My Fine Feathered Friend - Animal Welfare Institute

shooting for fun or practice rather than trophy hunting.Although Tanzanian law only allows tourist hunters tokill males who are no longer active reproductively, OBC personneland guests shoot and capture animals young and old,male and female, lactating and pregnant. Some of the speciesthat the Maasai say they have seen captured include: lion,leopard, cheetah, impala, baboon, vervet monkey, gerenuk,giraffe, hyena, warthog, and bird species, particularly ostrich.In some cases, dead animals are transported in lorriesto nearby non-Maasai communities and sold as bushmeat,potentially encouraging poaching and an illegal market forsuch flesh. Despite the fact that Tanzanian law forbids foreigntourist hunting companies from utilizing game for commercialpurposes, OBC workers take advantage of officialhunts to kill animals for their own consumption and sale inthe neighboring communities. Maasai do not eat wild game.The Maasai ofLoliondo have for a long time accusedOBC of grave human rights abuses and environmental violations.They have described acts of intimidation, harassment,arbitrary arrest and detention, and even torture by OBC officialsand security forces, as well as by Tanzanian police andmilitary in the name of OBC; brazen violations of grazingand land rights; and wanton environmental destruction andextermination of wildlife. They have seen leaders who onceopposed OBC's practices corrupted and bought-off. Theyhave witnessed OBC officials trying to convert Maasai toIslam, with further instruction to abandon Maasai culture.Giraffe are killed illegally for their meat and theirneck sinews, which are used in making bows to shootarrows. They are also captured live for export.Indiscriminate hunting may have caused the declineof to pi and other antelopes in the area.The Government of Tanzania should sanction an independentinvestigation team to examine the numerous complaintsabout OBC's practices in the field and their impactson human rights, wildlife, and the environment. This shouldinclude an examination of the role ofTanzanian securityforces and government officials. The team should be composedof international and Tanzanian experts but should notinclude members of the Tanzanian government due to allegationsof widespread corruption. During the investigation,OBC's hunting privileges must be suspended.The killing of wildlife for sport is in itself an offense tothe Maasai worldview. Maasai traditionally believe that thepresent generations hold all natural resources, including theland, in trust for future generations. The killing of wildlifefor pleasure or commercial purposes is not permitted. Maasaibelieve that trophy hunting leads to greed, over-exploitationof wildlife resources, and often irreversible damage to delicateecosystems. Today's East Africa owes much of its wildlifeprosperity to traditional Maasai conservation practices.This invaluable conservation role has gone largely unappreciated-and worse, in the name of modernity, it continues tobe undermined and targeted for elimination.The Maasai tradition must survive despite foreign influencessuch as those of OBC. As Lemido Saunae, a Tarangireresident says, "You know, at the end of the day, they willeliminate these animals and then go back to their wealthyhomelands and leave us more impoverished than when wehad our animals."~SUMMER 2002 19