Trophy Hunting

Hunting versus photographic safaris is not a simple binary choice. Most of the latter are "tourist" experiences in honeypot areas, and produce good income where appropriate. High end "trophy" hunting can bring more money per capita than many photo tourists.
Hunting (all varieties) funds and justifies the protection and rewilding of vast areas where the land is unforgiving and the game is sparse. Areas which are not suitable for fleets of landcruisers full of softies, (to be a little bit unfair).

The comments about fenced areas do show some misunderstanding of the scale in Africa. Even in the apparently well-settled areas the size of holdings is colossal - far bigger than a typical highland estate.

By the way, I think this is a debate worth having but nihilism such as that from NDS brings nothing to the table in this case.
 
Following the battle in Parliament over the Wildlife and Countryside Act, WAGBI became the de facto group supporting all shooting. Membership expanded and there was much pressure to officially broaden its remit and become "The Shooting Association" or similar.
At the 1981 AGM there was a proposal from the management for the name to be The Shooting Association (for Conservation and Shooting in the Field).
The meeting thought this was a pretty clunky title and after a while the then chair, David Lloyd Owen, proposed the present title which was carried by 85 votes to 17.
So it might have been early greenwashing or more likely the exasperated suggestion of DLO. He had commanded the Long Range Desert Group and was a fairly forceful character.
 
I was astonished to see an editorial comment and two well-informed articles, over a double page spread, in today's Daily Mail supporting well regulated trophy hunting and arguing against the bill.
 
I was astonished to see an editorial comment and two well-informed articles, over a double page spread, in today's Daily Mail supporting well regulated trophy hunting and arguing against the bill.

Could you post this at all - not sure if i will be able to have time to get a copy and im sure others will find it very interesting too
 
You can find links on Amy Dickman twitter, Prof Adam Hart twitter etc. The latter has a book on the way about trophy hunting co-authored with Nicolaj Bichel based on Bichel's Ph.D work.
 
We’ll have to agree to differ on this one I’m afraid Tim, as to me “sustainable use conservation” sounds like it could equally be describing a new type of domestic heating fuel or the latest in eco washing powders. ;)

By the time I’d described what it means in this context I’d fully expect someone in the audience to pipe up “so it’s about shooting animals then?”
It's not difficult to describe:
"A wildlife conservation project that is self-funded through sustainable use of the natural resources of that area".
A slightly more palatable way of saying "if it pays it stays", using the type of soundbites that everyone is comfortable with.
I cannot take any credit for coining the phrase though. I picked it up from the work of a researcher who was studying the declining population of some kind of goat-like animal in an outlandish part of the world. The animal had been brought to the brink of extinction by local hunters, who killed them for meat and to reduce conflict with domestic livestock, despite the fact that they were strictly protected and hunting was forbidden. Increasing livestock numbers were also leading to loss of the animal's habitat.
The concept of "sustainable use conservation" was introduced, which allowed a limited amount of regulated hunting by paying clients, with the money going back to the local community. All of a sudden, the locals became fiercely protective of the animals, poaching stopped, livestock numbers were reduced and habitat was restored. Thus the population of the wild goats rapidly increased as a direct result of allowing hunting.
I think that there was an interview with the chap on one of the fieldsports channel episodes a few years back.
 
££££££££££££s...........££££££££££££££s................££££££££££££££££s.
I think I'll stick to shooting foxes if I can't find the right bit of woodland.
 
The goat referred to by VSS is the Markhor (Capra falconeri), wide spread - in fact there are several subspecies - but threatened in the Himalayas and contiguous mountains.
 
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Here's the editorial comment in today's Daily Mail (continues through unrelated pics):

Hunting trade-off

For most of us, there is something profoundly distasteful about seeing a grinning trophy-hunter posing for pictures with a lion or elephant he or she has just killed. Usually rich and often kitted out in naff designer safari suits, they compare very badly with the noble beasts they slaughter for pleasure.

But those whose job it is to preserve big game animals in their natural habitat see these hobby hunters in a very different light. Paying tens of thousands of pounds for their few days of 'sport', they provide a vital financial lifeline for conservation.

Their money is used to fund anti-poaching patrols and to educate rural communities on the importance of protecting wild animals. Furthermore, the animals killed are part of a carefully monitored annual cull to manage numbers and maintain the good health of the wider stock.

So representatives of four African countries have now written to UK Development minister Andrew Mitchell urging him to reconsider a new Bill which would ban the import of hunting trophies.

It would be a tragedy if, through sentimentality and muddled thinking, they were to cause lasting harm to the very animals they want to save

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It would be a tragedy if, through sentimentality and muddled thinking, they were to cause lasting harm to the very animals they want to save
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The intention may be good, but telling Africans what to do with their wildlife is not only ignorant but also a form of neo-colonialism, they say.

Supporters of this Bill should put emotion aside and heed this plea from people who really know what they are talking about.

It would be a tragedy if, through sentimentality and muddled thinking, they were to cause lasting harm to the very animals they want to save.
 
Just another example of ignorant politicians seeking attention

Taking a ‘moral’ position and fitting pseudo science to fit their argument

Despite being told by a conservation expert from Oxford University with both time in the bush and experience on the ground, that just about all his ‘facts’ are false, he’d rather push his own agenda
 
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