Bad news coming out of Botswana. I received this letter from Johan Calitz Safaris earlier today. I hunted there in '06 and saw a ton of lions, but government officials feel it's time to impose a moratorium (again)on hunting them.

Bwana Moja
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Dear friends

it is with a heavy heart that we have to inform you that, once again, the Botswana Government has suspended lion hunting in the entire country for an unknown period of time.

Below, please find a letter received from Debbie Peake from Botswana Wildlife Management Association addressed to members, together with a short press release from the Government.

It goes without saying that concession holders, land owners, outfitters and other stakeholders in the hunting industry is not going to accept this lying down. We appeal to you to give BWMA and its members a chance to enter into negotiations with the powers-to-be in an attempt to get them to review this unexpected and unilateral decision. If you in any way can provide some constructive support, opinions, motivations etc., please feel free to let us have the same in writing as soon as possible. BWMA will gather all inputs and opinions from industry role-players and submit an appeal to the Minister without avail.

Having seen the national quota, it also seems as if the scissors were applied to leopard quotas, especially in the Kalahari regions.

We appeal to you not to act too hastily, until we are absolutely convinced that BWMA cannot get this arbitrary decision revoked.

We recommend rolling existing lion hunts secured by means of a deposit over to future dates in order of merit, depending on how long this moratorium is going to be in force

For those clients who have booked lion safaris with us in Botswana for 2008 and beyond, we hereby wish to give you the assurance that deposits will be refunded upon request. Those wishing to remain on a waiting list in order of merit (2008 clients rolling over to 2009, 2009 clients rolling over to 2010 etc., depending on when lion hunting can resume), we request that you indicate such choice to us in writing. Clients opting for a refund will unfortunately loose their place on the waiting list, should lion re-open in the near future.

Let us remain hopeful that good sense will prevail. We shall keep you informed of any new developments.

Kind regards


Tharia Unwin
JOHAN CALITZ SAFARIS

The official press release from the Republic of Botswana follows.
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PRESS RELEASE

SUSPENSION OF THE HUNTING OF LIONS


The Department of Wildlife and National Parks would like to inform the public that it is concerned by the number of lions killed in defence of livestock in certain areas of the country. As a precautionary measure, the Department has taken a decision not to issue any lion hunting quota until further notice.

The Department further wishes to assure the public that appropriate measures are being put in place to reverse the current trends.

I wonder what this will do to lion prices in Zambia.

the lions being killed in defense of livestock are being killed in the ranches in and around the Kalahari, where NO lion hunting is allowed anyway. the Okavanga, Caprivi, Chobe, etc. concessions where lion hunting actually takes place are separate lion populations with no crossover with the populations being killed. this whole deal smacks of an anti-hunting agenda or a cave-in to pressure from animal rights activists. once again African beauracrats demonstrate their general stupidity/incompetence

quote:

Originally posted by Lhook7:
I wonder what this will do to lion prices in Zambia.

I have a good idea what it will do to the prices in Zambia and everywhere else. I guess we will know in January when the safari shows roll around.

throw into the mix the basic closure of bred lion hunting in SA as from February next year, lions are going to become high $$$$ items.

trophy fees in zambia are going up by 50% next year

So much for unwilling Tanzania hunters who don't want to pay the new increased rates...

Jeff

500nitro,

Do you really think they are going to stop canned lions at once in SA ? That would be great but I really doubt it since our top government are corrupt how much are the guys at the bottom I'm sure it would take a while to take effect.

But in the end no matter what happens lions are going to become expensive and I wont be surprized if lions will surpass elephants in trophy fee no matter where you hunt them.

Bwana Moja, good thing your fine lion is in the salt.

Jdollar,

There actually is (or was prior to this new closure) lion hunting conducted in the Kalahari. To be specific, there are four government blocks that I know as recently as this year offerred one of the best trophy opportunities in Africa- the official block numbers are KD1, KD2, KD 12 and KD 15. And each block had a quota of 1 lion.

These were the lions that sold for 120K plus.

Regards,
JB

Safari hunt,

Corruption, here? never, just ask our estemmed president,

That's too bad and it will likely send ripples through the whole system. I got an email from Calitz's company this morning but no mention of the lion closing. Why would they consider reducing the leopard quota?

The African plot thickens. The dominos are falling.

I'm glad I went ahead and got my lion a few years ago, Bodington did a seminar at DSC a while back about hunting the big five, and predicted that a good lion was going to soon be the hardest of the big five to get; I had been putting it off for some time, but decided to go ahead and book while I had a chance. Looks like he may have been right. The doors are closing quickly for the average hunter.

quote:

Originally posted by jcbarth:
Jdollar,

There actually is (or was prior to this new closure) lion hunting conducted in the Kalahari. To be specific, there are four government blocks that I know as recently as this year offerred one of the best trophy opportunities in Africa- the official block numbers are KD1, KD2, KD 12 and KD 15. And each block had a quota of 1 lion.

These were the lions that sold for 120K plus.

Regards,
JB

4 government blocks with a total kill of 4 lions is not the same as the lions killed in defense of livestock in the cattle posts of the kalahari and certainly doesn't impact the population. technically you are correct that lion hunting does occur in the kalahari, but in practical terms(especially at $120k) there is basically no lion hunting in the areas where most lions are killed to protect livestock. this is just another example of corrupt government officials make game management decisions based on ulterior movements



where most lions are killed to protect livestock.

I've been to Botswana 3 times, each time the available quota, including plainesgame, has been smaller than before. I believe that Bots is heading towards a day when elephant is available, but anything else would have to come off a private ranch. In 1998 there were few private ranch hunts there, today it seems that everyone is into game ranching. If the only opportunity to hunt the Okavango Delta is a high ticket elephent hunt, we will have lost something special.

Yup-Thanks Paul. New DVD should be out by end of next month. Delta Royale: Botswana's Perfectly Shot Dangferous Game." simba, tembo, lechwe, eland, kudu, couple buffs, helluva bird shoot and much more.

Moja