INTERVIEW-Kenya says may lift ban on sport hunting
13 Jan 2006 11:18:11 GMT

Source: Reuters


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By Ed Stoddard

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Kenya may lift a 3-decade ban on sport hunting as part of a broader revamp of its wildlife policies, a senior official said on Friday.

Such a move could see foreign hunters target Kenyan lion, buffalo, and antelope species but would provoke resistance from animal welfare groups.

"We started a policy review in September last year on our entire wildlife policy, looking at a range of issues. The ban on hunting is one of those up for review and discussion," said Julius Kipng'etich, the director of Kenya Wildlife Service. "Hunting is one way of utilising wildlife but there are others," he told Reuters by phone from the sidelines of a lion conservation conference in Johannesburg.

Other ways include game viewing and bird watching in protected reserves, the main route that Kenya has been taking. The East African country has long been an icon of animal welfare groups because of its ban on the sport hunting of animals, imposed in 1977.

But that has made it the odd man out among game-rich African nations including neighbouring Tanzania, which have cashed in on the lucrative big game hunting industry.

Estimates suggest that foreign hunters bring about $165 million a year into South Africa's economy.

"Hunting is the most lucrative way of utilising wildlife and it has the least impact," said Laurence Frank, a researcher with the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society.

This is because foreign sport hunters tend to favour "trophies" which are usually older and non-breeding animals.

Local hunters often shoot for food. And with hunting, there are fewer people, vehicles and noise involved than when tourists visit game reserves so it can be less intrusive.

"Our job is to present facts on the table ... hunting is one of the issues we are looking at," said Kipng'etich, who would not be drawn on his own views on the subject.

"Much of our wildlife is outside of protected areas and local communities must get benefits from wildlife," he said.

IN HEMINGWAY'S STEPS

Foreign hunters with deep pockets would flock to the green hills of Kenya if the ban was lifted in the land where Ernest Hemingway made some of his famed shooting safaris.

But it would almost certainly provoke howls of protest from animal welfare groups which view hunting as cruel and have long held Kenya up as a model of ethical wildlife conservation.

Kipng'etich said Kenya remained staunchly opposed to attempts to loosen a ban on the global trade in ivory products, which it says is necessary to protect its 28,000 elephants from heavily armed poachers.

"Our elephant populations are still endangered largely because of our porous border with Somalia, where a lot of the poachers come from," he said.

"Other African countries don't have the same risks we face," he said in a reference to southern African countries which have long pushed to have regulated ivory sales.

Wonder how many animals are left?

......When pigs fly!

Rich Elliott

If I were an outfitter or PH I think I would be reluctant to try and open up Kenya. It's a snake pit of politics.

when have i heard that before

Kenya has overpopulations of elephants in some zones, and others where their numbers have been significantly hit by poaching. They enjoyed a disasterous attempt to move elephants from one of tehse areas to another one last year. At the same time, they are having their worst drought in 22 years, with increasing numbers of inroads by elephants on domestic agriculture. They're trying to herd elephants back to the parks with aircraft - an exercize they call "expensive."

Politics are volitile -- so are they in Zimbabwe. On the other hand, once the door is opened, hopefully it would be harder to shut it a second time.

Dan

quote:

"Hunting is the most lucrative way of utilising wildlife and it has the least impact," said Laurence Frank, a researcher with the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society.

This is because foreign sport hunters tend to favour "trophies" which are usually older and non-breeding animals.

Local hunters often shoot for food. And with hunting, there are fewer people, vehicles and noise involved than when tourists visit game reserves so it can be less intrusive.

Wow, must say I am impressed that an organization other than a hunting based group have figured this out!

IF this was to come off, then we all need to get behind the move and make it work.

There will be some huge problems to start with but this would be a fabulous opportunity to re-open a classic safari destination and, at the same time, prove the anti-hunters to be completely wrong (as we already know they are!).

Kenya's Elephants Suffering from Drought, Clash with People over Resources

January 13, 2006 — By Rodrique Ngowi, Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya — Elephants in Kenyan national parks and reserves are leaving their drought-stricken sanctuaries to search for water and food near human settlements, where they have attacked starving people trying to protect their crops. U.N. agencies have warned of hunger across the region because of drought and say the situation in eastern Kenya is particularly serious. People reportedly have died of hunger during what officials say is the country's worst drought in 22 years.

Connie Maina, spokeswoman for the Kenya Wildlife Services, said Thursday that elephants killed two people last week after leaving the Tsavo West National Park. Problems also have been reported in Lamu, Laikipia and Narok districts, she said.

Kenya Wildlife Services personnel have been deployed to several areas in response, she said.

"We are trying to do ground and air patrol to ensure that the problem animals do not cause any havoc and to try to drive the elephants back to the park," Maina said.

"This involves the use of a lot of vehicles and a helicopter that flies low and pushes them in the direction where we want them to go. It is a very expensive operation."

The drought has not killed wildlife, and conservation officials have not had problems with smaller animals.

"The situation is still manageable," Maina said.

African elephants are the largest living land mammals, weighing up to 6.5 tons. An elephant eats approximately 5 percent of its body weight and drinks about 30-50 gallons of water a day, according to the Africa Wildlife Foundation.

The foundation says there are between 300,000 and 600,000 elephants on the continent -- about half the estimated total of 40 years ago.

On Jan. 1, President Mwai Kibaki said food shortages would affect some 2.5 million Kenyans in northern districts, and he declared the crisis a national disaster.

The crisis hit as Kenya forecast a surplus harvest of nearly 69,000 tons of maize. Farmers in other parts of the country were waiting in lines for up to two weeks to sell their maize, the nation's staple food, to the national cereals board.

The Kibaki administration has been accused by lawmakers, citizens and the media of failing to respond effectively to the worsening situation in the north.

They say the government had adequate warning of the problem but seemed to respond only after media images in December moved the public to raise money and food for the affected people.

The head of the U.N. environment agency linked the drought to environmental damage to forests, grasslands, wetlands and other critical ecosystems as well as global climate change

Klaus Toepfer, who is based in Nairobi, urged countries in east Africa to invest in and rehabilitate their "natural or nature capital" to protect vulnerable communities against future droughts, which threaten misery for millions alongside livelihoods and livestock. He urged donor countries to help.

"Drought is no stranger to the peoples of East Africa. It is a natural climatic phenomenon. What has dramatically changed in recent decades is the ability of nature to supply essential services like water and moisture during hard times," Toepfer said, according to a statement from the U.N. Environment Program.

"This is because so much of nature's water and rain-supplying services have been damaged, destroyed or cleared."

He added: "These facts are especially poignant when you factor in the impact of climate change, which is triggering more extreme weather events like droughts."

Source: Associated Press

Elephants block highway
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Standard Team


A herd of elephants temporarily blocked the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway on Thursday morning after a Mombasa-bound bus knocked down a calf.

Police said the calf was knocked down as it was crossing the road at Man Eaters, a few kilometres from Manyatta in Voi division.

According to an official of Mombasa Liners, the bus that hit the animal at around 5.30am, other elephants to charge on the road, where they surrounded the carcass.

Passengers, who arrived in Mombasa on Thursday afternoon on the bus, said it was a scary spectacle as a herd of about 30 elephants stampeded on the road, making shrieking noises. "We were terrified. Our bus stopped just ahead after hitting the elephant and then the other animals turned back and started charging," said Abdul Said.

The bus had left Nairobi at 10.30pm on Wednesday night. The company said no one was injured in the incident. Other buses had to stop at the scene as the jumbos crowded on the road and tried to push the carcass with their trumpets.

Eyewitnesses said Kenya Wildlife Service rangers arrived had to shoot in the air to scare away the herd. They then removed the carcass from the road.

Over 50 buses, trucks and delivery vans had piled up on both sides of the road by the time the herd was driven away. Area residents later skinned the carcass and took away the meat.

Elsewhere, Meru town residents found a herd of elephants roaming freely around the streets on Thursday morning.

The five elephants were believed to have strayed from either the neighbouring Lower Imenti Forest or the Meru National Park overnight.