Hunting

[Lisbeth]

But that's one of the pleasures of hunting!

[Flutterby]

[RogerFraser]

Found it :

[Lisbeth]

They cannot prohibit it though

[Richprins]

They want the money but not the publicity!

[Lisbeth]

[Lisbeth]

Bribery in Namibia: Government forced community into silence

BY JANINE AVERY - 25 JULY 2018 - ETURBONEWS



Dogged by allegations of bribery and unethical operators, a dodgy permitting system, and the contentious hunting of so-called ‘problem animals’ – Namibia’s hunting community has now been forced into silence by its own government.

The country’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) has released a memorandum that prohibits the posting of hunted dead animals on social media. The memorandum calls the practice of taking pictures of hunters posing with trophies, not of hunting itself, “unethical”, raising concerns as to what exactly the Namibian government is trying to hide.

“To deprive a hunter of bragging rights will simply turn him elsewhere,” says Izak Smit of Desert Lions Human Relations Aid. “Instead the MET should ensure proper regulation and control of hunting… and cleanse the industry of unethical operators that target high value iconic rare species i.e. desert elephants and lions,” he explains.

Despite the Namibian Professional Hunting Association (NAPHA) publicly supporting the policy and calling on their members to do the same, the requirement has not gone down well with parties on either side. Pro-hunters have defended their right to market hunts on social media, saying that the statement bows down to anti-hunters while others say that this just allows the MET to conduct a barbaric slaughter of lions and wildlife in secrecy. According to NAPHA, “Namibia cannot afford any opposition to hunting.”

The memorandum specifically prohibits hunters with valid permits from posting or sending photographs on public platforms, by making this a permit condition However for now this memorandum appears unenforceable. “For now we believe that this is the right thing to do and we optimistic that hunters and safaris will adhere to this moral issue in the absence of a legal backing. We are counting on everyone’s good will,” says the MET.

The MET tried to pass a similar motion in 2017 which would enforce permit conditions that prohibited all marketing of trophy hunting on the internet. However, this was shot down by NAPHA as they said that “advertising is critical for such businesses”.

The memorandum comes on the back of a social media backlash following the recent killing of another desert-adapted lion by the MET, as well as a number of allegations that members of the ministry are personally pocketing funds from trophy hunting. The killing of the iconic lion, Gretzky, caused a widespread social media call to boycott Namibia as a tourism destination. “The skin and bones and claws also seem to have vanished into thin air even though the MET’ s own personnel dealt with it,” says Smith.

Read original article: https://www.eturbonews.com/228941/bribe ... to-silence

[Flutterby]

“To deprive a hunter of bragging rights will simply turn him elsewhere,”

This says a lot about trophy hunters!!

[Richprins]

as well as a number of allegations that members of the ministry are personally pocketing funds from trophy hunting.

[Lisbeth]

Kruger threatens to re-erect game fences over private reserves’ poor governance

BY LOUZEL LOMBARD STEYN - 14 AUGUST 2018 - SA BREAKING NEWS

A number of the private reserves in the Greater Kruger National Park appear to be violating the protocols and regulations that permitted them to drop fences with Kruger and hunt animals that cross over from the national park. As a result, Kruger is threatening to re-erect the fence.

One of the reserves, Umbabat, has been flagged by Kruger officials for its questionable commitment to local community involvement and empowerment and its contribution to community development programmes, as required by the 2018 Greater KNP Hunting Protocol.

It states that “Professional (commercial) hunting is conducted in these areas [the APNR]with the goals of providing the income to contribute to the management of the environment and to support social initiatives of community development as per Reserve specific programmes.”

At Umbabat Private Nature Reserve, however, hunting continues, undeterred by allegations of illegal hunting practices, poor governance and no trace of conservation or community involvement.

Support for local communities as central to trophy hunting is a stated requirement of the large US Safari Club International. It requires that hunting should “generate necessary revenue for conservation, contribute to national economies and local communities, and create employment opportunities in rural areas”.

SANParks notes on the Umbabat 2018 take-off requirement that it’s unclear how the income generated by commercial hunting in the reserve is managed and that it’s “also not clear towards which conservation, management and socio-economic activities the revenue generated is being directed.”

In Timbavati, hunting continues despite “non-compliance with regards to certain trophy hunting classes and reporting, as per Protocol requirements”.

In recent hunts, two elephants shot on Timbavati exceeded the maximum tusk weight allowed. The reserve also failed to submit the ages of 11 previously-hunted elephants, as required by the Hunting Protocol, apparently “due to rodents eating the tags attached to the jaw bones”.

Two lions were also hunted on the reserve without notifying Kruger rangers, as required.

At the recent 2018 African Ranger Awards, Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa reiterated SANParks’ mission of ‘A sustainable National Parks System, Connecting Society’, stating that South Africa’s “natural capital is not just a thing of beauty, but a driver of socio-economic development [with the]objective to give communities across the continent a real, tangible stake in wildlife management”.

This sentiment is clearly not happening as required by some of Kruger’s neighbours.

Zero governance, zero consequence

SANParks requires that “it is the responsibility of the issuing authority to monitor compliance with all regulations and legislative requirements”.

According to Mpumalanga Tourism and Park Agency (MTPA) senior communications manager Kholofelo Nkambule, the APNRs’ commitment to conservation and community development doesn’t affect how and if hunting permits are issued. He insists “it is not a specific requirement in terms of the relevant legislation”.

Nkambule says the Hunting Protocols “are from SANParks, not the MTPA” and therefore not binding on how hunting is conducted under their jurisdiction.

Despite a clear mandate to oversee APNR compliance with the protocols, SANParks seems unwilling to police transgressions, citing the permit-issuing authorities LEDET (Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism Limpopo) and MTPA as the regulators of APNRs’ hunting practices.

SANParks insist that its only power is to ‘recommend’ best practice. “We have no authority, but there are protocols and guiding principles in place with the APNRs since the dropping of the fence,” says SANParks’ Ike Phaahla.

The APNR organisation also apparently avoids enforcing the Hunting Protocol. According to outgoing chair Rob Garmany, “APNR is not an authority and cannot comment, act or purport to represent any of its members.” He says the APNR committee is a merely a voluntary association.

According to Phaala, “If any protocols have been broken and there is evidential proof, MTPA and LEDET are obligated to investigate and make their findings public.”

MTPA, however, has not been very forthcoming with information on their hunting regulations, as seen with the probable killing of Skye. It took an investigative journalist Don Pinnock, via a secret source, to reveal Graham Sales as the outfitter accompanying American hunter Jared Whitworth on the hunt, with permission from the MTPA’s head of professional hunting Riaan de Lange. Permission to view the skin to see if they had shot the ‘wrong’ lion has been consistently denied by De Lange.

It’s clear that Sales and the MTPA have a close relationship. Sales’ most recent hunting brochure boasts; “Graham Sales Safaris is proud to announce that we have been awarded the exclusive hunting rights by MTPA for 2018, 2019 and 2020 on South Africa’s largest Provincial Nature Reserves. No hunting occurred on both Reserves for a period of 6 years – 2011 till 2016.”

Notable on this hunting brochure is the advertisement for a male leopard hunt, despite the ongoing national moratorium on leopard hunting in SA.

The continual permitting offences are clearly putting pressure on SANParks. When probed on the recent Kruger lion hunt, KNP managing executive Glenn Phillips said that “If Umbabat doesn’t sort out their governance issues, KNP will re-erect the fence.”

Read original article: https://www.sabreakingnews.co.za/2018/0 ... overnance/