It was announced today on the radio that Leopard hunting in Zambia is open again. And Lion will open next year.

Awesome!!!

Thanks Thor,
Sitting out in the bush with Internet only.
Great news,
Cheers,
Sylvia.

Nice!

Guys,

Heard the same from Laura Du Plooy about 10 minutes ago. Excellent news. No leopards hunted for two years. One can only imagine how good it will be this season.

Mark

Do you have a link/source?

quote:

Originally posted by jeff32:
Do you have a link/source?

Nevermind. SCI just put out this release:

Zambia Lifts Big Cat Hunting Ban

According to an article published May 15, 2015 by the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, the government of Zambia has just lifted its two year ban on the hunting of lions and other big cats. The announcement was made by Zambia’s Minister of Tourism, Jean Kapata at a press conference in Lusaka. Ms. Kapata explained that leopard hunting will resume during the 2015/2016 season with “cautionary quotas.” Lion hunting will resume the following year, in the 2016/2017 season.

Zambia has not permitted the hunting of lions and other big cats since January of 2013. Since that time, SCI and the SCI Foundation have worked with Zambia to end the hunting ban. In February of 2013, SCI and the SCI Foundation invited Zambia’s Minister of Tourism and Arts to attend SCI’s annual convention and to address SCI’s Board of Directors. In the fall of 2013, the SCI Foundation held its annual African Wildlife Consultative Forum in Zambia, during which Zambia’s lion and other wildlife conservation and management concerns were a major topic of discussion between the attending representatives of African governments, professional hunting organizations and conservation organizations.

SCI commends Zambia for this important development in its approach to lion and big cat conservation and its recognition that hunting plays a valuable role in the sustainable management and conservation of these species. SCI looks forward to continuing to work with Zambia and the Zambian Wildlife Authority to make certain that scientifically supported lion and big cat hunting remain open. SCI will continue to provide updates as they become available.

That is just great
Now we just have to reeducate rest of Africa about renewable resources

Great news for Andrew!

Awesome!

Nice to chalk up a "win" for a change. This sport/passion has seen plenty of setbacks in the past 5+ years. Good job Zambia.

Great news Guess there will be some fantastic cat hunting in Zambia after the ban.

Let's hope Botswana is next w/elephants. Lord knows they have some!

And then start farming rhino horns like sheep wool (and move some to Texas) and we'll be golden!

Great news for the Zambia boys. They need this after what they've been going through.

Great news Thor! Last time I hunted there we could not bait for hyenas for all the bloody leopard on our carcasses! How is that for a turn of fortunes!

Great news for sustainable use conservation.

good news

http://www.huntingreport.com/w...te.cfm?articleid=718



Zambia Lifts Leopard and Lion Hunting Ban; Area Contracts Signed

(posted May 15, 2015)

Zambia has lifted the ban on leopard and lion hunting effective today. Minister of Arts and Tourism Jean Kapata made the announcement this morning. Quotas for leopard will be made available immediately for 2015. Quotas for lion will not be available until 2016.

All of the operators with concessions in Zambia may request their quotas for leopard today and should be able to conduct hunts this season. Those operators will include the ones who have signed contracts for the areas that were reallocated in March. While a number of those allocations are currently in dispute, we have confirmed the following operators have signed leases and will be operating this season:
Peter Chipman of Kwalata Safaris, booked by Wes Hixon Outdoor Adventures (800-550-5125; Email: weshixon@weshixon.com) has Lower Lupande.

John du Plooy of Muchinga Adventures (johndp@zamnet.zm; www.munchingaadventures.com) has signed for Chifunda GMA in northern Luangwa. Hunting Consortium (hunt@huntcon.com) books for Muchinga Adventures in the US.
Jeff Rann of Rann Safaris (830-426-3476; rannsafaris.maun@gmail.com or 777ranch777@gmail.com) has signed a lease for Chikwa / Fulaza in northern Luangwa Valley.
Here at The Hunting Report, we've known an announcement on the cat hunting was imminent and we're indebted to Peter Chipman and his US agent Wes Hixon for sharing the breaking news with us. If you've been waiting on the reopening of leopard and lion in Zambia, call your preferred operator for information on openings.

Get important news bulletins like this sent directly to your email 24 hours before anyone else sees them, plus unlimited access to our database of hunt reports and past articles, a special expanded electronic version of our newsletter and more! Upgrade your Hunting Report subscription to Email Extra today. Click here for more information.

Kapata lifts ban on hunting big cats

By Abel Mboozi | Updated: 16 May,2015 ,12:36:49 |

TOURISM and arts minister Jean Kapata has with immediate effect lifted the ban on hunting of lions and other big cats enforced in January 2013, but cautioned that hunting should only resume next year.

Kapata said safari hunting was profitable and good for off-take of wildlife and could benefit the whole country if well nurtured.

“The main thrust to safari hunting in Zambia is the cat hunting, which involves the hunting of the lion and leopard and that suspension of the hunting in the 19 blocs greatly affected the wildlife resources as well as the livelihood of the locals in the game management,” she said in a statement issued by ZAWA public relations officer Sakabilo Kalembwe.

Kapata said government’s move to ban the hunting of lions and other cats in 2013 had a good basis with a background of weak regulatory mechanisms.

“Some problems that led to the ban included declining lion populations in some areas due to over-harvesting, hunting of underage lions and depleting of the lion habitats,” she explained.
“I am lifting the ban on the following conditions; the guidelines are drafted into statutory instrument so that they become part of the wildlife law; lion hunting should only resume in the 2016-2017 hunting season and not this year.”

Kapata said only leopard hunting would resume this 2015-2016 hunting season but with “very cautionary quotas”.

She noted that the leopard population was and is still healthy, but that hunting of this type of cat was equally stopped because lapses in monitoring aspects, hitches which have now been rectified.

“Government convened experts in the region to assess the status of cats in Zambia and advise on the way forward. Based on the advice given and fresh information from the field, ZAWA has produced documentation that describes the status of the lions in Zambia and prescribed guidelines that will be used to regulate cat hunting in Zambia,” said Kapata. “Some of the regulatory methods are currently being used in Tanzania, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. These have been found to be effective. We are certain as a government that the methods will be useful in the regulation of cat hunting in Zambia.”

- See more at: http://www.postzambia.com/news...sthash.EB5CTrgT.dpuf

quote:

Originally posted by Wowo:
Awesome!!!

You have great timing. Next time you buy some stocks, feel free to let me know.

Good to hear

Zambia, here we come!

The land of 300 lb. Leopards.

Well, I can dream...

quote:

Originally posted by poacher458:
It was announced today on the radio that Leopard hunting in Zambia is open again. And Lion will open next year.

Upper and Lower Lupande in the Luangwa Valley, and Andrew's area in the West would be my three top choices!

.......................................................................

Anyone know who has Luawata?

Good Morning Nyati,
Ouch, you need to get the facts from someone in the know. Luawata GMA was indeed awarded to Sitatunga Safaris, but Nyaminga GMA did not go to them, in fact it was awarded to Paya Kakuli Safaris.
What is correct is that Derick van Staden has been appointed the Resident PH in Luawata & will be doing safaris in both areas, together with other PH's, as required. Sylvia van Staden is the marketing agent for both areas & will oversee the management of both camps.
As for the courtcase, I suggest you attend the hearings in order to get first hand information on the matter, as assumption or hearsay can be a dangerous thing.
Having said all that, let us all work together to make Zambia the most awesome hunting destination that it is, do not hesitate to contact me,should you want to book a safari in either of these areas.
sylviainafrica@gmail.com

quote:

Originally posted by surefire7:
Zambia, here we come!

The land of 300 lb. Leopards.

Well, I can dream...

Or even just a big Leopard.

Andrew, I can't wait to hunt with you again this summer. May we be lucky enough to run into a cat like that one!!