Local firm over-hunting wildlife at will? No govt response so far

April 14, 2009


THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam

A TOURIST hunting company based in Arusha has continued to be consistently linked to allegations of hunting wild animals beyond its licensed quota, but there appears to be little action taken by authorities to address the issue.

According to THISDAY investigations, the wildlife division in the Ministry of Tourism, and Natural Resources has yet to do anything about the allegations being leveled against Marera Safari Lodge and Tours (Tanzania) Limited.

This is despite increasing evidence that the firm has repeatedly breached hunting regulations, including overshooting of quota on animals such as zebras and lions, and using unlicensed professional hunters.

Our findings also strongly suggest that the Marera company is being protected by a once powerful ex-director of wildlife, in an alleged ’Godfather-like’ capacity.

Records show that the Arusha-based firm was last year fined 5m/- for overshooting zebras in the Pawaga-Idodi Wildlife Management Area (WMA) - known by its Kiswahili acronym of MBOMIPA � in Iringa District.

According to the Wildlife Conservation Act of 1974, the legal penalty for such an offence is imprisonment for a term of at least three years, plus a fine of up to 100,000/- if the court so wishes.

A report compiled by wildlife division officials last year indicated that Marera Safaris had confessed to killing eight zebras, instead of its maximum quota of four, during the July-December 2007 tourist hunting season.

The firm was penalized for the misconduct and paid 5m/-.

But according to documents availed to THISDAY by Pawaga-Idodi WMA community leaders, although Marera Safaris was given a hunting quota of two lions and eight zebras for the 2007 hunting season, the firm actually killed four lions and 13 zebras, thus surpassing its licensed quota by far.

According to another report prepared by two local game scouts and submitted to the Iringa District Game Officer in April 2008, four lions were killed between July 30 and December 31, 2007 by American tourists using permit numbers 19327, 17437, 19066 and 17697.

The report says the lions were killed in the Mdekwa, Igawa Lunda South and Kibaoni Lunda South areas.

It is believed that the Iringa District Game Officer identified as Kassim Luvanga, who was supposed to supervize the hunting activities, witnessed the overshooting done by Marera Safaris, but did not report this anomaly to relevant authorities.

Luvanga is now himself facing charges of illegal hunting, whereby it is alleged that he personally hunted and killed a female dik dik during the hunting off-season early this year.

He is also alleged to have been found in possession of a shotgun firearm, contrary to the law.

Luvanga, along with two accomplices, were carrying animal carcasses in a government-owned motor vehicle when they were arrested by village game scouts at midnight on January 10 this year, at the Lunda zone roadblock

There are further reports that Marera Safaris also used two unlicensed professional hunters in 2007, contrary to the law, and furthermore breached the hunting contract it had with MBOMIPA with the aim of giving itself enough leeway to continue conducting tourist hunting activities in the Pawaga-Idodi WMA.

Still, no indictments have been made by the government so far over these alleged breaches of the law at hand.

To the contrary, hunting industry sources say it is MBOMIPA now being pressured by wildlife division authorities to allow Marera Safaris to continue to operate in the area.

In a further twist to the saga, a file containing key documents that detailed alleged illegal hunting activities by Marera Safaris was reportedly stolen from the Pawaga-Idodi WMA offices in June last year.

The reported disappearance of the file came amid reports that the company had been let off the hook by Iringa District authorities despite the piling allegations against it.

Marera Safaris Lodge and Tours (T) Limited Managing Director, Hilary Daffi, has meanwhile denied the allegations being made against the company.

’’The area in which we are operating is one of the most potentially-lucrative hunting blocks in the country. There is therefore pressure from some other hunters who want to remove me from the area,’’ asserted Daffi when contacted for comment.

if every firm pays a fine for overshooting , there will be no game left i mean a $5,000 fine is nothing compared to what the company probably sold the safari at.Lets not forget unlicensed PHs thats putting clients at risk, like they say you pay peanuts you get peanuts. Its people like Hillary that destroy something that has taken years to build up and makes you think will there be a future in hunting with people like this around??

quote:

Originally posted by Ndorobo:
if every firm pays a fine for overshooting , there will be no game left i mean a $5,000 fine is nothing compared to what the company probably sold the safari at.Lets not forget unlicensed PHs thats putting clients at risk, like they say you pay peanuts you get peanuts. Its people like Hillary that destroy something that has taken years to build up and makes you think will there be a future in hunting with people like this around??

and if he pleads innocence, why did he agree to pay the fine

youre absolutely right bwanamich

This story is old and was disputed. A rival safari company was apparently slandering Hillary. There was to my knowledge previously shown to be no merit to this story.

Jeff

then why would one pay the pay if he was not guilty????? Its good for people to understand the truth about certain outfitters. The proof was there including license numbers. having being born in tanzania it annoys me to know that people like this dont think of tomorrow, but only think of today. Will there be any game in hillarys area in 10 years??? NO so all the above are facts!

Isn't that the typical African mentality?

BB,

Was the rebuff in another news article? I definetely missed that one!

I'll bet you a steak dinner Marera Tours were up to something they shouldn't have been doing. This doesn't mean that there isn't a "turf war" going on but hey, that is just pure convenience.

Mich,

This waas months ago and supposedly preptrated by a companty thathunts a concession bordering Ikili.

I don't know what is true and what is not true. I know that newspapers are not necessarily accurate sources of information in this country. I would think that the same is true in Tanzania.

I was there in 07. I did NOT take a lion. Nor did my son. Accordingly, it was clearly not our hunt that the article is referring to. There was not a single thing shot over what was allowed on license while were were there.

There were hunters before us. I saw their skins and trophies. I didn't see an excessive number of zebra. I do remember seeing at least one nice lion.

I am told by multiple sources that one safari company has it in for Hilary and is causing him all sorts of trouble. Hilary personally offered to give me the names of people to call in the game department to check this out.

I know the people that were there before us. They absolutely did not shoot too many zebras. I know the people that were there after us. They absolutely did not shoot too many zebras. What happened after that, I have no idea.

I need more than a newspaper article before I condemn Hilary.

i think its wrong how people protect this man and have no idea of the truth. Ive been hunting in lunda area for many, many years and that is why i have a personal interest in this case. The facts are there, READ THEM!! Hassanali and davidi horsley did their PH exam in 2008 so how did they guide a hunt in 2007 and here is the proof they hunted with mr shores and hes son. Im not saying mr shores did anything wrong he had no knowledge whatsoever. But get a hold of the game department and ask them for a list of all candidates. If you want i will give you all the phone numbers you need.
Bwana Bunduki you keep on blaming this other company what proof do yuou have??? Word of mouth? I can not believe you would be so naive in this matter. If the papers had not gone into details then maybe, BUT they gave license numbers and client names, What other proof do you want? People need to stop protecting outfitters that do bad to the industry and jeopardize the future of hunting for everyone.

quote:

Originally posted by Ndorobo:
i think its wrong how people protect this man and have no idea of the truth. Ive been hunting in lunda area for many, many years and that is why i have a personal interest in this case. The facts are there, READ THEM!! Hassanali and davidi horsley did their PH exam in 2008 so how did they guide a hunt in 2007 and here is the proof they hunted with mr shores and hes son. Im not saying mr shores did anything wrong he had no knowledge whatsoever. But get a hold of the game department and ask them for a list of all candidates. If you want i will give you all the phone numbers you need.
Bwana Bunduki you keep on blaming this other company what proof do yuou have??? Word of mouth? I can not believe you would be so naive in this matter. If the papers had not gone into details then maybe, BUT they gave license numbers and client names, What other proof do you want? People need to stop protecting outfitters that do bad to the industry and jeopardize the future of hunting for everyone.

Very interesting. If David Horsely got his PH license in 2008, then how come we hear stories of him guiding earlier than that?

quote:

Very interesting. If David Horsely got his PH license in 2008, then how come we hear stories of him guiding earlier than that?

Miracle Africa !

Seloushunter

I remember hearing a story of him guiding on a lion hunt, and they wounded it.

Another PH had to go afterwards and finish it off.

That definitely happened before 2008.

that is why we have forums like accuratereloading to let people know of the truth.

Ndorobo,

Why not enlighten us? Along with provideing your name and company you hunt for provide us with the client's names, dates perhaps scanned documents of the permits in question. There is more to this story than Hillary Daffi.

In my 14 trips to Africa, I don't think I have ever asked to see a PH's license. I had heard of David Horsley before. It never occurred to me that either David or Hassanali Ladak were not licensed. They were nice guys and hard workers. If I had a complaint about their skills, it would be that one of them builds blinds too close to the lion baits. He falls asleep quickly in the blind and snores very loudly. It was so loud it cause me to jokingly accuse him of trying to call the lions in.

I was told from some government guy (I can't remember his name but he was really fat) that 07 was the first year that Lunda was hunted. How could it have been hunted many years before? I strongly suspect that the USANGU people were poaching it for some time. We in fact caught them poaching on the first day of our hunt. We saw Zahir Mulla, 2 clients from Vegas, a game scout, trackers etc about 2 miles inside our concession shortly after lunch the first day of our hunt. Game scouts subsequently caught them trying to reenter the area. I previously posted about this in 07.

As for these game law violations of shooting over the quota, all I can say is that it absolutely did not happen on our hunt. We took no lions at all and only the alloted number of zebra. I know the parties before and after us. If they had shot that many Zebra, they would have told me.

I also specifically remember one day that I had a mediocre lesser kudu in my sights. Hilary recommended AGAINST shooting as they had such a small number on quota. It was not worth wasting the quota on such an animal.

The one thing I do know that they did was one guy shot a cobra. He skinned it and took it in his carry on bag. I am guessing that is a problem but I don't know that for fact. Even if it is problematic, it seems minor to me.

Again, I don't know every single thing that happened. I wasn't there for all of the hunts. I don't think that the newpapers are a reliable source of accurate information. If I remember correctly, one of those carried a story about the abduction of villagers by aliens a couple of year ago when the trophy fee fiasco was going on. Source documents (not newspapers) could shed a lot of light on this matter.

Ndorobo,

Again so we are clear and the playing field is level we need the following things to happen:

First identify yourself by name and the company you work for. To skewer a mans reputation anonomously is poor form.

Second identify your company's interest or lack thereof in Hilary Daffi's Lunda concession.

Third please provide actual documents or letters from the Game department to back up your accusations. Newspapers and especially African newspapers are hardly worth consideration as "evidence" for attempting to destroy a mans reputation.

I consider Hilary a friend and will stand up for him. If he truly is guilty well shame on him.

In case you can't tell, I am calling you out. Either post accurate info or drop it.

Jeff Sevor

well jeff, who i am is not important as tanzania is a small industry and by revealing myself this would limit what i can say and post. all i can say is i live in iringa and have no personal interest except that ive done resident hunting in lunda. BUT its facts youre after then no problem i will get a hold of the permits scan them and post them. Not only that but i will post hes quota as well. Give me a little time and i will post everything.This story is all about hillary daffi for the rest of you guys to realise whats going on.Once i post the documents i wont need to bring him up anymore.
Mr shores lunda has been open to resident hunting for over 50 years tourist hunting is what started in 2007.

Bwana Bunduki,

I take your point about identity etc, but y'know, you hardly identify yourself either. Until yesterday, all your signature line said was Jeff and even now, and although you've added a surname(?), there's still no mention of what country you're from or living in.

Personally, I think it's only polite to fill in the profile details as much as possible. As the old saying goes, what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Jeff,
I hope you stand by your own words when the evidence is revealed

Where is the Lunda concession?

Borders the Ruaha park.

I will await the promised information.

Steve, I live in Florida USA and have no vested interest in the safari industry. I am attempting to stand up for a mate who is being railed on here. If you are that interested in who I am and what I am about then Google my name.

I still think disclosure by the fanners of said flames should be in order. I can post my SSN and passport number if that is necessary to stick up for someone.

Mich, be not afraid my friend, I always stand by my word.
Jeff Sevor

Jeff,

I hope you didn't think I was having a pop at you.....That wasn't my intention. I was just pointing out that your profile didn't tell us much about who you were and where you were from etc.

I'm a great believer in loyalty and sticking up for your friends in theirtime of need. Who's right in this, I don't know but there's bugger all wrong with defending a buddy!

Steve,

No worries, Ijust never filled in my profile. I also am not smart enough to post an avatar picture. I do aspire to be a computer wizard some day. I stick up for my friends. If I am wrong it will be on me.

Jeff

Jeff and I are in the same boat. We both hunt a lot. We live in the same area. We have been on the same deer lease in Florida. We have both hunted with Hilary and did not experience what is being alleged. In fact I experienced just the opposite.

For example, I took my oldest son on a 21 day hunt with Hilary as his college graduation present . Well he was excited. I had arranged for him to shoot leopard but not lion. After Ryan got his leopard, I saw the look in his eyes. He was happy. I got Hilary aside and told his I would buy a lion for Ryan if one was available. Hilary told me that no more quota was available. That was the end of the discussion.

If Hilary did something wrong, fine. But it isn't what I experienced.

ok im having problems posting the documents so im going to ask bwanamich to help me out by posting them for me as hes done this before. thx

quote:

Originally posted by Ndorobo:
ok im having problems posting the documents so im going to ask bwanamich to help me out by posting them for me as hes done this before. thx

You can email them to me, I will be happy to post them for you.

Ndorobo,

I hope you can post propoer documents. I also feel you should disclose your identity and your KEEN interest in the Lunda concessions. If you have the stones to criticize a man, have the stones to do it under your own name.

Jeff Sevor

thx saeed but the internet is so slow here and ive got about eight documents to show. im trying to send it but its taking me forever. So im trying to set up something else. I asked people to be patient and i will show you everything. Bwana bunduki it doesnt make a differnce who i am, as long as i back up what i say with documents.I see we are getting a little impatient i told you to give me a little time. I have the documents in my hands its just me figuring out how to post them. U seem worried!

Ndorobo,

YOU don't answer direct questions. FULL DISCLOSURE from both you and Mich are in order here.

Hey BB,
Don't drag me in your fight with Ndorobo. He asked me if I could help him post the documents as he is new on this forum. I said I would on his behalf. Till now, I have not received anything from Ndorobo. Saeed has offered the same.

I don't think Jeff seems worried at all. In this country, one has a right to know who their accuser is. It is easy to accuse someone anonymously from a computer. All he is asking is to identify yourself.

If someone was accusing you of something, would you want to know who they were?

Unfortunately, the hunting business is full of jealously and backstabbing. Personally, I don't like it. There is a booking agent here in my city that I will never book a hunt with because he is always talking bad about every company he doesn't book for.

I am not saying that Hilary is without guilt. I personally witnessed just the opposite of what he is accused of. I saw no evidence of what he is being accused of. Before I form an opinion, I need more than an article in a Tanzania newspaper. I need more than accusation from an anonymous source.

The reluctance of a person to identify themselves does make me suspicious. I think most people would feel that way.

I agree 100%. How do you expect anyone to take what you say seriously if you remain anonymous? As to posting the documents on the internet...Forgery of official documents is commonplace in Africa. And where are they anyway? Surely the internet is not as slow there as it is here? It should be much faster - you are closer to the first world.

David

David:

Right you are. I am reminded of Mike Wallace of 60 minutes fame going to Nigeria. In less than a half hour, he had a Nigerian passport. He did it all on camera. His papers indicated he was black and he certainly wasn't.

Ndorobo,

What ever you chose to post will be thoroughly researched with the appropriate persons in the Department of Wildlife.

Mich, My only suggestion for you was full disclosure.

This is no fight at all. I am only putting up a spirited defense for a mate. No offense on my part at all.

Again there is way TOO KEEN an interest in the goings on regarding the Lunda Concessions specifically. WHY?

Where was the righteous indignation when Usangu Safari's et al was running their bushmeat business?

So many unanswered questions.

Jeff

.

Doc.1
Doc.2

The above documents are from MBOMIPA which is the association that runs Lunda WMA.

The first document is in Kiswahili and basically explains what company is hunting in the area, in this case Marera Safaris. On the second document there are two tables, the first shows what was shot for 2007 whilst the second table shows the quota for 2007 for Marera safaris. As you can see Lion has been overshot as well as Zebra. The remainder of this document is not releveant to our case and I therefore did not post it.

http://i572.photobucket.com/al.../Ndorobo/License.jpg
http://i572.photobucket.com/al...Ndorobo/Save0050.jpg
http://i572.photobucket.com/al...Ndorobo/Save0048.jpg
http://i572.photobucket.com/al...Ndorobo/Save0047.jpg

The four above listed hunting permits all belong to clients who have hunted with Hillary Daffi in Lunda in 2007. The names are not as clear on the top of the document as this is the yellow carbon copy. What is important is the license number which is on the top right hand corner. These papers clearly show FOUR, instead of TWO lions that were shot in 2007 in an area of 160km2 which is a DISGRACE!!!

http://i572.photobucket.com/al...Ndorobo/Save0043.jpg

The above document is a signed and stamped report from the secretary of MBOMIPA clearly showing the license numbers and names of clients who hunted the Lunda Concession in 2007. The numbers on the above documents can also be linked to and compared with the numbers on the hunting permits I linked prior to the above documents.

All the above linked documents are official papers from the MPOMIPA. I understand that a lot of the information given is in Swahili, however considering the doubts over the authenticity of what I had yet to post I thought it better to leave them be as they were (feel free though to check up with the relevant authorities). If however anyone needs or wants an explanation on something, there are enough people on this forum who speak and understand enough Kiswahili to be of help.

Regarding the unlicensed PH's you can get a list from the Tanzanian wildlife department, which clearly shows the PH's in question only sat their PH exams LAST YEAR, whilst already actively hunting in Tanzania in 2007.

Finally regarding my anonymity. I am free to post and say what I want under whichever name. At the end of the day the most important thing is that you see these documents and this entire issue for what they are and it is. Mark Felt stayed anonymous for THIRTY years after he exposed the watergate scandal and NO ONE can deny that despite his anonymity his comments were taken very seriously indeed!!!! Once again, I have been hunting in Lunda for many years as a RESIDENT HUNTER and seeing an area like that being destroyed in such a criminal manner is the sole reason for me to try and expose this man for what he truly is.

Please note: The game licenses posted above have been downscaled from A3 to A4 for the sake of simplicity.