Botswana: Ban On Lion Hunting Still in Force


Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)

18 August 2008
Posted to the web 19 August 2008

Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe


Lion hunting in Botswana remains prohibited 12 months after government decided to stop awarding hunting licenses last year.

Dr Trevor Mmopelwa, the Director of Wildlife in the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism did not say when the ban will be lifted.


"The lifting of the ban on hunting cannot be predetermined. It will depend on the rate of build up of the lion population," he said.

"Research to date, indicates that while the lion population in Botswana remains fairly satisfactory, in certain areas near protected areas, notably Khutse Game Reserve, Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, conflict between humans and predators is on the rise.

It is in these areas that the number of lions being killed has caused concern. Several mitigation measures, including fencing, are being considered to reduce the conflict," Mmopelwa explained.

He said the suspension of lion hunting has allowed his Department an opportunity to focus its resources on the challenge of the loss of lions in defence of livestock.

"Lions continue to be killed as problem animals in certain hotspot areas. Research being undertaken in these areas suggests that comprehensive strategies are needed to address this problem.


The department is currently finalising the Predator Management Strategy, which will holistically address predator conservation and management throughout Botswana. The issue of utilisation of large carnivores including lions will be addressed in the context of the strategy," Mmopelwa said.

quote:

He said the suspension of lion hunting has allowed his Department an opportunity to focus its resources on the challenge of the loss of lions in defence of livestock.

That explanation is quite the crock! -- You'd think that the US had lent Botswana one of our typical political appointees.

Personally I think that the move made by the Botswana Govt. was the right one. The uncontrolled hunting that has been continuing has seen the shooting of a lot of young males. The repercussions of shooting young make lions are far reaching for the pride structure and can cause their breeding efforts to be unsuccessful for several years should successive young males be shot. Lion hunting should be priced higher and only males over the age of 6 years should be taken. The idea that everyone going on a safari who has the cash can shoot a lion is one bread by greed. Sure some areas can and have supported this in the past, but the problem lies in the fact that many operators have no concern for the populations anymore, much less taken the time to ascertain what numbers and which individuals should be taken in a season to allow for the best possible population growth. Game hunting is something that should be akin to game ranching which entails managing your asset, not just pitching up each season and using it as you please.

I only hope that this move is followed up with sound policy which pushes operators to only take mature males and end the profusion of young lions being proudly displayed in pictures on forums.

Vlam with all due respect you need to do a bit of research before you comment. Lion quota's in Botwsana are amongst the lowest in Africa and their standards of what constitutes a trophy amongst the highest. The Botswana Lion debate goes a long way back and involves much more than this article leads you to believe.I could carry on but i would rather urge you to do some research and see for yourself. Also do yourself a favour and look at what a Lion hunt costs in Botswana, if it was priced any higher only the likes of Bill Gates could afford it!!

Hi Scott
My comments are not restricted to Botswana, they are in relation to lion hunting in general and I hope that anyone who reads this will take it to heart and do their part in conserving huntable populations of lion. Lion hunting is very important to the safari industry, but as we are at the point where we may be killing the golden goose I think that each hunter needs to be responsible to himself and the rest of us.
Granted what you have said is true, but I dare say that Botswana is addressing a problem that has already occurred in other countries.
Regardless of the numbers of lion being taken, the point is that they need to be of the right age and the pride they come from should be assessed before the pride males are shot. There are very few areas that can sustain the type of pressure that regular removal of the pride males creates and it is exactly what is manifesting itself in many of the hunting blocks now where you will see younger males being taken than ever before.
The bottom line is that every hunter is a conservationist first, if you are more interested in killing your lion than the consequences or cost thereof then you should not be hunting. If high pricing is what it takes to allow sustainable lion hunting without depleting the population then that is just the way it has to be. They are after all not there for your pleasure only, they serve a purpose in the ecosystem.
There simply is not a lion available for everone who has the money, sustainable management and selection above and beyond the basic quota system has to actively implemented.
I hope you take this in the spirit it was written as from your comments I can see that you too are a conservationist at heart.
Thanks
Ian

Vlam i agree with you 100% on the conservation issue. There is a big move to implement exactly what you are talking about and already Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe have programmes running to ensure the preservation of healthy and huntable Lion populations. Not all the programmes are the same and they are at various stages of implementation but i believe that there is a genuine move by hunters to ensure the sustainable use of Africa's wild lion population.

Thanks Scott, that is good news.
There is actually a BBC documentary out now that I am trying to get hold of that has one of the guys who made "Big Cat Diaries" that is supporting the hunting of lions. I have not seen it myself, but it is apparently a good film and supportive of the overall goals of hunting conservation.
Pending what it turns out to be this could be a very good step in the right direction as far as identifying hunters as conservationists in a manner that might appeal to some of the green converts.
Anyway the fact that any of this is underway is a positive step. I hope that Botswana can set up a successful model for others to implement as this could be a great success for not only conservation but for hunters and hunting in general.
Please keep us up to date as you seem to have the best info on the subject.
Good hunting
Ian

OK Here we go again,

I think Lion Hunting should be baneed in all Natural occurring populations and only allowed where they are bred only for that puprpose and where there is no pride structure too iterfere with

Hi Walter
While this would invariably see the return of lions to their former numbers, it would greatly devalue some wildlife areas in terms of their ability to bring in foreign hunters. Many of these areas are only preserved because of the income generated by hunters.
I think that there is a compromise to be had. By educating hunters and safari operators, by enforcing stricter regulations, by studying the pride dynamics in an area and only culling based on research and only on chosen animals, by putting up the price on lions to sponsor greater research initiatives and better law enforcement and most importantly by hunters not accepting and being willing to shoot breeding males,; lion hunting can be conducted in a sustainable way and not effect the overall breeding ability that is inherently fragile due to the way lion pride interactions work. But we must be proud and willing to partake in a more expensive hunt but one with real conservation merit.
Each and every one of us is a hunter conservationist, this is not merely a name but a duty, unfortunately a duty that is being forgotten due to the might of the green back and the watering down of hunting ethics. Hunting is not a competition or a ego checklist, it is a priveledge that must be appreciated and nurtured by all. To me the choice is simple and in the interest of protecting our wilderness areas one that must be embraced by all.

If hunters are not willing to accept this responsibility then I do have to agree with you that the only lions that should and probably will be available for hunting are going to be project bread males excluded from the workings of the eco system.

This reality is indeed a sad one as it will cost us not only the lions but the wild place that they cohabit
With rights come responsibility. Act now to ensure the future viability of lion hunting.

First of all, basically no one actually hunts lions since they are the most expensive animal to hunt in Africa and WELL out of reach for even the well to do African Safari crowd.

Secondly, if hunters aren't killing off all the lions, who is? Poachers. There is no clearer example then Kenya. No hunter dollars = no conservation for wildlife.

Less paying hunters has never proven to be anything but a complete failure in Africa where money talks and nothing else works.

IN conversation with a RSA PH who comes each year to Ft. Worth to see clients and to work the Texas Trophy Hunters show he said that Bots. was getting an anti hunting Pres. and might eventually go non hunting period. Just his thoughts. He said that eventually RSA and Namibia would be about the only two places you could hunt for any reasonable fees, that the rest of hunting would be priced out of average Joe's budget.

Just his thoughts. I am just passing them on.