I received a copy of the below letter today and believe it to be true and factual copy.

quote:

Dear ******,


I confirm that I surrendered all my hunting blocks of all my companies today.

My family has been the longest operating company in Tanzania- for more than 40 years.

We have been the biggest operator in Tanzania and all of Africa.

We have held the largest part of the Selous, with prime blocks, the same since 1978 which I finished surrendering all today.

We have gone from 126 safaris per year to a handful because of the closure of US elephant and lion trophy imports.



We cannot book enough 21 day safaris to make a profit or stay in business without lion and elephant imports into the US. Our losses are escalating so I have to stop.

When U.S. elephant and lion hunting imports were threatened we stepped up our anti-poaching to 2.4 million dollars in three years.

We by ourselves funded 100 Selous Game Scouts for many years. You saw our books and took copies of our ledger sheets for US authorities.

You saw the newspaper clippings of the vehicles and plane our foundation delivered.

You even attended the public ceremonies with the Minister remember the work done!!.

I know that Warden of the Selous wrote to the U.S. how important our presence was to control poaching in the Selous.

At the same time I have donnated many full safaris to Shikar for auction to fund the $ 500,000 for lion studies and aging, work that was ignored by USFWS, perhaps because of Craig Packer, I do not know!!!

The efforts of Tanzania, of my companies and foundation have been completely ignored by USFWS, so we have already been operating at a loss for too long it is time to stop and I cannot guarantee that the biodiversity of the hunting areas will not be lost now!.

Our involvement in anti-hunting has become almost zero this year because our income losses. I think that the decisions by USFWS will eventually exterminate all Tanzania wildlife outside national Park because of their determination to stop the importation of trophies into the US.

Everything will end very quickly and wildlife will disappear in these areas hat represent almost 1/3 of Tanzania territory.

I have already returned 10 blocks the past years and with no hunters in the field it is going to be very difficult to save our last elephants.

Our poor elephants, our poor animals, SHAME on….!!!!



The real truth is that everyone does not care and nobody can realize the irreversible damage caused by such decisions. It is certainly the END OF THE GAME if your governments do not realize and help Tanzania.



Anyway, It is already too late for me, and soon it will be too late for other outfitters.



Kind regards

Eric Pasanisi.

I have seen the same thing. I am curious what Packer did.

The following was posted on Pro Safaris Africa's Facebook earlier today along with some verbiage related to the above OP.

***

Pro Safaris Africa Facebook post (March 01, 2018)

The rot has started - today we learn of one of the largest hunting operators in Tanzania finally saying "enough is enough". Eric Pasanisi has handed back all his areas to government as it is impossible to continue funding anti poaching management in his vast areas in the face of anti-hunting influenced bans on lion and elephant to the US.

The Antis will consider this a victory and will be none-the wiser to the consequences of their actions because there will be no-one on the ground to document the inevitable slaughter of all the wildlife that no longer has protection.

A sad day indeed.

***

Pro Safaris Africa Facebook post (March 01, 2018)

The rain season is prime poaching season and although everyone is doing there best, the odds are stacked against those of us fighting this fight.

Yesterday there was another contact in the Zambezi valley,19 tusks recovered and 4 poachers escaped! That's 10 elephant slaughtered in the past week. I've just attended a hunting show in Toronto Canada where anti-Hunter's had a demonstration outside and due to this the Press was there. I took 2 TV and 1 radio interview but unfortunately our facts were not broadcast. Only the emotionally motivated view of a 18yr old that organized the demonstration. So here is the hard reality.

Anti- poaching is funded solely by the hunting operator. Donations are minimal as the public starts to get donor fatigue and the reality is Hunter's expect the operator to do this out of funds paid for his/her safari. Very few Hunter's will donate significantly over and above their safari fee. Non Hunter's and Anti's donate even less if not at all. Their donations are spent on legislation changes!

In Zimbabwe Elephant quotas are set at 0,5% of population. Meaning 0,5% harvested Elephant must pay for the protection of the other 99,5%. This is simply not possible as Poaching is never ending. So we operators make sure all animals contribute to the anti-poaching fund. Most animal off take is set at around 2% -2,5% . So 2% helps protect the other 98%. This includes Lion. Lion is by far our highest priced animal and contributes significantly the most to this fund. However USFWS has now suspended the importation of Lion hunted legally and sustainably, from Zimbabwe into the USA. Following the suspension on Elephant in 2014. This taking away all funds for the protection of our elephants and other animals.

A poacher can cover 100,000 acres at his leisure. We would need to employ 50 people to cut that 100,000 acres into 2000acre sectors in order to be able to find him. A costly exercise.

A poacher is indiscriminate. He kills 100% if he could. He kills males, females or caves. Anything with a tusk. He kills those without tusks in order to not follow that track ever again. He cuts out the tusk and leaves the rest only to find the next pray. He is relentless and needs little funding. Only an incentive.

Yet the the incentive to protect these animals is attacked by the very people that claim to want to protect the Elephant.

The anti-Hunter's, the "Stop Trophy hunting" groups, airlines banning transportation of legally hunted animals and now the USFWS.

This is tiring and demoralizing. At the end of the day, the animals and our Elephant MUST survive, but no-one will sacrifice the well being of his own family for the African elephant. Operators can not continue to fund anti poaching out of their own pockets as the funds and incentives continue to dwindle. At some point he/she will give up and that point has been brought forward by some bad decisions.

I ask those of you who took the time to read this, to help where you can, do what you can and most importantly, educate where you can.
***

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I have seen the same thing. I am curious what Packer did.

I would like to know that too.

I have not been a great fan of Packer, despite some here.

The more I think about it, I have little doubt he blames the US government. I think a little reflection would cause him to realize that the actions of the TZ government caused many to stay away. These include:

1- The country is enormously expensive. The fees the government charged caused a lot of the expense.

2- Ridiculous actions left clients who were the people paying the bills not knowing what was happening. The temporary lion closure in 2006. The fee fiasco in 2007. The threat to take areas away in late 2017. These are our vacations. Who needs the stress caused by these actions? The TZ government bit the hand that fed them pure and simple.

Then there are other matters such as the outright screwing clients got on air charters.

After the 2007 fiasco, I said I was not going back. I haven't gone back.

Let me put this another way. The single most expensive safari I ever went on was 2006 in TZ. I was stressed to the max when the lion hunting closure was announced. It was also the worst safari I ever went on. I spent 6 figures and it was a disaster. Granted there was a drought. Why risk that kind of money for that kind of result?

I feel sorry for Mr. Pasanini. I feel there I is more to the story.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
The more I think about it, I have little doubt he blames the US government. I think a little reflection would cause him to realize that the actions of the TZ government caused many to stay away. These include:

1- The country is enormously expensive. The fees the government charged caused a lot of the expense.

2- Ridiculous actions left clients who were the people paying the bills not knowing what was happening. The temporary lion closure in 2006. The fee fiasco in 2007. The threat to take areas away in late 2017. These are our vacations. Who needs the stress caused by these actions? The TZ government bit the hand that fed them pure and simple.

Then there are other matters such as the outright screwing clients got on air charters.

After the 2007 fiasco, I said I was not going back. I haven't gone back.

Let me put this another way. The single most expensive safari I ever went on was 2006 in TZ. I was stressed to the max when the lion hunting closure was announced. It was also the worst safari I ever went on. I spent 6 figures and it was a disaster. Granted there was a drought. Why risk that kind of money for that kind of result?

I feel sorry for Mr. Pasanini. I feel there I is more to the story.

You are 100% correct on all the above. When I hunted Tanzania, my business allowed me to go about every 4 years or so. My first year in TZ was 1989 my last year there was 2007 as well because after that the price effectively doubled.

Stupid on the part of TZ government. Not only were they attempting to gouge the clients, they were doing so to feather their own nests- no or at best very little of the funds from various hunting fees were channeled to local areas- they put the money in their pocket and let the hunting companies worry about the local people.

So as they say: today's deal is today's deal. Now tomorrow has come and its evident there was only a conservation plan IN NAME ONLY and all the clients and hunting companies have been duped all along.

Tanzania at its best! Fantastic wildlife and pathetic management of it.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
The more I think about it, I have little doubt he blames the US government. I think a little reflection would cause him to realize that the actions of the TZ government caused many to stay away. These include:

1- The country is enormously expensive. The fees the government charged caused a lot of the expense.

2- Ridiculous actions left clients who were the people paying the bills not knowing what was happening. The temporary lion closure in 2006. The fee fiasco in 2007. The threat to take areas away in late 2017. These are our vacations. Who needs the stress caused by these actions? The TZ government bit the hand that fed them pure and simple.

Then there are other matters such as the outright screwing clients got on air charters.

After the 2007 fiasco, I said I was not going back. I haven't gone back.

Let me put this another way. The single most expensive safari I ever went on was 2006 in TZ. I was stressed to the max when the lion hunting closure was announced. It was also the worst safari I ever went on. I spent 6 figures and it was a disaster. Granted there was a drought. Why risk that kind of money for that kind of result?

I feel sorry for Mr. Pasanini. I feel there I is more to the story.

I agree that there is more involved in Tanzania's hunting problems than USFW.

Elected officials and government bureaucrats have tended to make decisions regarding hunting in June. This has caused havoc for the operators and clients as no notice is given prior to the opening of the season.

Government fees have helped to kill the goose. Logistical costs are either time consuming or cost prohibitive for many. Individuals that want just a Grant's and a Tommy may find themselves with a $15,000 bill.

Pasanisi made the "Panama Papers". Could that target him with those in power??? Not sure if it would have, but it can't help.

Many concessions had been turned in or never paid for from the last time around. If there is a lack of demand, those that control supply will lower prices until it re-equalizes, except when dealing with African governments that don't understand the concept.

The USFW decision was probably the last straw. A full cost safari may be near impossible to sell without elephant or lion.

100 anti-poaching scouts have just lost their job. I wonder what their next career entails?

The Friedken's just stopped hunting and now Pasanisi. It doesn't bode well for Tanzania operators or wildlife.

Glad to see people putting some blame on the Tanzanian Government. One of my best hunts ever was double Buffalo in the Selous in 2006. This was only my second safari. Then all the government fees doubled in 2008, at that point the dollars involved just didn't make sense.

USF&W has been the most powerful anti-hunting organization in history, and shares some blame. But the government in TZ really was standing on the throat of a golden goose for the last decade.

Many of us would hunt Tanzania in a HEARTBEAT if safari costs were lower.

Am I overly optimistic to HOPE that supply and demand still exists in TZ, and that lower government fees result from operators surrendering hunting blocks?

I agree, Larry, that there is plenty of blame to go around, and a lot of it belongs to the Tanzanian government. They have implemented more stupid and counter-productive policies over the years, most on short or no notice, than I care to itemize. You have listed many of them.

And let's not forget the rampant governmental corruption and coddling of commercial poaching syndicates that has devastated game, and especially elephant, populations over the last decade.

But, IMO, the decision by USFWS to ban trophy imports was the last nail in the coffin of the 21 day safari in the Selous Game Reserve.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
I agree, Larry, that there is plenty of blame to go around, and a lot of it belongs to the Tanzanian government. They have implemented more stupid and counter-productive policies over the years, most on short or no notice, than I care to itemize. You have listed many of them.

And let's not forget the rampant governmental corruption and coddling of commercial poaching syndicates that has devastated game, and especially elephant, populations over the last decade.

But, IMO, the decision by USFWS to ban trophy imports was the last nail in the coffin of the 21 day safari in the Selous Game Reserve.

I totally agree.

A rumor I have heard from a credible source was Paul Allen offered to basically pay all hunting govenerment revenue in Tanzania ($30 mil annually). This was a few years back - only Africa government corruption saved hunting in Tanzania.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
A rumor I have heard from a credible source was Paul Allen offered to basically pay all hunting govenerment revenue in Tanzania ($30 mil annually). This was a few years back - only Africa government corruption saved hunting in Tanzania.

Mike

Did he also hire scouts and fully fund anti-poaching too?

quote:

Originally posted by BaxterB:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
A rumor I have heard from a credible source was Paul Allen offered to basically pay all hunting govenerment revenue in Tanzania ($30 mil annually). This was a few years back - only Africa government corruption saved hunting in Tanzania.

Mike

Did he also hire scouts and fully fund anti-poaching too?

No what I heard was it was a revenue neutral proposal. Paul Allen would pay the Tanzania government hunting derived government revenues to stop hunting in Tanzania. He is anti hunting.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Baker458:
Glad to see people putting some blame on the Tanzanian Government. One of my best hunts ever was double Buffalo in the Selous in 2006. This was only my second safari. Then all the government fees doubled in 2008, at that point the dollars involved just didn't make sense.

USF&W has been the most powerful anti-hunting organization in history, and shares some blame. But the government in TZ really was standing on the throat of a golden goose for the last decade.

Many of us would hunt Tanzania in a HEARTBEAT if safari costs were lower.

Am I overly optimistic to HOPE that supply and demand still exists in TZ, and that lower government fees result from operators surrendering hunting blocks?

I agree with you. Sadly, I may never hunt Tanzania. I was scheduled on what would have been my second Safari for multiple Buffalo back when the rates went through the roof! I cancelled and hunted Zimbabwe with Mokore. I would at least like to hunt some of the plainsgame but that too is essentially outrageously expensive when you have to buy a 21 day license.
We can only hope there will be a rebound someday due to the failures of these policies and actions.
This is incredibly sad to watch transpire

Priced a leopard hunt this year in Dallas
80 grand booked back at Sango....

I priced a lesser kudu only hunt a few years ago. . . . $$74,000 with government concession fees and charters.

Unreal

So who exactly is paul allen

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I have seen the same thing. I am curious what Packer did.

He certainly didn't promote hunting in TZ - I distinctly recall having aired negative views on his activities in TZ several years ago and a whole bunch of know-alls on this forum jumped down my throat.

Its payback time and when I had then said it was the beginning of the end of hunting in TZ, my comments fell on deaf ears and were scoffed at.

Who gives a shit now? - I don't that's for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by tradmark:
So who exactly is paul allen

One of the founders of Microsoft.

quote:

Originally posted by tradmark:
So who exactly is paul allen

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by tradmark:
So who exactly is paul allen

Cofounder of Microsoft and lesser known partner of Bill Gates. A multi billionaire.

The blame for the demise of Tz hunting can be laid squarely on the doorsteps of the corrupt and stupid government. The final nail in the deceased’s coffin was delivered by the USFWS. USFWS didn’t raise fees and ban lion hunting in the middle of the season- the idiots in charge did. USFWS didn’t charge hunters $10,000 charter fees- greedy charter companies did. Too bad....

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by tradmark:
So who exactly is paul allen

Cofounder of Microsoft and lesser known partner of Bill Gates. A multi billionaire.

Owns Vulcan, is building up Seattle like mad, has a submarine, stuff like that.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
The blame for the demise of Tz hunting can be laid squarely on the doorsteps of the corrupt and stupid government. The final nail in the deceased’s coffin was delivered by the USFWS. USFWS didn’t raise fees and ban lion hunting in the middle of the season- the idiots in charge did. USFWS didn’t charge hunters $10,000 charter fees- greedy charter companies did. Too bad....

+1

Mike

Rarely does a week go by that I don’t speak with Craig Packer. He is not a bad guy. You guys see my hunting report in the report section and I even shot a cow ele which Beretta Mike is against...and Craig and I still get along.

Craig could have and would have stopped USFWS from uplisting the lion back before it happened...all he wanted was SCI & DSC to adopt the definition of a huntable male lion.

Not only did SCI not adopt that...they lobbied the TZ gvt to suspend his research visa into TZ and effectively permanently removed him from the country.

Since the uplist of the lion to threatened and the suspension of his research clearance Craig has had little to do with USFWS or TZ.

USFWS became disenchanted with TZ as they (TZ) never made the aging of trophy process transparent.

All of this could have possibly been different. Aaron Neilson and I worked hard to bring both sides together before it all fell apart.

While Craig Packer was not a safari booking agent...he certainly was not opposed to ethical sustainable hunting and in fact...recognized it had its viable place in conservation.

Dr. Packer came across as a voice of reason on the documentary Trophy. We could use more scientists like him that understand the role hunting plays in conservation.

There will be a interesting conference next week http://www.africaleads.eu/

It is simple. A business cannot operate at a loss.

I orally argued the denial of the elephant import permits before Director Dan Ashe for over an hour. We had a convincing case to lift the import suspension but he tuned us out. His denial of that appeal made no sense at the time. The elephant poaching had peaked and been turned around before the import suspension. The elephant population was still the third largest and exceeded 50 thousand. There was no doubt of the well documented, important conservation role of the hunting. Only recently have we learned that Ash did not believe in the conservation merits of hunting “threatened” listed species when he wrote about his feelings in a blog. Very disappointing.

Craig Packer is something else. He was a bully and a bull that caused his own problems in Tanzania and blames everyone else. I witnessed it, repeatedly warned him and ultimately had to distance myself when he started publishing negative papers about the whole safari industry across all of Africa. His negative articles are the worst and most cited against lion and leopard hunting in existence. Those of us in the know that watched it every step of the way know them to be sour grapes. In his book Lions in The Balance, he admits that practically every Director of Wildlife in Tanzania threatened him with expulsion for decades. He liked to push his luck and accuse everyone of corruption and malfeasance until he tackled the President and would not back off. I had interceded for years to prevent his expulsion but when he attacked the President he went too far. I learned of his expulsion long after the fact because I had already disassociated from him when he got retaliatory because the industry would not fund his new wife a six-figure salary to act as the queen of all safari matters, Savannas Forever. In his book, he vows to spend the rest of his life to get even with the hunting leadership in Tanzania, if you can believe that. The fact is, they, like me, initially loved the man and his promise to save lion. His self-induced troubles were largely unrelated to lion but once he burned all of his bridges he resorted to using lion as a means to reinsert himself. He did not understand “no.” He even started conspiring with clandestine people who were out to destroy the whole republic, so he admits in detail in his book. Enough about Craig.

Wow. I now vaguely remember some of this.

I hope it’s not the beginning of the end... I enjoy Tanzania too much to want to write it off.

Hopefully some reasonable people can come to grips with what is happening. I agree that the US hasn’t been a reasonable player politically for 20- some years.

quote:

Originally posted by Conservation Force:
It is simple. A business cannot operate at a loss.

I orally argued the denial of the elephant import permits before Director Dan Ashe for over an hour. We had a convincing case to lift the import suspension but he tuned us out. His denial of that appeal made no sense at the time. The elephant poaching had peaked and been turned around before the import suspension. The elephant population was still the third largest and exceeded 50 thousand. There was no doubt of the well documented, important conservation role of the hunting. Only recently have we learned that Ash did not believe in the conservation merits of hunting “threatened” listed species when he wrote about his feelings in a blog. Very disappointing.

Craig Packer is something else. He was a bully and a bull that caused his own problems in Tanzania and blames everyone else. I witnessed it, repeatedly warned him and ultimately had to distance myself when he started publishing negative papers about the whole safari industry across all of Africa. His negative articles are the worst and most cited against lion and leopard hunting in existence. Those of us in the know that watched it every step of the way know them to be sour grapes. In his book Lions in The Balance, he admits that practically every Director of Wildlife in Tanzania threatened him with expulsion for decades. He liked to push his luck and accuse everyone of corruption and malfeasance until he tackled the President and would not back off. I had interceded for years to prevent his expulsion but when he attacked the President he went too far. I learned of his expulsion long after the fact because I had already disassociated from him when he got retaliatory because the industry would not fund his new wife a six-figure salary to act as the queen of all safari matters, Savannas Forever. In his book, he vows to spend the rest of his life to get even with the hunting leadership in Tanzania, if you can believe that. The fact is, they, like me, initially loved the man and his promise to save lion. His self-induced troubles were largely unrelated to lion but once he burned all of his bridges he resorted to using lion as a means to reinsert himself. He did not understand “no.” He even started conspiring with clandestine people who were out to destroy the whole republic, so he admits in detail in his book. Enough about Craig.

This the gist of what we have heard in Zambia. He runs with the wolves and hunts with the hounds.

For everyone’s information, Eric Pasanisi surrendered his hunting companies back to the government. He did not sell them. One can not sell a business operating as a loss of this kind. He has been put out of business by USFWS.

quote:

Originally posted by Conservation Force:
For everyone’s information, Eric Pasanisi surrendered his hunting companies back to the government. He did not sell them. One can not sell a business operating as a loss of this kind. He has been put out of business by USFWS.

John are there enough elephants left in his Selous blocks to hunt?

Sad sad news. Glad I went when I did. Anybody know the fate of the other hunting operators in the Selous?

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Rarely does a week go by that I don’t speak with Craig Packer. He is not a bad guy. You guys see my hunting report in the report section and I even shot a cow ele which Beretta Mike is against...and Craig and I still get along.

Craig could have and would have stopped USFWS from uplisting the lion back before it happened...all he wanted was SCI & DSC to adopt the definition of a huntable male lion.

Not only did SCI not adopt that...they lobbied the TZ gvt to suspend his research visa into TZ and effectively permanently removed him from the country.

Since the uplist of the lion to threatened and the suspension of his research clearance Craig has had little to do with USFWS or TZ.

USFWS became disenchanted with TZ as they (TZ) never made the aging of trophy process transparent.

All of this could have possibly been different. Aaron Neilson and I worked hard to bring both sides together before it all fell apart.

While Craig Packer was not a safari booking agent...he certainly was not opposed to ethical sustainable hunting and in fact...recognized it had its viable place in conservation.

Guys, I gotta agree with Lane! We warned everyone of the impending loss without the "assistance" of guys like Packer. Packer and I had our disagreements via phone / email many times too - but at the end of the day, he was NOT against hunting, and I saw him say so in numerous mass emails with the decision makers.

I too had a couple of conversations with Eric Pasanisi about Packer, and he wanted Craig out badly....a decision I did not agree with. Regardless it was done....and the USFWS made a lot of decisions based on that.

No, this is not just because of the non-importation, but its a HUGE part of it. 10 years ago I made a good living selling African safaris - now I focus on N.A. and elsewhere. The FACT is, many guys have stopped hunting Africa for various reasons, not just because of non-importation, but make NO mistake, that is a big reason why its happened. Prior to the importation bans, roughly 60% of the lions "exported" from Africa as a whole went to the USA. When you lose that, the outfitters lose a ton of biz and a ton of revenue. Few guys at that cost are into it for the "experience" they want to bring home their trophy lion, etc.

Wild Tanzania is the best African hunting experience I have ever seen....ever! This whole thing just sucks!

The sad problem with these remote areas is the very high running costs. 8k one way charters - they will never compete with zim/moz/nam or anything else. They had one leverage point and that was they had lovely ele, mgm lions, multiple big buff and a wide variety of plainsgame on a 3 week trip - now they have lost ele and lion. Its now a buff hunt with a extra 10-15K transfer - they are out of business. I hope to hunt Tanz the next coming years but for what animals at this point I dont know - elephant will not recover n my lifetime I think and im mid thirties.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Rarely does a week go by that I don’t speak with Craig Packer. He is not a bad guy. You guys see my hunting report in the report section and I even shot a cow ele which Beretta Mike is against...and Craig and I still get along.

Craig could have and would have stopped USFWS from uplisting the lion back before it happened...all he wanted was SCI & DSC to adopt the definition of a huntable male lion.

Not only did SCI not adopt that...they lobbied the TZ gvt to suspend his research visa into TZ and effectively permanently removed him from the country.

Since the uplist of the lion to threatened and the suspension of his research clearance Craig has had little to do with USFWS or TZ.

USFWS became disenchanted with TZ as they (TZ) never made the aging of trophy process transparent.

All of this could have possibly been different. Aaron Neilson and I worked hard to bring both sides together before it all fell apart.

While Craig Packer was not a safari booking agent...he certainly was not opposed to ethical sustainable hunting and in fact...recognized it had its viable place in conservation.

Where does one start if they want to know more about Packer? Seems like he’s very influential for good or ill.

Mates, 2 points come immediately to mind:

1) the rampant corruption is not one sided - both sides participated enthusiastically.

2) 100k elephant disappear in the past 10 years - while Pasanisi controls half of the Selous (as they have done for past 40 years) and it’s all USFWs fault???

Pasanisi’s single minded determination to control everything in TZ - and stubborn refusal to cooperate with scientific conservation community is the reason he’s gone - it’s entirely self inflicted

Pasanisi organized the eviction of Craig P from TZ (100% fact; NOT speculation) because he disagreed with his opinions on lion conservation. Pasanisi is an arrogant egotist who stops at nothing to get his way.

Craig was head of the Serengeti lion project for 30 years and was a respected scientist with enormous TZ field experience. This qualification made him one of the leading authorities on the lion conservation issue in TZ.
As an objective party, Craigs opinion was highly respected by USFW and the scientific conservation community and Craig was consistently on public record advocating FOR responsible lion hunting.

Pasanisi declared war on Packer damning him with the hunting community by claiming that Craig was using lion issue to secretly promote an anti hunting agenda.
By getting Craig kicked out of TZ Pasanisi effectively sealed his fate and that of the entire TZ hunting industry with USFW.

quote:

Originally posted by cow-trader:
Mates, 2 points come immediately to mind:

1) the rampant corruption is not one sided - both sides participated enthusiastically.

2) 100k elephant disappear in the past 10 years - while Pasanisi controls half of the Selous (as they have done for past 40 years) and it’s all USFWs fault???

Pasanisi’s single minded determination to control everything in TZ - and stubborn refusal to cooperate with scientific conservation community is the reason he’s gone - it’s entirely self inflicted

Pasanisi organized the eviction of Craig P from TZ (100% fact; NOT speculation) because he disagreed with his opinions on lion conservation. Pasanisi is an arrogant egotist who stops at nothing to get his way.

Craig was head of the Serengeti lion project for 30 years and was a respected scientist with enormous TZ field experience. This qualification made him one of the leading authorities on the lion conservation issue in TZ.
As an objective party, Craigs opinion was highly respected by USFW and the scientific conservation community and Craig was consistently on public record advocating FOR responsible lion hunting.

Pasanisi declared war on Packer damning him with the hunting community by claiming that Craig was using lion issue to secretly promote an anti hunting agenda.
By getting Craig kicked out of TZ Pasanisi effectively sealed his fate and that of the entire TZ hunting industry with USFW.

Regardless of individual "fault", I think we as "hunters" did not help our cause by alienating Packer....like him or not! He wielded a lot of power / influence with the USFWS, a fact that should not have been denied. Yes....Packer was not always easy to deal with - but to disregard such a powerful player in the game proved to be a huge error IMO.

I hate the fact that conservation is influenced by "politics" too...but at that level, it certainly is / was. Finding a common ground / compromise would have been a better course of action, than out-right denial of his opinion / position.

I'm not here to point fingers.....but I sure wish this could have taken a different path a few years ago. It seems now we have a sinking ship on our hands....unfortunately?!

Very Sad news indeed. I wonder if this won't Increase the cost of Hunts in other Countries?