I've had it. I'm going to submit an editorial to Huffington. Will it change minds? No.
Will it help?
Probably not.
Still, I feel I have to do something.

Here's what I'm addressing:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...ban-t_b_2505541.html

Send me some facts to combat this with and I'll write it up.

Look at Kenya's wildlife, Around 30 to 40 years ago the World Bank gave Kenya $200million the kicker was they would ban hunting. Presently there is less animals in Kenya then in Tanzania where their is a thriving sport hunting.
Read some where Botswana last year or year before Botswana Game Dept. shot 117 problem lions, but not able to hunt them.

Mike

Gayne,

For starters...look at this document:

http://www.accuratereloading.com/2012/dhl.pdf

The Lion Conservation Task Force along with the Worlds Leading Lion Experts wrote this definition. Look at the author's names. Now granted...lion hunting needed some reform...but...if the names you see as authors there think it is in the best interest to continue lion hunting...it is pretty hard to argue.

Flocken is IFAW. IFAW owns Kenya Wildlife and Botswana and is big in South Africa. Just wish we could teach the likes of Flocken to "flocken" themselves.

Keep it coming guys

IFWA is correct!

The population of African lion is indeed in danger of extinction and we totally agree with the statement:
“As the population of lions dwindles, with as few as 32,000 remaining in the wild, we have a responsibility to protect them.”

Lions and their habitat need protection by reserves, national parks, game rangers and anti poaching patrols. These measures of protection are costly but are at the present, and for the foreseeable future, necessary.
To make African governments accept these expenses the species must have a monetary value which can not be refuted. Trophy hunting of non-productive lions gives the species this undeniable and comparatively high monetary value.

“Last month, Zambia's Minister of Tourism and Arts, Sylvia T. Masebo, announced that specific hunting licenses would be suspended as they had "been abused to the extent they threatened animal populations."

"According to sources and local news reports, Minister of Tourism and Arts Sylvia Masebo has based her decision on corruption and malpractices between the hunting companies and various government departments. She also fired the Director-General of the Zambian Wildlife Authority (ZAWA), Edwin Matokwani, as well as a number of other officials, and has instigated an in-depth criminal investigation of ZAWA and other wildlife bodies."

The proof of the value of trophy hunting as a means to create funds for species protection is that it is so great that it induces corruption and misappropriation.
As IFAW points out “Each year, the United States imports more than half of all lions captured and killed by sport trophy hunters.”
”Listing the African lion as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act would prohibit the importation of lion trophies into the United States, thereby removing one of the biggest incentives for participating in this blood sport”

This infers that half of the funds for protection of the species generated by hunting comes from Americans and prohibiting this would unfortunately not be “taking a crucial step to curbing the continuing precipitous decline of the species.” but quite the opposite.

IFWA correctly points out Kenya as the best example of this fact:
“And of course Kenya has had a long-standing policy against trophy hunting, as they banned trophy hunting and dealing in wildlife back in 1977. Trophy hunting was properly cited at the time by the new Kenyan government as "a barbaric relic of colonialism."

The result of this practice has resulted in a loss of 75% of the nation’s wildlife since this ban and Kenya has today significantly less wildlife then countries with active and controlled trophy hunting.
If the American people don’t want to speed up the extinction of these magnificent animals then we must see reality in the eye and choose the lesser of two evils.

The general consensus within the hunting fraternity is that the Ministry of Tourisms initiative to overhaul the wildlife sector has been long overdue. The Minister like many of us is passionate about conservation. She has to be applauded as it is proven worldwide that Tourism can bolster an economy and is one industry that actively protects and enhances the environment. Indeed the failure to protect Zambia’s natural heritage is currently under investigation and the consumptive industry is on hold.

The decline of wildlife and habitat is not the fault of the consumptive industry but more a countrywide decline in management. Wildlife populations in the controlled and well-managed hunting concessions are for the most substantial. Research proves that off takes have been stable countrywide and often increased to suit the growth of regional wildlife populations. Game ranching and farming invests heavily in wildlife and specifically to meet the demands of the consumptive market.

Hunting can be a contentious topic and mostly misunderstood. To simplify the industry it can draw direct parallels to livestock farming and the management and breeding of animals for consumptive purposes. The Wildlife formula is simple one. Under a managed structure it is sustainable, prolific and unlike livestock requires very little maintenance. A high value sustainable natural resource that can be traded or consumed.

Hunting revenues provide governments with funds for protected area management and expansion, and through programs that disperse funds to communities. Hunting does have significant benefits by providing incentives to return wildlife to private land, conserve wildlife on communally owned or managed land, and generating revenue for government. To promote hunting in these situations, the legal rights of people to own or manage wildlife and land should be encouraged. Profit sharing from hunting revenue can only increase community support for wildlife.

It is widely recognized that the wildlife viewing areas of higher quality can earn more revenue than hunting. However some 20% of Zambia is protected under Game Managements Areas or controlled hunting concessions and whilst high value small-scale photographic concerns realize substantial incomes they do very little to protect the vast and underutilized lands that the consumptive market does. It is hardly encouraging to see National parks, the designated sites for Tourism, mostly abandoned and that the photographic sector is almost wholly confined in the game rich concessions. In terms of generating revenue sport hunting is currently the best use of lands outside of National Parks.

Hunters are the consumer and they fund an industry. Hunting and it’s associated service industries encompasses a huge Global market and has been responsible for the conservation and indeed recovery of species across the world. Without the hunters dollars these populations would no longer be sustainable. Kenya being a prime example and has witnessed a catastrophic 70% decline in wildlife. Quite the reverse in neighboring countries that have encouraged consumptive tourism and note that Uganda, Mozambique, Ghana and Liberia have recently adopted safari hunting as a conservation tool and to glean revenues and extend social benefits to attached communities.

In Zambia the presence of safari hunting in a region dissuades poaching and other wildlife abuses. By removing this umbrella these areas would witness mass destruction of wildlife and the loss of effective buffers zones that protect the Parks.

The Mane Event.

When an old pride male Lion is ousted by a younger stronger male(s) this marks the latter years of his life. He is an outcast. He is no longer of any value to the social order of the pride and is now on a downward spiral, soon to be reduced to bone and dust. It is the law of the jungle. However in latter life he is worth in excess of $100,000 to an economy and a much sought after commodity by trophy hunters.

A policy adopted by Tanzania and Mozambique to protect the Lion is to allow the hunting of these outcasts only. A strict policy that has severe penalties attached to it. A professional hunter is required to assess a Lion’s age and to monitor if pride dependent or an aged outcast. The industry has adopted a code of conduct that regulates only harvest Lions that are deemed mature. If Zambia could enforce law and duplicate the protective policies of other African nations then the Lion as with all game would continue to thrive in such ranges. However Lion is but one part of the jigsaw and ultimately it is all about the broader protection of ecosystems and associated environments. IUCN protects the iconic species such as Lion and Leopard and dictates to Africa the recommended off take.

The IUCN Red list of Threatened species classifies Lion (Panthera Leo) as threatened but not endangered. Leopard as near threatened but not threatened and ‘The Leopard occurs across most of sub Sahara Africa’

‘A species (Lion) population reduction of approximately 30% is suspected over the past two decades (= approximately three Lion generations). The causes of this reduction (primarily indiscriminate killing in defense of life and livestock, coupled with prey base depletion: Bauer 2008), are unlikely to have ceased. This suspected reduction is based on direct observation; appropriate indices of abundance; a decline in area of occupation, extent of occupation and habitat quality; and actual and potential levels of exploitation.
The main threats to Lions are indiscriminate killing (primarily as a result of retaliatory or pre-emptive killing to protect life and livestock) and prey base depletion. Habitat loss and conversion has led to a number of populations becoming small and isolated (Bauer 2008)’.

It is currently mandatory in Zambia for the safari operators to provide samples from harvested Lions for DNA, distribution and age analysis. It is the hunters who fund and facilitate countrywide research. Zambia is proactive and has limited the off take of the specie awaiting results of research to determine distribution and approximate numbers. Strict quotas have been implemented and adjusted to suit regional populations. Recent reduction in quotas have reflected loss of habitat and increased poaching. The Operators themselves have extended (and obliged to fund) protective policies to encourage important species such as Lion and Leopard if they are to continue in business. It is a simple business equation that promotes the value of wildlife. Wildlife has to pay for itself otherwise it will simply not survive. It is a sustainable and renewable resource but requires investment, qualified management and sound governance.

The anti hunting fraternities are activists who know little about Zambia wildlife and less about the people or culture. They have little record of conservation or success in Zambia and are not qualified to claim statistics. They fund themselves through emotive websites and glitzy cocktail parties, a far cry from our wildlife scouts, gritty foot soldiers who face bullet and hardship in the field and who dedicate their lives to the preservation of their natural heritage. Ultimately it is this protective force that will save wildlife and the Lion but it requires encouragement, sound management and funding and continued interest from both the consumptive and non consumptive sector.

Gayne,
To take it back to the basics...here is the master plan and a good one it is...at least the concept.

Most all of the Sub-Saharan African countries have set aside large tracts of land as National Parks which are sanctuaries for the wildlife. The megafauna of Africa though pose a large (no pun intended) threat to people and farming and they also need to migrate to follow the water and grass/prey.

Hunting blocks were set aside to encircle the parks to accomplish mainly 3 basic things: 1) provide protection to the public, reduce the population overflow, and provide habitat and migration corridors.

It is a beautiful plan if implemented correctly. The parks provide the base population and areas for photo-tourism and the hunting blocks prevent over spill, provide migration routes between parks, extra-habitat, and a means for the animals themselves to justify their existence...for as anyone who has worked in Africa knows..."it must pay to stay".

Then lastly, something no-one ever speaks of much, the fact that most of the hunting blocks are NOT useful for much else. They are riddled with tsetse, the terrain is not conducive to photo-tourism, they are remote to public travel routes, and they are not good for farming.

Hunting dollars justifies the existence of these places which inturn gives habitat to the wildlife.

I am sure you were aware of all this...but thought I would make sure.

Gayne,

Another thing to remember is the 'fact' that the vast majority of native Africans HATE lions. I can't really say that I blame them as they have lived in fear of them for 1000's of years...it is in their genes.

That said...tribes like the Massai are 'brutal bloody lion killers'...as long as there are wild lions...Massai will strive to kill them.

In other areas...it is less about the killing of the lion and more about their 'extermination'. The Karamojong of northern Uganda for instance...they are cattle herders but not in the sense that we would think...cattle are their money...their currency. They DON'T raise them for food at all. You will see a 'rich' Karamojong with kids starving to death out herding his cattle. They protect these cattle with there lives if necessary. They get poison along the pack-donkey trading trails in the mountains bordering Sudan. And...they wipe-out whole prides of lions if they loose one cow to them.

In Uganda...this even happens to park prides as they graze right up to the park borders even into the park at times as there are NOT hunting blocks surrounding the parks here as hunting is just getting started again.

Thanks for all the help guys but every media outlet I've approached has passed. This despite my being a "real" writer and having interviewed Vladimir Putin.
It seems nobody wants to read the facts

Gayne, have you tried Godfather Politics and World Net Daily. They are good conservative websites. Would love to be some help in this issue for you.

Will try. Thanks