African Indaba Articles - wildlife-baldus.com

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Trophy Hunting: The Professional Hunter’s DilemmaBy Stewart Dorrington, President, and Peter Butland, President-Elect of the Professional Hunters'Association of South Africa (PHASA)The HunterThe hunter’s desire for a trophy, a memento of the hunt, a reminder of the sweet and the bitter of pasthunts, is as old as mankind itself. From the rock art of ancient man, adorning the walls of his cave, to theheads and horns lining the walls of the modern trophy room, trophies have served to give immortality to thehunted animal.For some, a photograph will suffice, a private reminder of a personal experience, or a small item, useddaily, made from the hide or horn of a fondly remembered animal. A bag of biltong, personally made andslowly savored by the hunter, piece by piece through the long hunting off-season, while not conventionallyseen as a trophy, is certainly a memento of the hunt.For others, the animal lives on through the art of the taxidermist, to be enjoyed by the hunter and sharedwith those back home, those who do not have the privilege of visiting far places and seeing at first hand theliving wonders of the natural world. Such hunters will remember for each trophy, each stalk, each shot andeach follow up. Eyes will light up in the retelling and the sharing of each tale.For others still, there are systems in place whereby they plan their hunting lives, working their waythrough lists of species and sub-species, recording their progress and earning credits as they do so, andsetting goals for the future.And for yet others, the trophy is no longer a memento of the hunt. It has become an end in itself. It hasbecome tangible evidence of of an achievement. It is part of the constant challenge thrown out from man toman to compete, to measure one against the other, to achieve perceived success and to demonstratedominance.Cultural background has an inevitable influence on the hunter’s trophy expectations and his huntingmotivations.“Is it old?” may be a question to pass some hunters’ lips. Worn down tips, thick, gnarled bases or bosses,cracked and green with fighting and rubbing are the attributes of a mature animal, which is approaching thenatural end of its life cycle.Broken or malformed horns are fine. “That is nature,” the hunter will say.“Is it bigger than Karl’s?” may be the first concern of others. As Pop said to Hemingway, “It’s impossiblenot to be competitive. Spoils everything, though.”Husbands and wives, friends and brothers have all had relationships strained and hunts soured by theinsidious competitive spirit of man being allowed to intrude on the hunt to the exclusion of appreciation of themulti-facetted wonders which make up a holistic hunting experience.The Professional HunterThe professional hunter will in time face a wide spectrum of these desires.It is not for him to be judgmental about the motivations of his hunting clients. They are products of theirupbringing, of their cultures, of the world in which they live and of the pressures under which they are placed,or place themselves. And were it not for them in their totality, with all their good and all their bad, with all theirstrengths and all their weaknesses, he would not be a professional hunter. There would be no huntingprofession.It is the professional hunter’s job to do his very best to meet his clients’ expectations. He must empathizewith his clients, seek to understand their cultural backgrounds and meet their reasonable expectations. Hemust meet his clients’ material needs and see to their safekeeping. He must try to open their eyes to thebeauties of the natural world, sharing with the client his knowledge and understanding of that world. He must132
guide them in the hunt as best he possibly can, in accordance with his, the professional hunters, valuesystem.The DilemmaAnd this is where the professional hunter’s dilemma arises. What should be the guiding principles uponwhich his value system is based?Great strides have been made in nature conservation in Southern Africa in recent decades. Scientific,social and economic principles have been applied to the benefit of wild life and the environment. Increasingwildlife numbers have been widely, but not universally, matched by improved trophy quality. Successes inhabitat restoration, the rebirth of biodiversity in previously devastated areas and the reintroduction andconservation of wildlife should be honored and respected by every professional hunter. That respect shouldunderpin his value system.A genuine, informed and applied concern for the well being of the wildlife in his hunting area will,therefore, be a good starting point. Over time it will make a difference. It will make a difference to wildlife, theenvironment, to the clients’ respect for him as a person and for the profession in which he operates. Butdoes the professional hunter have the luxury of time?A soundly based ethical code of hunting is an essential further element of the professional hunter’s valuesystem. But does he have the strength of character to impose it on a strong willed client with his own,perhaps very different, hunting ethic and ambition?In their heart of hearts, most professional hunters know what it is that should form the basis of their valuesystems. But the pressures of the modern world intrude on all aspects of life. The influence of thesepressures in the hunting field can and does lead to corruption. Competition among peers and the desire tosee their names in the record book are real temptations to professional hunters too.There is widespread concern that in many parts of the world the record books are compromising much ofwhat hunting is all about. African hunting – with its wide variety of species – is particularly affected. Therecord books and award programs have turned an individualistic pastime into an occasionally fiercecompetition. Fair chase, hunting traditions and sound conservation principles often fall by the wayside.Far too many visiting hunters have only limited time available and yet they want to hunt a long “shoppinglist of trophy animals”. And many hunters want record trophies – in the “top ten”, wherever possible. Theseexpectations are simply unrealistic, but they put the professional hunter under extreme pressure. Importantlytoo, it’s the professional hunter’s reputation, which is at stake. What does he do, if the visiting hunter'sobjectives are nothing short of high scoring record trophies and if the client insists on unfair chase methodsto achieve his goals? If he disregards the client’s wishes, an unfavorable hunt report may be the result. Andunfavorable news travel fast in the hunting world. Is it reasonable to expect a professional hunter or outfitterto put his business success at stake?For an outfitter and professional hunter, the economic dilemma is augmented by the enormous marketpower vested into the record books by international hunting associations. Professional hunting associationsand individual professional hunters have been critical of the present recording and award procedures and itssystem-immanent abuses. Unfortunately, the hunting associations have not to date addressed the issues onan internationally coordinated, industry wide basis.There is only one way to change this situation – hunting associations must look for a solution whichadequately considers the interests of all, and importantly also those of biodiversity conservation. Sustainabletrophy hunting requires that game populations be managed according to biological principles – and not thosedictated by the figures of a scoring system. Killing a high scoring, yet immature buffalo bull has seriousimplications on sustainability. This applies not only to buffalo, but to all game in general.Last but not least a word about hunting ethics. It is generally said that ethics are valid in the eye of thebeholder only. What is ethically acceptable hunting practice in one culture or on one continent maybe unethical in another. But let us not forget that hunting ethics are the result of thousands of years ofhunting traditions – they change and evolve with the times, but one thing is for sure, their origin and purposeis in one key factor called sustainability.133
Page 1:
Dedicated to the People and the Wil
Page 4 and 5:
Hunting in South Africa: Facts - Ri
Page 6 and 7:
Warthog $600 $80 $299 $300 $114 n/a
Page 11 and 12:
a) Trophy fees for overseas hunters
Page 13 and 14:
Bailey (1993) 16 estimates leopard
Page 15 and 16:
and adequate training programs with
Page 18 and 19:
Clearly, 30.5 million Rand addition
Page 20 and 21:
• Use of appropriate hunting prot
Page 22 and 23:
for the triple bottom line approach
Page 24 and 25:
Apart from existing and proposed na
Page 26 and 27:
a result of these concerted actions
Page 28 and 29:
countries to cooperate across borde
Page 30 and 31:
years there have been three differe
Page 32 and 33:
The interference does not only affe
Page 34 and 35:
http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/susg
Page 36 and 37:
Hunting for Conservation in Cameroo
Page 38 and 39:
Tourist Hunting: How Tanzania Can B
Page 40 and 41:
• The leading role that sport hun
Page 42 and 43:
hunters, organizers and entertainer
Page 44 and 45:
Although commercial trophy hunting
Page 46 and 47:
We note that Packer’s proposal fo
Page 48 and 49:
ecruit safari operators with a long
Page 50 and 51:
corruption in the province. Once ag
Page 52 and 53:
grass so the available browse (bush
Page 54 and 55:
wildlife on their own," said Dr. Ko
Page 56 and 57:
Tanzania Development Partners Group
Page 58 and 59:
quality and age of key species bein
Page 60 and 61:
As mentioned earlier, the first ste
Page 62 and 63:
The characteristics of hunting tour
Page 64 and 65:
from the use of a species can provi
Page 66 and 67:
eplaced by holistic triple-bottom-l
Page 68 and 69:
What Do You Know About Conservation
Page 70 and 71:
conservation based on international
Page 72 and 73:
is exceeded game populations have t
Page 74 and 75:
Until 1960 wildlife was in serious
Page 76 and 77:
The aim must be to halt and root ou
Page 78 and 79:
• Incentives are offered as a rew
Page 80:
similar instruments. Such capital i
Page 83 and 84: The authorsDr. Graham Child was the
Page 85 and 86: Hunting Benefits BiodiversityRolf B
Page 87 and 88: finds a much larger male. Since he
Page 89 and 90: The “Fortress Mentality” of col
Page 91 and 92: Hunting is a controversial topic, o
Page 93 and 94: are considered to compete for poten
Page 95 and 96: Bwabwata National ParkThe Bwabwata
Page 97 and 98: The visiting hunters will be accomm
Page 99 and 100: Not many members of the South Afric
Page 101 and 102: Symposium, SSC Chair Holly Dublin s
Page 103 and 104: tourist hunting was prepared yet wa
Page 105 and 106: Why SCP?The Tanzanian Government fi
Page 107 and 108: Government Made CBC a Cornerstone o
Page 109 and 110: • Poaching: strong upward trend
Page 111 and 112: ecology from the University of Cali
Page 113 and 114: WWF on “Hunting for Conservation
Page 115 and 116: Moving Ahead (Extracts)Editorial Co
Page 117 and 118: conservation arena, I have undertak
Page 119 and 120: The Influence of Trophy Measurement
Page 121 and 122: A total of 91 samples were collecte
Page 123 and 124: The hunting industry is important n
Page 125 and 126: Photo 4: Buffalo Bull approx. 8 Yrs
Page 127 and 128: Photo 8: Current SCI Number 5 is of
Page 129 and 130: CIC Measuring Method129
Page 131: I know about hunting too. As a ward
Page 135 and 136: ewilderment as most of the hunting
Page 137 and 138: After Steve Smith’s untimely deat
Page 139 and 140: owe it to ourselves. We owe it to c
Page 141 and 142: “Use it or loose it” - Consumpt
Page 143 and 144: safari, or advised booked clients t
Page 145 and 146: the sector is suffering from sub-op
Page 147 and 148: It is suggested that such donations
Page 149 and 150: ‣ Key-Excerpts from the speech by
Page 151 and 152: Southern African countries that eng
Page 153 and 154: But that however, is only part of t
show all

African Indaba Articles - wildlife-baldus.com

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?