South African hunters to shoot 2000 Zambian hippos

Information and Discussions on Hunting
User avatar
RogerFraser
Site Admin
Posts: 6000
Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:36 pm
Country: South Africa
Location: Durban
Contact:

South African hunters to shoot 2000 Zambian hippos

Post by RogerFraser »

https://www.iol.co.za/mercury/south-afr ... s-15251259

South African hunters will take part in the slaughter of 2 000 hippos in the pristine Luangwa Valley in Zambia next month.

This follows a shock move by the Zambian government, which overturned a 2016 decision to suspend the supposed cull.

The killing, marketed by a South African hunting outfitter, is being labelled barbaric by conservationists.

Any involvement from local hunters will add to already considerable reputational damage on an international front.
Two South African hunting associations that embrace canned lion hunting – the Professional Hunters’ Association of South Africa (PHASA) and Confederation of Hunting Associations of South Africa (CHASA) – recently lost an appeal to retain their membership to Europe's top hunting organisation and were thrown out of the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) for breach of policy.

In the United States, a South African trophy hunting outfitter, Hanno van Rensburg, was charged with leading and participating in the illegal hunt of an African elephant in Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou National Park.

His client, Paul Ross Jackson, a former vice president of Dallas Safari Club, pleaded guilty and was fined $25 000 for violating the Endangered Species Act in connection with the same hunt.

No scientific basis for the hippo hunt

Born Free Foundation, which led efforts to stop the slaughter back in 2016, is calling for the authorities to urgently re-consider the cull.

According to its President, Will Travers, "they are, apparently, using the same flawed rational for the slaughter as last time – a preventative measure to avoid a future outbreak of anthrax, combined with an assertion that low rainfall will exacerbate the situation. They also appear not to have informed key stakeholders in the Luangwa Valley, including the Luangwa Safari Association and the District Commissioner."

The hunt or "cull"

According to Born Free, Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife has failed to provide evidence demonstrating that there is overpopulation.

It says no information has been provided to show that river levels and water flow in the Luangwa River are abnormally low and that there is no scientific evidence to show that a hippo cull would prevent an outbreak of anthrax.

According to a post on africahunting.com, Umlilo Safaris is offering five hippos per hunter.

The hunts will run from June until the end of October and are due to continue until 2022. According to Umlilo, "The count that we were given was that in a stretch of 250km, over 16 000 hippo were counted. If you have been there in the dry season, it does not take a lot of research to tell you that the system is overpopulated."

"Culling of wildlife is not an option. It is a primitive wildlife conservation strategy," Zambian Green Party President Peter Sinkamba told Lusaka Times.

"What is more appalling is that the Luangwa Valley is not overpopulated as they claim. The hippo population in that conservation area has dwindled by about 14-20% in the last 20 years, motivated by mainly poor conservation policies, strategies and allocation of financial and human resources. The culling policy is motivated by pure greed."

Hippos are listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List, with an estimated population of just 115-130 000 animals.

Population declines continue to be reported in many countries. As efforts increase to end the trade in elephant ivory, hippos are increasingly being targeted for their teeth


User avatar
Richprins
Committee Member
Posts: 75833
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 3:52 pm
Location: NELSPRUIT
Contact:

Re: South African hunters to shoot 2000 Zambian hippos

Post by Richprins »

But nobody complains when SANParks continue to kill hundreds of hippos to feed humans? :-?


Please check Needs Attention pre-booking: https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=322&t=596
User avatar
Dzombo
Posts: 2274
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2012 1:18 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: South African hunters to shoot 2000 Zambian hippos

Post by Dzombo »

Richprins wrote: Tue Jun 05, 2018 9:03 am But nobody complains when SANParks continue to kill hundreds of hippos to feed humans? :-?
Is this ongoing?
I thought it was a one off in 2016 due to the drought?


User avatar
Richprins
Committee Member
Posts: 75833
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 3:52 pm
Location: NELSPRUIT
Contact:

Re: South African hunters to shoot 2000 Zambian hippos

Post by Richprins »

The last we heard, March 2017:

Mr Freek Venter, general manager of the KNP’s conservation services, said they will continue to provide meat gifts from wild animals culled in the park and processed in the park’s abattoir to communities surrounding it.

He said only half of the 400 buffaloes and 200 hippos approved to be culled due to the drought by SANParks’ Wildlife Management Committee have been shot.



https://www.africawild-forum.com/viewto ... &start=190


Please check Needs Attention pre-booking: https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=322&t=596
User avatar
Lisbeth
Site Admin
Posts: 67235
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:31 pm
Country: Switzerland
Location: Lugano
Contact:

Re: South African hunters to shoot 2000 Zambian hippos

Post by Lisbeth »

"Hundreds" is not exactly the same as two thousand.

Who wants to hunt a hippo anyway -O- ........if they do no do it during the night O**


"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela
The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
stefan9
Posts: 379
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2016 10:08 pm
Country: SA
Contact:

Re: South African hunters to shoot 2000 Zambian hippos

Post by stefan9 »

Absolutely dreadful, both the zambian and knp issues. :evil:


User avatar
Lisbeth
Site Admin
Posts: 67235
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:31 pm
Country: Switzerland
Location: Lugano
Contact:

Re: South African hunters to shoot 2000 Zambian hippos

Post by Lisbeth »

Suspicious tender at heart of Zambian hippo culling scandal

BY LOUZEL LOMBARD STEYN - 12 JULY 2018 - ETURBONEWS -

Image

The proposed hippo culling spree in Zambia’s world-renowned Luangwa Valley has a dodgy tender process at its core and appears to be an attempt by Zambian Government to cover up a contract-gone-wrong.

This is according to a source close to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), saying the Department was sued by Mabwe Adventures Limited, the hunting company contracted to execute the cull. A recent court ruling in the Mabwe’s favour fueled the Department’s sudden backtracking on its 2016 anti-cull decision in order to avoid paying compensation, the source says.

Zambian Minister of Tourism and Arts Charles Banda confirmed that a contract entered into with Mabwe Adventures in 2015 was still valid, even though operations of the then Zambian Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) were taken over by the DNPW under the Ministry of Tourism and Arts.

Flawed from the offset

The contract was awarded to Mabwe under suspicious circumstances. Zambia’s 2017 Parastatal Report notes not only an irregularity with the Mabwe tender, but also confirms that a sum of 81 108 Zambian Kwacha (around R110 000) was paid to ZAWA by Mabwe.

The report instructed ZAWA, now the DNPW, “to desist from willfully disregarding Government procedures [and]to submit the report of the hippo culling exercise indicating the number of hippos culled as well as the supporting documentation showing the amounts paid to ZAWA for audit verification, after which the matter is recommended for closure.”

The local Luangwa Safari Association (LSA) also raised concern over the suspicious tender in a letter directed to the Ministry of Tourism and Arts last year, saying local safari authorities and associations weren’t “aware of any public Tender Advertisement for culling of hippos”.

According to the DNPW source, local wildlife authorities within the Luangwa region are still working to void the culling contract for not following the legal channels, and for not considering any scientific of conservation management research.

Contradiction of area-specific scientific data

The decision to cull will effectively allow South African trophy hunters into the world famous Luangwa Valley to hunt at least 1250 animals – 250 hippos annually for the next five years until 2022.

According to Banda, the “reason for [the]culling of hippos is to control the hippo population on the Luangwa River so as to maintain a suitable habitat for other aquatic species and wildlife in general.” An outbreak of anthrax, combined with low rainfall, also contributed to the DNPW’s decision to cull.

Scientists including those from Zambia’s own Wildlife Authority disagree.

A paper published in the International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation in 2013 by Dr Chansa Chomba, who headed up the Department of Research, Planning, Information and Veterinary Services for ZAWA at the time, concluded that culls are ineffective in controlling hippo populations. In fact, the research found that culling rather stimulated the population growth in Luangwa.

“The act of culling removes excess males and frees resources for the remaining female individuals, leading to increased births […] rather than suppressing population growth rate”, the scientific and peer-reviewed research states.

The claim of an ‘anthrax threat’ also falls short. Local conservation groups say “there is little evidence that culling will have any effect on a seasonal resurgence of anthrax. In a year when rainfall levels and vegetation growth have been normal, there is no proof that a cull of healthy animals would prevent any future anthrax outbreaks.”

Against concession agreements and tourism

Hunting authorities in the region are concerned, saying the “so-called cull is in direct contrast with all safari hunting concessions along the Luangwa Valley.” According to the Safari Hunting Concession agreement, stakeholders are not legally allowed to invite external parties into their territories for commercial hunting.

Mabwe Adventures founder and owner Leon Joubert states, however, that the hunting of the hippo would effectively be taking place in the river, which isn’t within the boundaries of the National Park or hunting concessions. He states that “if the National Parks want to hunt in the National Park, they can hunt in the river.”

The precedent set by this mass-slaughter in a supposedly protected National Park will blur the boundaries of conservation efforts in the National Parks of not only Zambia, but the rest of Africa. “The negative consequences for thousands of hippo and Zambia’s reputation as a wildlife tourism destination cannot be underestimated,” Born Free warns.

Marcel Arzner, a frequent and long-term photographic safari client who has spent thousands over the past three years on trips to the region, cancelled his upcoming visit due to the cull. “My cancelation for the next trip will be followed by many others. The negative impact on Zambia’s tourism industry will be disastrous”.

Hippos are currently listed as “Vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

Money motivation

Umlilo Safaris, a South African hunting company, is currently advertising the hunt to clients on behalf of Mabwe Adventures, Joubert confirms. The company boasts how clients can shoot five hippos per trip and keep the animals’ tusks. Each hunter will be charged up to $14 000 for five hippos, according to their Facebook site.

Banda and the Zambian Tourism Ministry has provided no adequate justification for the cull, spuriously condemning conservation NGO’s for not opposing the actions during a previous hunting spree from 2011 to 2016.

Read original article: https://www.eturbonews.com/227854/suspi ... ng-scandal


"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela
The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
User avatar
Richprins
Committee Member
Posts: 75833
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 3:52 pm
Location: NELSPRUIT
Contact:

Re: South African hunters to shoot 2000 Zambian hippos

Post by Richprins »

Yup, the corruption sounds about right... O**

On the other hand, this will create a massive amount of foreign revenue, desperately needed, rather than Zambia govt. just killing the animals themselves?


Please check Needs Attention pre-booking: https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=322&t=596
User avatar
Lisbeth
Site Admin
Posts: 67235
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:31 pm
Country: Switzerland
Location: Lugano
Contact:

Re: South African hunters to shoot 2000 Zambian hippos

Post by Lisbeth »

The South African Rand is not exactly a strong currency O**


"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela
The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
User avatar
Richprins
Committee Member
Posts: 75833
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 3:52 pm
Location: NELSPRUIT
Contact:

Re: South African hunters to shoot 2000 Zambian hippos

Post by Richprins »

I'm sure most of the hunters will be foreigners. :yes:


Please check Needs Attention pre-booking: https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=322&t=596
Post Reply

Return to “Hunting”