5 to 9 years old, worn down and broken teeth, prominent spine, no appearance of ‘white lion’ gene, no other lions in the area before or after the hunt.

5. Why does Umbabat hunt lions and other species?

Havemann: We permit hunting in order to pay for ongoing reserve management and security costs. There is no profit in this, we try to cover costs. The landowners also pay levies, which provide the balance of the funds required to keep the private land available for the good of wildlife conservation. We only have one commercial lodge amongst our landowners, and so cannot reply on tourism as a major funder. We would be happy to stop trophy hunting if third parties would provide the necessary funding.

Final comment from Simon Espley, CEO of Africa Geographic

Humankind has surely evolved sufficiently to reject the fetish of a few wealthy people for killing iconic animals for fun. It is time to get rid of trophy hunting of these icons as a conservation funding mechanism where there are alternatives, and I am totally convinced that the intellectual and financial resource at Umbabat and other nearby private game reserves could solve this riddle if they applied their minds and thought outside of traditional methods. I know that many of the Umbabat owners already do feel this way.

If alternative solutions are not found, there is a real risk that the APNR will start breaking up, and that fences will come back up in places. The anger generated amongst the social media-empowered general public, driven by activists who value impact over fact, is a toxic cocktail that will drive change – regardless of the consequences.

This will be a journey for Umbabat, not an event. It’s time to start that journey.

[Richprins]

Thanks for some sanity and the words of Havemann here.


Humankind has surely evolved sufficiently to reject the fetish of a few wealthy people for killing iconic animals for fun.

Oh Dear. The Thought Police have arrived.

[Lisbeth]

Kruger Lions: Who really cares about conservation?

Letter to the Editor

By Peter Flack• 13 June 2018

A counterpoint to the argument put forward by Don Pinnock about culling of lions and other wild animals.

Kruger National Park is home to a growing population of 1,800 lions among a large array of other wildlife, according to parks spokespeople. In an article published in 2017 by Clara Wiggins, a park employee, Danie Pienaar, is quoted as saying:

“With a 1,800km boundary, Kruger’s fencing is never going to be foolproof (it can be broken and lions can slip through small holes), and there’s never going to be 24/7 surveillance, so animals will regularly wander. Sometimes they return of their own accord; sometimes they’re darted, captured and unceremoniously put back. Unfortunately, there are also habitual offenders who are eventually put down… but in most cases, no one is any wiser that the big cats ever strayed from their normal habitat.”

Later he added, “this probably happens at least 10 or 20 times a year,” although he believed the number was probably higher as not every incident was reported.

As an example, in 2017 three male lions escaped from the park, and killed and ate a cow. The farmer killed one lion and wounded another while park employees killed the wounded lion and the remaining one. According to the report, the spokesman for the park when questioned, replied:

“… the reason they had put down the third unharmed lion is because once they had eaten cattle they can develop a taste for this and their behaviour changes. The remaining lion will constantly try to get out of the park and come in contact with more and more humans…

“Additionally, if they put only the uninjured lion back in the park it is likely he will be attacked by the pride of lions or driven out by the dominant lions that are believed to have driven the three out in the first place. The lion population has increased and so there is pressure on lions.”

So, what can be deduced from these facts:

- The lion population in the park is healthy and growing;

- So much so that young male lions in particular are being forced out of prides and the park as they begin to show more than a passing interest in the pride male’s harem and some come into contact with local farmers bordering the park who, incidentally, are among the poorest in the country;

- These males are often hungry, not being able to share in the pride’s kills any longer and can, therefore, be dangerous;

- They are looking for a pride to take over and, if they are successful in killing or chasing away the pride male, they will kill the cubs to bring the females into oestrous to propagate their own line.

Turning to the highly emotional article, Outrage after Kruger lion baited and shot by trophy hunter in neighbouring reserve, by Don Pinnock on 11 June 2018, which appears to be nothing more than an attempt based on few, if any, facts to create another Cecil incident, let me make the following points:

- The language used in the article is not only highly emotional but vague and designed to stir outrage. The lion “may have been… named Skye”. Well, it equally may not have been but, even if it was, how does this affect the reality of the death of a single male lion out of 1,800 Kruger Park lions – less than .001% of the total population – which appear to be too many for the park anyway?

- “It is probable the lion was lured out of Kruger Park”. Based on what information? As we have seen, lions regularly leave the park and, in this particular case, the land – the Umbabat Private Nature Reserve of 18,000 hectares – on which it was found is effectively part of the park, being incorporated in Associated Private Nature Reserve (APNR) land (180,000 hectares in total). The APNR, including the Umbabat, has contractual links to Kruger and has always had its own complement of lions.

- The hunter is “believed to be an American”. Good guess as about 65% of all overseas hunters who visit this country and contribute nearly R2-billion annually to the economy, come from the States.

- The hunter is “estimated to have paid over R1-million to pull the trigger”. That amounts to some $80,000 which, all things being considered, is not that high. A legal, ethical, free range, fair chase lion hunt in Africa is the most expensive one on offer on the continent and has been known to set a hunter back almost double that amount and, as has been proven time and time again, hunting fees are the backbone of conservation in this and many other countries. The more people are prepared to pay to hunt an animal, the more land will be set aside to conserve them.

- Pinnock indignantly goes on to question why the APNR reserves on the unfenced western boundary of Kruger are permitted to hunt animals from one of Africa’s premier state-owned game reserves. I am sure he knows the answer just as well as many readers – the lions may well be the APNR’s “own” lions because the properties that make up the APNR were all well stocked with game, including the Big Five, long before they contractually became part of Kruger. Game flows freely between the APNR and Kruger.

- And oh my, oh my! Two little known animal rights organisations, with probably fewer than 50 paid-up members each, sent a “Cease and Desist warning” threatening legal action if the hunt went ahead. I am sure APNR were quaking in their boots when they received it, especially as it arrived after the hunt has been concluded.

- The entire article is speculative, not fact based and designed by the use of emotive language to try to provoke the kind of reaction that gave rise to the Cecil incident which, after careful investigation under the spotlight of the international media, was ultimately shown to be a perfectly legal hunt by the Zimbabwe government. The APNR is a highly respected body, most members of which fully understand the vital and irreplaceable role of hunting in conservation. Apart from anything else, in any given fenced area, no matter how large, the time will come when game numbers exceed the carrying capacity of the land and animals will have to be culled. Hunting saves Kruger and APNR from having to pay people to cull and, in fact, they receive payment and keep the meat from the hunters who do it for them.

-The Umbabat Private Nature Reserve where the hunt took place issued a detailed, factual, three-page statement on 12 June, which proves that every baseless accusation made by Pinnock and his fellow travellers was untrue. In addition, it stated that 65% of its revenue, nearly half of which was generated by hunting, goes to pay security costs necessary to counter the poaching epidemic from Mozambique, which has led to thousands of rhino and now elephant being poached.

It is abundantly clear from their consistently emotional writings, usually devoid of any scientifically established fact or anything approaching an alternative conservation solution to hunting, that Pinnock and his fellow travellers like Ian Michler do not give a fig for conservation in our country or anywhere else for that matter.

They want to stop the use of any animal, whether wild or tame, anywhere. They have just chosen wild ones because they are more emotive. But, if and when they stop hunting, which is seen as low hanging fruit by them, fishing will be next, then domestic livestock and so on.

If you support such claptrap, be careful what you wish for. One day you may get it and then I hope you will enjoy being a vegan. It will be compulsory! DM

[Richprins]

Excellent letter!