Mike,

Again, I fail to see your point or any shadow of an argument in your statements. Frankly, it is the height of ego to assume that, because you have been to Africa a few times, that you have the right and knowledge to tell any country (or worse yet, private owners) how to manage their game (lion or otherwise). Whether we as hunters (much less anti-hunters) like it or not, the privatization of game and its transformation into what amounts to livestock has worked wonderfully when it comes to preserving various species and habitat. Does there exist a spectrum of how "sporting" these hunts are? Of course. Further, you personally might not care for how these hunts are done with respect to various species (What about White Rhino? Wild or not? Canned?) and there is absolutely room for discussion regarding how "wild" lions in particular must be in order to be hunted, but rest assured that you will never appease the anti-hunters by chipping away at hunters' or (worse yet) landowners options. The former will always hate hunting no matter what. Further, and I find it funny that you are opposed to this given your profession, I still believe offering logic will work wonders on the "undecideds". Show them results and they will be content for the most part. Show them less pressure on wild populations from poachers and legal hunters as a result of "farming" cats under whatever circumstances you might find tolerable, and you might just persuade them. Those who cannot be persuaded... well, they were not ever going to be in your camp anyway.

Cajun,

Texas is definitely the exception to the rule (in many spheres, thankfully)!

quote:

Originally posted by tendrams:

quote:

Originally posted by Bakes:
So in fact they are perpetuating the need/use for lion bones in Asian medicines?

Or they are satiating a demand that is never really going to go away...and doing so with legal lions and thus discouraging poaching. In economics we call that efficiently using one's resources! Frankly, the trade in legally harvested lion bones, legally harvested Rhino horn, and legally shot ivory should be made 100% legal by CITES tomorrow. Think about why a White Rhino hunt costs about a third what the black market horn value is of the average Rhino. If ANY hunter were allowed to trade in the horn that was harvested, the hunt price and black market horn price would converge thus reducing the financial incentive to poach. Further, as available legal horn pushed the black market value of horn down, landowners would simultaneously receive an increase in their income to better protect Rhino (and set aside more habitat) as their hunt prices increased toward the black market price. Same thing with lion. I would rather have ranchers making more money than less...no matter how much I might find the "canned lion" practice distasteful, simply because I firmly believe that they are satisfying a demand that would become one for wild lions to bear in either hunt form or in illegal bone trafficking.

I agree the demand will not go away until the Asians are educated in the fact that taking ground up lion bones/rhino horn/ to give you a hard on just doesn't work. How we do that....I have no idea.