I have just returned from a visit to Kenya to see family and friends. While I was there I spoke to several estate managers, tourism professionals and people involved in resource management and asked them if they thought there would ever be a resumption of sport hunting in Kenya. They all had the same answer and view point:
1. They would welcome a return of sport hunting.
2. They think that Kenya could make a good job of managing sustainable hunting.
3. They don't think that it will happen in the forseeable future as the bunny-huggers in organisations such as IFAW have far too much political and financial clout.
It would seem that yet again we are seeing politicians making wildlife management decisions and getting it wrong, but I would be interested in the views of others. Does anyone in AR have any hope of a resumption of sport hunting - even if it's just 'management hunts'?

I don't think it will happen anytime soon, for a single reason (I'll explain in a minute).

I've met several people who have fairly extensive land holdings in Kenya, and WANT it to happen, and they keep holding out hope that it will.

There are tens of millions of US dollars coming into Kenya currently from animal protection groups, in Europe, England, and the USA.
Each group funds its own pet project, with little overlap.
The funds don't go to Kenyan government officials directly, but they end up in their hands (and pockets).
These animal protection projects had discretionary funds added in purposely that allow various Kenyans to visit and travel (with "traveling funds") for the purposes of "conservation".
So, for example, if you were in the Ministry of Health, you might need to travel to say, Paris (with your family) for a few weeks to review issues pertaining to zoological infections that might effect average Kenyans.
Someone in the Ministry of Agriculture might need to travel to Hawaii to address concerns about farming and soil mineral depletion.
The list is endless.

These funds are almost all contingent on a no-hunt policy remaining in place.

Ultimately hunting would bring in more dollars that trickle down to average Kenyans, but cut off funds to the people running the government (the Kenyan government-whatever else-is very authoritarian).

I don't see this happening for a very long time.

And factor in this: many well educated Africans consider hunting a "colonialist" activity.

When I practiced in Orlando, one of the surgeons I would occassionaly work with was the son of a former vice-president of Namibia.
He had spent a summer (while in college) working with the Kenya wildlife rangers (I forget their official title), and he remained convinced that hunting is nothing but a return to "colonialist" values. We argued endlessly over this at dinner and over drinks.

Once something that lines peoples pockets becomes entrenched (especially people in the government), there is little that can be done to change it, short of revolution.

Garrett

I travel frequently to Kenya for professional reasons and have had the Kenya Wildlife Service as a client. I don't think sport hunting on any appreciable scale will be reintroduced. There are several large private landholdings that could implement it as they may already sell the meat from their animals in the "legal" bush meat market. They would be fine with trophy hunting, adding the additional revenue of charging hunters to do what they already do. But Kenya has learned to live with a No Hunting image (and a huge poaching problem) and as already mentioned receives a tremendous amount of money to stay that way. I don't think the politics and the money will go in another direction.

This topic was discussed on this forum a few months ago. SCI has looked hard at this and spent quite a few $'s. They see no change in the near future.

1st, "THEY" must be out-spent. Then some leverage exists. No way it will ever happen until pro hunting THROWS huge gobs of cash at Kenya. The current party line exists because of Cash and will change and fall in line with the highest bidder. Pro hunting is being outspent by anti-hunting. Pro hunting doesn't seem to want it bad enough, easier to go somewhere else. Hell, white Kenyans themselves voted with their feet decades ago. Those that remain operate photo in Kenya, photo and hunting in TZ.

I don't think it's simply a question of out spending the anti-hunting crowd. We can do that.

The problem is that there is more than a decade of officials that get free trips, housing, and other perks, and these officials are deeply entrenched within the government.

If we (the hunters) can't offer them at least as good a "bounty" as they are currently getting, there is no way they will be receptive.

Again, I know we could come up with the money, it's a question of who the individuals are who'd we get the money to.

There is a nascent opposition party (parties) in Kenya. I think we'd be better served cultivating relationships with the opposition now, for when they come to power.

Garrett

quote:

Originally posted by N. Garrett:
I don't think it's simply a question of out spending the anti-hunting crowd. We can do that.

The problem is that there is more than a decade of officials that get free trips, housing, and other perks, and these officials are deeply entrenched within the government.

If we (the hunters) can't offer them at least as good a "bounty" as they are currently getting, there is no way they will be receptive.

Again, I know we could come up with the money, it's a question of who the individuals are who'd we get the money to.

There is a nascent opposition party (parties) in Kenya. I think we'd be better served cultivating relationships with the opposition now, for when they come to power.

Garrett

Read your own words. If you didn't pick up on the contradiction when you wrote it maybe you will when you actually read it. It'a all about money and everyone gets paid, both those in power and those coming to power. I'm not certain that we can outspend them or maybe we would be. If we can outspend them, and we aren't, then nothing will happen until we do outspend them.

Snowbart,

Let me clarify: We can outspend them, but we don't know who to give the money to.

The perks I am describing (and who gets them) are a sort of "inside baseball".

It's not just people in the Parks Commission and Ministry of Natural Resources, it's virtually all branches of government.

And, these relationships that the animal protectionists have cultivated are decades in the making.

Don't get me wrong, we pro-hunting groups can do this. It will take 10 or 15 years at the minimum, and maybe longer.

Let's suppose you and I had 5 million dollars to spend to purchase some goodwill in Kenya.
We could create an NGO there to "explore" opportunities available with tourist hunting.
We wine and dine some important figures...maybe bring them to Disney World to see some of the animal husbandry techniques there (believe it or not Disney is one of the favorite African "conference" destinations).

Here's where we hit the snag: Mandume, in the Ministry of Health hears about the trip. He speaks to his brother-in-law in the Ministry of Education. They don't like that Kahlil got to go to Disney. It isn't that they want the same trip (they are going on a better one in January), it's that they don't like that Kahlil got anything!
A few phone calls are made, and our NGO is literally kicked out of Kenya in an hour.

The weird thing about doing business in Africa isn't that people have their hand out.
The weird thing is how much they enjoy f***king over each other.

Let the anti's have Kenya. They don't have the resources to set up the same system in Guinea, Gabon, Liberia, Tanzania, Uganda, etc.

We go where there is fertile ground, and grow the infrastructure from there.

Meanwhile, we cultivate the opposition in Kenya, and when they come to power...bingo!
We're back in.

Garrett