No more cheetah trophy hunting permits for 2009, with effect from 24 April 2009.

In 2008, 189 cheetahs were legally trophy hunted, while the annual CITES trophy export quota for cheetah is 150.
Due to a spill over from 2007, only 58 trophies out of 189 were exported last year, with the remaining 131 trophies spilling over to this year.
This year, atleast 21 cheetahs have already been hunted.
To address the problem, the Permit Office of MET will stop issuing cheetah permits for the rest of 2009.

Luckily I took out my client's permit at the beginning of the year, as I did with the leopard and other permits, to cater for exactly this eventuality.

That is an awfully good plan. Already many game ranchers shoot them on sight and simply brush them. Now that they are not issueing permits all the ranchers can join in that plan.LOL

Cheeta eat impala and springbok, steenbok and a host of other small antelope. To a game rancher that is the same as eating stock for a cattle rancher. It is taking money out of their pockets.

I am sure there are some who are sympathetic enough to allow some loses to cheeta but I also know that many see them as vermin. This is especially true of the ones that cater mostly to US hunters since we are not able to import them and thus not too keen to pay a trophy fee.

How will it be next year ?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by eyedoc:
Cheeta eat impala and springbok, steenbok and a host of other small antelope.QUOTE]

Under the umbrella of small antelope, include young sable, kudu, et. al.

I saw a cheetah take down a young kudu in Zimbabwe. Rat bastard sat there at 75 yards and hissed at us when we got too close. He was lucky they were not exportable to the US from Zimbabwe as I could have shot him for a trophy fee.

Some of the cheetah stories I was told by several PH's makes you wonder why they aren't extinct.

Farmers kill at least 500 per year in Namibia. Trophy hunters are allowed 150. The Namibian government should try and up it to 300 at least. And try and get the US F&W to let them export them to the US. Otherwise cheetah WILL be extinct in 10 years.

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How will it be next year ?

csxcs, they will start issuing permits next year agin, but might put the brake on early again, so if you plan to hunt one next year, let your PH/ hunting guide take out a permit as soon as possible.

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I saw a cheetah take down a young kudu in Zimbabwe. Rat bastard sat there at 75 yards and hissed at us when we got too close. He was lucky they were not exportable to the US from Zimbabwe as I could have shot him for a trophy fee.

Geez, man, get a grip. You seem to be taking it personally that a predator has to eat.

It is unfortunate that the "cheetah lady" in Namibia is contributing to screwing up any real efforts at population management. Hard to blame the rancher for shooting a cheetah when they have almost no value to him for trophy hunting. OTOH, award them a high dollar government trophy fee, split with the land owner, and use science not emotions to control the harvest and everyone including the animals will be better off.

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OTOH, award them a high dollar government trophy fee, split with the land owner, and use science not emotions to control the harvest and everyone including the animals will be better off.

I have said that for a long time, also for leopard, as to a stock farmer, where I hunt a huge percentage of my cats, they have zero value. As a interesting side- story, one of the cattle ranches where I hunt cats, used to shoot them on sight. The farmer's wife now makes him phone me when he finds tracks, because I pay them well.

"Geez, man, get a grip. You seem to be taking it personally that a predator has to eat."

I assure you I haven't lost my "grip".

As to being personal perhaps, I was hunting kudu in prime kudu habitat at a not insignificant daily rate and that cat had spooked everything off. It wasn't the first time during that hunt and it's just one of the things that make them oh so lovable.

I hunted in Botswana for Leopard and was told by the landowner to shoot all cheetah on sight. I saw several, but didn't shoot. The ranchers consider them vermin and I was told by this landowner along with other family members that all ranchers shoot them even though it is illegal. The same goes for wild dogs. Neither are allowed to be legally sport hunted in Botswana.

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Neither are allowed to be legally sport hunted in Botswana.

They do have a CITES quota of 50/ year though.