The next Conference of the Parties to CITES (COP 15) takes place in Doha, Qatar from 13-25 March 2010.

The governments of Tanzania and Zambia have each submitted a proposal, for consideration at this meeting, that the elephant be down-listed from Appendix I to Appendix II within their countries, as both populations no longer meet the biological criteria for listing in Appendix I. That is:

1. The wild populations are not small.
2. The distribution is not restricted to an area and
3. The populations in the wild have increased considerably in the last two decades and continue to increase.

This video presentation http://www.safarinewsreel.com/blog/?p=660 summarizes the rationale behind their proposals. The DVD of this presentation has been sent to all of the CITES Authorities in the world and will also be featured on the next Safari Newsreel DVD which will come out with the next issue of the African Hunting Gazette.

John Jackson of Conservation Force has asked me to make the presentation public on the Safari Newsreel website so as to inform as many people as possible about Tanzania and Zambia's proposals. I ask all AR members to please spread the word to both hunters and non-hunters alike. Thanks.

Looks good mate... let's all hope it works!

Zig,

If it'll help, we'll be more than happy to carry a copy (free of charge) of the video on our website at www.shakariconnection.com to give it extra publicity for the cause.

All you gotta do is email me at shakari3@mweb.co.za and we'll be delighted to get it on the site asap.

Thanks Steve. I think that the hunting fraternity needs to be proactive, one step ahead of the antis. This is difficult with mainstream media against us although I did watch a program last night on Nat Geo wild which highlighted the anti-poaching work of the Friedkin Foundation (Tanzania Game Tracker Safaris) in Tanzania. It also mentioned that the wilderness areas featured in the program would not be there if it were not for hunting.

Thanks Steve, that would be much appreciated. I will email you in the morning, right now I can hear the handle of the Hansa draft machine at Crossways pub calling!!

Always a pleasure to be of help to hunters and hunting my friend.

As you say, we have a lot of anti propaganda to deal with and every little helps huh!

Good news.

Zig, email it to us and I will put it on the specials page of our website.

Thanks,

Greg

Greg

Thanks for that, I will email you and make a plan, the more exposure of this video we get the better.