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Trophy Hunting: Does It Help or Hurt Conservation?: Proponents Argue

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Gregorio Valllejo

This document discusses the debate around whether trophy hunting helps or hurts conservation efforts. Proponents argue that trophy hunting generates revenue for conservation, creates economic incentives to retain land for wildlife, and can benefit local communities. However, opponents counter that trophy hunting often targets reproductively active males, can lead to population declines, and the revenue does not always benefit local communities as intended due to corruption. The document also discusses concerns around captive lion breeding and canned hunting operations in South Africa.

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Trophy Hunting: Does It Help or Hurt Conservation?: Proponents Argue

Uploaded by

Gregorio Valllejo
30 views3 pages
This document discusses the debate around whether trophy hunting helps or hurts conservation efforts. Proponents argue that trophy hunting generates revenue for conservation, creates economic incentives to retain land for wildlife, and can benefit local communities. However, opponents counter that trophy hunting often targets reproductively active males, can lead to population declines, and the revenue does not always benefit local communities as intended due to corruption. The document also discusses concerns around captive lion breeding and canned hunting operations in South Africa.

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This document discusses the debate around whether trophy hunting helps or hurts conservation efforts. Proponents argue that trophy hunting generates revenue for conservation, creates economic incentives to retain land for wildlife, and can benefit local communities. However, opponents counter that trophy hunting often targets reproductively active males, can lead to population declines, and the revenue does not always benefit local communities as intended due to corruption. The document also discusses concerns around captive lion breeding and canned hunting operations in South Africa.

Copyright:

© All Rights Reserved
Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as pdf or txt
30 views3 pages

Trophy Hunting: Does It Help or Hurt Conservation?: Proponents Argue

Uploaded by

Gregorio Valllejo
This document discusses the debate around whether trophy hunting helps or hurts conservation efforts. Proponents argue that trophy hunting generates revenue for conservation, creates economic incentives to retain land for wildlife, and can benefit local communities. However, opponents counter that trophy hunting often targets reproductively active males, can lead to population declines, and the revenue does not always benefit local communities as intended due to corruption. The document also discusses concerns around captive lion breeding and canned hunting operations in South Africa.

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TROPHY HUNTING: DOES IT HELP OR HURT CONSERVATION?

PROPONENTS ARGUE:
• It generates a significant proportion of the operational revenues of state wildlife authorities in some countries.
• It creates economic incentives for the retention of large areas of state land for wildlife in addition to National Parks
in the form of game reserves and wildlife management areas.
• It creates economic incentives for wildlife on both community and private land.
• It provides incentives for communities to coexist with wildlife where benefits from hunting are retained locally.
• In some areas, hunters contribute to anti-poaching and the presence of operators can help to reduce poaching,
human encroachment and other threats.
• It only targets post-reproductive males and so does not impact populations.
• It can operate in areas of low infrastructure or scenic appeal, under conditions of political instability where regular
tourism is generally not viable.

OPPONENTS ARGUE:
• It often targets males in their reproductive prime for a better trophy.
• It can lead to elevated infanticide and reduced reproduction by removing too many adult males, leading to
population declines.
• It is often a source of mortality due to other anthropogenic factors such as snaring and retaliatory killing.
• It can lead to government departments becoming dependent on revenue, providing incentive to keep quotas high.
• It is often carried out on the boundaries of national parks, siphoning off lions from protected populations.
• It often does not provide adequate revenues to manage and secure lands effectively.
• It often fails to divide revenues fairly with communities, and government agencies may be unwilling to devolve user
rights because they depend on hunting revenue for their core budget.
• It is subject to widespread abuse of regulations and is very difficult to control (as Cecil’s case illustrated).
• It often does not benefit those intended as corruption can prevent the revenue flow from trickling down to village
or individual level.

BEYOND CECIL: AFRICA’S LIONS IN CRISIS | Page - 13


CAPTIVE LIONS AND CANNED HUNTING
An estimated 1,000 captive lions are legally killed in so-called “canned hunts” in South Africa each year,62 which cost
on average less than a third of a “fair chase” hunt (US$20,000 vs. US$76,000).63 In a canned hunt, a paying hunter
shoots a captive-bred lion in an enclosed space, ensuring a quick safari and a guaranteed trophy. South Africa’s canned
hunting feeds a legal trade of lion parts, and particularly bones, to Asia as replacements for illegal tiger products in
so-called medicinal wines, potions and supplements. In total, 1,160 lion skeletons were legally exported from South
Africa between 2008 and 2011.64 Many lion breeding facilities in South Africa generate further profits by offering lion
cub feeding and close encounters with lions that draw thousands of tourists and paying “volunteers.” Cubs are taken
away from mothers shortly after birth and bottle-fed by humans, so that the lioness will become fertile again faster.65
When cubs outgrow tourists’ laps, many are sold to hunting ranches and lion breeders for the canned hunting market.

Proponents of breeding and canned hunts contend that they relieve pressure on wild populations by satisfying the
demand for wild hunts and lion bones from a captive-bred source. But there is no evidence for either claim. Canned
hunters are largely a different market to “fair chase” hunters, and the increase in captive lion hunts does little to reduce
the demand for wild hunts. Meanwhile, South Africa’s bone trade has created a legal conduit for lion bone that formerly
was not used in Asia. As some consumers believe wild sources are more efficacious than captive ones, it is inevitable
that parts of wild killed lions will enter the same trade routes.

Lion cubs at a breeding farm. Pippa Hankinson

Page - 14
SOLUTIONS
T he future of the lion in Africa hangs
in the balance. Although there is
a scattering of populations that are
conservation action. Africa still retains
truly vast areas of wilderness. Fortunately,
the iconic woodland savannas that lions
especially lion populations, have been
able to bounce back. Solutions exist and
they are not complicated, but will require
probably secure for the long-term, require are resilient. Wherever human a global  response.
many more are under extreme pressure pressures have been reduced, these
and will disappear without concerted habitats, their wildlife populations, and

STRENGTHENING PROTECTED AREAS


Perhaps the single most important step
in securing a future for the lion in Africa
financial resources. PA managers
require adequate manpower to conduct
ACTIONS
is mobilizing massive support for the patrols and to fulfill management duties.
• Urgently mobilize significantly elevated
continent’s vast system of PAs. If secured, Machinery is needed to maintain roads
support for the management of
their land area would ensure the long-term and infrastructure, and vehicles and fuel
African PAs; support must come from
survival of the lion and that of many other are required for deployments. Aerial
both African governments and the
species. African PAs incorporate 1.51 support is an extremely useful means of
international community. Such support
million km2 of lion range—an area more detecting and responding to illegal activity.
will both enhance the conservation of
than twice the size of Texas. However, While funding needs can be reduced if
lions and help to stimulate tourism
most are chronically underfunded, and communities are brought on side and
industry development, economic
only 31% of PAs with lions currently effectively engaged in conservation
growth and job creation.
maintain the species at 50% or greater efforts, adequate resourcing remains a
of the natural density they would reach if necessity, not least because a proportion
• Foster more partnerships between
only suffering natural mortality.66 of illegal hunting is often done by people
NGOs and the private sector with
living far from the PA boundary.
state wildlife authorities for the
Reinforcing protected areas is a
management of underfunded PAs.
massive conservation opportunity
requiring massive support. Based on the
operational budgets of NGO African Parks,
“While achieving conservation Such arrangements help support the
efforts of state wildlife authorities by
providing access to both long-term
in the seven parks in six countries that
funding and technical support.
the organization co-manages, effective outcomes, strengthening
management of all PAs within the current
support for Protected Areas • Ensure that local people have access
lion range would require an annual budget
of at least US$1.25 billion ($830 ± $285/ would create jobs, attract more to protein without needing to resort to
km2/year, inflated to 2015 values).67 The bushmeat by improving people’s ability
tourism and stimulate to raise and maintain livestock; provide
Cecil Summit, to be convened by WildCcru
and Panthera in September 2016, will
economic growth. access to cheap livestock vaccinations
seek to determine the current shortfall in and health care to reduce disease, and
funding as a target for global efforts. While achieving conservation outcomes, apply interventions for reducing losses
adequate funding would create jobs, as to carnivores.
Why does this require such significant well as stimulate tourism development
investment? Anti-poaching law and economic growth. These outcomes
enforcement, for example, is costly may be best achieved through
and challenging. Similarly, effective partnerships between the private sector,
engagement with communities, and NGOs and state wildlife authorities, which
measures to address human wildlife may provide access to long-term funding
conflict, require adequate human and and technical support.

BEYOND CECIL: AFRICA’S LIONS IN CRISIS | Page - 15

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