Sports Tourism
Botswana bans all hunting
(eTN) - Botswana government is set to ban hunting throughout the country following a recent report by Dr. Mike Chase, Elephants without Borders, which shows that some wildlife species have decreased by as much as 90% during the past 10 years. The decrease is due to hunting, poaching, and bushfires.
The Botswana government will promote photographic safaris only. Botswana does very well with its high-end photographic safaris which are world-renowned. The change in legislation will also affect Batswana hunters who are used to having their quota. However, in the interest of their wildlife, the government feels that they have no alternative but to ban all hunting.
The report shows that ostrich have declined by 95%, wildebeest by 90%, 84% of tsessebe, 81% of warthogs and kudu, and around 60% of giraffe. This is since 1996.
Botswana has much stricter policing of their wildlife than some countries. They are also willing to undertake aerial surveys and publish the results. The figures above are extremely frightening for our world when many African countries take no surveys of their wildlife populations and even if they did are not likely to publish them.
Comments
I truly hope this article is rumor and after more deliberation or discussion that facts on wildlife will win out. There is ample and overwhelming evidence that where there is hunting the funds and people on the ground in those areas protect the wildlife. When Zambia banned hunting several years back I have video that goes over 30 minutes, going up the Zambezi river with Zambia on one side and safari areas in Zimbabwe on the other. The Safari areas had loads of wildlife coming down to the river to drink - elephant, waterbuck, kudu, baboon, etc. In the full 30 minutes not a single animal was spotted on the Zambia side. They had all been killed off by poachers and snares.
This incident shows why supporting the youth of Africa is so important - the ones that will be the government in the next generation. The Rifa Camp in Zimbabwe is run by the Hunters Association and they teach biology, wildlife, and how hunting protects wildlife. This is for grammar school age children. I have supported that project for over 10 years. Hunters should be doing more of that if they want to have educated governments in Africa and around the world making wildlife decisions in the future.
Someone needs to inform the rest of the world that Botswana's wildlife is all but extinct (according to this article anyway). According to this article http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2011/07/18/37680/the+luxury+game+... Botswana has some of the most plentiful game in Africa. I agree!
Apparently this man took his surveys in downtown Gaborone. It sounds as if he has overstated his statistics to either justify his position, or to justify his job. These kinds of surveys always seem to be slanted toward promoting the surveyors cause. I can understand decreasing quotas for public land hunting, or getting tougher on poachers. But game farms of Botswana are thriving and the animal population is increasing on them. To put them out of business would be unfair after they have worked so hard to build their businesses and comply with regulations. It would also put a lot of people out of work in a difficult economic environment. Maybe a second opinion is needed and more public debate.
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