I have been unable to find many specifics, but have heard that as government hunting leases expire, they will not be renewed and only photographic safaris will be permitted.

I gather that privately owned game farms will still continue hunting indefinitely.

Can the forum members please fill me in on the situation there?

Thanks,
Geoff

Bots's President is in favor of shooting their game . . . but only with a camera. They are on a course that eliminates more and more hunting areas every year with a view toward eliminating hunting. In my opinion, annual closures and non renewals of the expiring leases will result in countrywide closure in the gov't areas with some small scale ranch hunting for PG only. It will take regime change to reopen the incredible elephant areas as well as the hunting of leopard and lion.

When their 200,000 Eles destroy the country.....and no wildlife is left to photograph....I guess they will still have diamonds.....

They don't have a clue about game managment.

[quote]They don't have a clue about game managment.

So true. Last year in CH8 I saw several very old bulls with broken ivory that should be removed as non-trophy eles. No one is going shoot a bull with no ivory at Botswana prices. Also, there was a very healthy population of Sable, but the quota was zero. On a positive note, I did see wild dogs for the first time.

Not to worry --

The President of Botswana is anti-hunting, but he's no fool. Hunting will not be permitted on the Delta in the end, to be sure, but a country-wide hunting ban won't be happening anytime soon.

Botswana - kill nothing, Zimbabwe - kill everything, Namibia - steer a middle course. No prizes for guessing which strategy will prove the most successful.

quote:

Originally posted by OldHandgunHunter:
Not to worry --

The President of Botswana is anti-hunting, but he's no fool. Hunting will not be permitted on the Delta in the end, to be sure, but a country-wide hunting ban won't be happening anytime soon.

That's encouraging, I agree he is no fool.

I guess no AR's or politicians have the gonads to look at the history that the great "no hunting" act in Kenya provides....

quote:

Originally posted by Tom In Tennessee:
I guess no AR's or politicians have the gonads to look at the history that the great "no hunting" act in Kenya provides....

I "know" from hearsay, a bit of reading and a tiny bit of common sense that Kenya's wildlife is in deep trouble, despite the grand no hunting acts. But can anyone point me, and others who regularly have to argue for the value of sustainable hunting in conservation, to a site where the FACTS about Kenya's [and other no-hunting countries'] records are accurately set out?

Thanks.

Andrew McLaren

Hunting as we know it will close at the end of 2012 when the last of the government leases expire . The government has stated as long ago as three years ago that at the expiry of the existing leases , no area that adjoins a national park , game reserve , forest reserve or international boundary will be renewed as a multiple use area ( no hunting ), we received this notification by mail from the Ministry of Wildlife and Tourism. The Hon. President of Botswana further advised at the annual Tourism Pitso that the hunting industry will not be closed down overnight. the closure is happening and should be complete by the end of next year. This being said the MWET has also stated that elephant hunting will continue under special dispensation, where how and when has not been revealed. All but 2 government concession leases have expired and all the re-newals so far have excluded hunting as a land use. More than 6 areas expired this year but have not been placed on re-tender as the management plans for the areas have not been completed but rumor has it they will exclude hunting anyway.Of concern is that there has been almost no response to this from any hunting club organization or lobby group , there has been a deafening silence on al fronts - almost a resigned acceptance of the fate of hunting in Africa ( I say Africa because Botswana is just the beginning ).
Game ranching hunting will continue as this is mostly private land but don't be misled that they to are also no under threat , government stance is not to allow any further conversions of cattle lands to game ranching.In spite of the fact that the remaining hunting areas are outside of the game rich Okavango and Chobe region and are not conducive to photo safaris , the government intends pressing on with only allowing photo tourism and if that fails the areas will probably buckle to political pressure to convert to cattle lands , all wildlife then been eliminated. Kenya being the example of what is to come , we all know Kenya has lost as much as 80% of it's wildlife since banning hunting , hunting the Tiger was banned in 1976 since then the numbers of wild tiger have declined to seriously endangered numbers but that does not stop the anti hunters from winning this war.

Safaris Botswana Bound:

How might this affect a friend's private land along the Limpopo in the Tuli Block? Would he and his friends still continue to hunt antelope there?

Bill Quimby

I have heard contradictory statements from others "in country" ... specifically that a 20km buffer zone around all national parks has been/will be instituted, where no hunting will be allowed. This leaves the remainder of the concessions operational. In addition, also a proviso that everyone recognizes that elephant hunting will have to continue regardless. And finally, on private land (fenced land) hunting will continue, although the economics will be adversely affected by the drying up of DG hunter numbers.

I have personally witnessed (as recently as last month) new game fences going up on cattle ranches, with land board approval. So it seems that the gov't has not put a moratorium on conversion of cattle ranches to game farming. And we (a partner and I) have a pending application to game fence a property near the delta - the application was accepted without any indication that there was a moratorium.

As recently as last year, the gov't proposed putting an 8km buffer zone along the Kuke vetinary fence, with all farms in that zone being converted to game farming only. That plan has now been revised but it's contrary to the "anti hunting" theory.

The cattle ranching industry in Botswana is in dire straights as repeated disease outbreaks have caused the EU to halt all beef imports ... cattle farmers can't market their animals. This has been an ongoing saga in Botswana for decades. So it would be foolish for the govt to promote cattle farming at the expense of game farming. Quite the contrary.

Thanks guys,
That is some most interesting and informative input, although somewhat conflicting. Perhaps it is better to be uncertain and hope that hunting will continue indefinitely.

In 1977, if I remember correctly, I was about to leave for a full bag hunt in Kenya when the government cancelled all hunting. That was one of life's biggest disappointments. I was with my PH who was vacationing in Hawaii when the bad new broke from Nairobi. He was more surprised than I. Sadly, he was killed by Somali poachers a little more than a month after his return. He was patrolling the concession himself since there were no hunting revenues to support his previously employed poacher patrol.

Hopefully, Botswana does not suffer the same fate as Kenya.

Geoff