by Sprocket » Wed Aug 16, 2017 1:36 pm
An African take on this issue. From an African.
This whole issue is a very complex and complicated problem to solve. The system of "game-farms" that are in place is not perfect, but is the best one yet.
Believe it or not, but the biggest threat to wildlife in Africa are actually the "local" people.
You try and convince the local farmer and community of the virtues of Elephants, Hippos, Buffalo etc, after a whole years crop has been destroyed the night before, with all the fences flattened.
Immediate reaction here is to search out the offending herds, hunt them down and kill them.
Also, shop the animal's where-about's to the poachers, and at least get a back-hand out of it.
The ONLY "workable"solution to this problem is for the local people and communities to ALSO benefit, and benefit well, from these free roaming animals.
This is by and large achieved with the system of "game-farms" and "game reserves".
Game farms allow "trophy" hunting, on a balanced and sustainable quota system, normally set by local government.
It is not cheap. A permit for one bull elephant can easily be around £50,000.00.
In African terms that is a lot of money. There is, for instance, a new school for the community, right there.
With the incomes generated by these game farms, the animals have become "ours", and a benefit to all.
Without this sense of ownership, it will all be a lost cause.
(Smaller game. like buck, are much cheaper. Yet most hunters do NOT take all of the meat with them, which is then distributed amongst the locals.)
Then also the other stuff like employment, direct and indirect, like farm staff and workers, vets etc.
Perfect system? Not by a long shot, but better than no system at all.
So does it put food on the plate? Yes it does.
Does a hunter just nilly-willy walk into the veld and shoot himself an elephant? Absolutely not.
So yes. I for one will not be taking any glee in the death of a paying customer.
Jan (Not Dorothy)