Zimbabwe’s hunting industry fears for future
Aftermath of Cecil’s death leaves sector concerned about losing much-needed revenue
HARARE, ZIMBABWE— First there was the case of Cecil the lion. Then an elephant killed by another trophy hunter sparked new international outrage. And reports keep emerging of poachers poisoning dozens of elephants with cyanide.
As one scandal after another hits Zimbabwe’s wildlife industry, the sector is concerned about its future.
“It is essential that we protect trophy hunting,” said Louis Muller, chairman of the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association.
Critics of the industry want to ban trophy hunting, but Muller and others working in it argue that it brings much-needed revenue to the impoverished southern African country, benefits local people and keeps wild areas wild.
Zimbabwe’s wildlife industry comprises ecotourism, which generates more than $200 million (U.S.) annually, and trophy hunting, which brings in $20 million, according to the conservation group Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.
The spotlight has been on trophy hunting after American hunter Wal- ter Palmer killed the GPS-collared lion Cecil in July near Hwange, Zimbabwe’s largest national park. He reportedly paid $50,000 for the hunt.
Government quotas allow for a cer- tain number of hunting permits for different species, including about 500 for elephants and several dozen for lions annually. The hunting industry argues that Zimbabwe’s herd of about 80,000 elephants is too large and that hunting lions, estimated to number up to1,600, helps to preserve the big cats by keeping hunting areas for hunting and preventing human encroachment.
Hunting collared lions is legal, but Palmer’s guide and the owner of the hunting ground are facing trial on charges of not having had permission to organize the hunt.
Another safari operator is also facing trial for an allegedly illegal lion hunt by another U.S. citizen.
“Many trophy hunters operate without permits,” Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force chairman Johnny Rodrigues said.
“There are some rogue outfitters out there,” Muller admitted, but he said such cases were exceptions.
Legislation requires rangers to accompany hunters on land controlled by the wildlife authority or on communal land while a private landowner “in most cases will send a ranger employed by him,” Muller said.
The killing of a large elephant by a German hunter that made headlines in October was legal, the wildlife authority has said, but many Western campaigners demand a ban on the entire practice, arguing that killing animals for trophies is immoral.
The hunting industry benefits 800,000 people living in communities allowing hunts on their land, who get income from the fees paid by operators and hunters, Muller countered. He did, however, pledge that the hunting industry would increase “self-regulation” to prevent illegal hunts.