Well, the allegations in this article are more than just a little awkward. ~ Alan


CIO chief among ZANU PF officials linked to illegal hunting in Zimbabwe

http://www.swradioafrica.com/2...egal-hunting-in-zim/

Zimbabwe’s head of the notorious Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), and other key ZANU PF officials, have been linked to years of illegal hunting in the country’s conservancies, which is said to have been a key source of revenue for the party.

CIO Director Happyton Bonyongwe was named in a confidential diplomatic cable, created in 2008 by then US Ambassador James McGee, who warned that hunting “has long been a source of ill-gotten revenue for members of the ZANU PF elite, and given the ongoing resource grab, it is not surprising that new hunting schemes have developed to supply the elites with forex.”

The cable, released by the online whistleblower WikiLeaks, claimed that the government was indiscriminately issuing hunting licences in the country’s national parks, with a devastating impact on Zimbabwe’s protected wildlife species. At the time the illicit parcelling out of hunting licences was linked to ZANU PF’s plans to secure as much of a grip on resources as possible before it faced the MDC in elections.

A small group of hunters and safari operators were allegedly consistently involved in the illegal hunting practices. The diplomatic cable named professional hunters like Guy Whitall, Tim Schultz of African Dream Safaris, Headman Sibanda and Wayne Grant of Nyala Safaris, Evans Makanza, Alan Shearing, Buzz Charlton and James Macullam of Charlton Macullum Safaris, A.J. Van Heerden of Shashe Safaris, Barry Van Heerden of Big Game Safaris, and Lawrence Boha.

According to the US embassy, numerous conservationists had suggested that the Van Heerden brothers were involved in suspicious hunting and land deals with the CIO’s Bonyongwe.

McGee warned in the cable that, “this ongoing struggle over greed, ill-gotten forex, and natural resource management is just one more result of the continued political impasse in Zimbabwe.”

The cable was a warning of things to come and illegal hunting practices have since been ‘normalised’ through the ZANU PF led indigenisation campaign. National Parks in August this year issued hunting permits to 25 so-called indigenous ‘farmers’ who were given land in the wildlife-rich Save Valley Conservancy in the Lowveld. National Parks director general Vitalis Chadenga, said this was part of the government’s ‘wildlife based land reform’ exercise, saying beneficiaries have been allocated 25-year land leases in conservancies throughout Masvingo province.

Included in the list of beneficiaries are top ZANU PF officials and loyalists, such as Masvingo Governor Titus Maluleke, former Gutu South legislator Shuvai Mahofa and the late Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Stan Mudenge.

The Masvingo Governor and other key MPs have since last year been spearheading a ZANU PF led campaign of ‘indigenisation’ in the province, dubbed the ‘Masvingo Initiative’, with the intention of grabbing land. Former governor Josiah Hungwe, former MP Enock Porusingazi, army boss Engelbert Rugeje, and former MP and war vet Shuvai Mahofa, were last year also fingered by whistleblower website WikiLeaks as being part of the Masvingo land grab.

The Save Valley Conservancy has called the handover of the new hunting licenses a ‘criminal act’ that has nothing to do with genuine indigenisation efforts. Johnny Rodrigues, the head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that the licences need to be revoked.

“Actually, we believe that hunting needs to be suspended for three years to do a proper audit and to put some controls in place. Otherwise, we are heading towards doom,” Rodrigues warned.

He added that a senior government official is believed to have quietly stepped in to stop the ongoing takeover of the conservancies, “so we will see what will happen in the next few weeks.

WOW! SERIOUSLY, WOW! Some names, yes, others, oh boy??

This is going to get awfully interesting. Awkward, yes, but interesting.

Ouch!

Smells like Bull Shit.

Greenie Bull Shit.

Here's the full cable I found.




Full cable:



Viewing cable 08HARARE956, QUIET DIPLOMACY" SUSPENDS ELEPHANT HUNTING IN

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Reference ID
Created
Released
Classification
Origin

08HARARE956
2008-10-23 10:25
2011-08-30 01:44
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Harare


VZCZCXRO2250

OO RUEHDU RUEHHM RUEHMR RUEHPB RUEHRN RUEHTM

DE RUEHSB #0956/01 2971025

ZNY CCCCC ZZH

O 231025Z OCT 08

FM AMEMBASSY HARARE

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3599

INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE

RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2543

RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE

RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HARARE 000956



SIPDIS



OES FOR A/S CLAUDIA MCMURRAY

AF/S FOR B. WALCH

DRL FOR N. WILETT

CA FOR ELIZABETH GRACON

ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU

ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS

STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E. LOKEN AND L. DOBBINS

STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN



E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2018

TAGS: SENV PREL ASEC PHUM KDEM ZI

SUBJECT: "QUIET DIPLOMACY" SUSPENDS ELEPHANT HUNTING IN

NATIONAL PARKS - FOR NOW



REF: HARARE 863



Classified By: Ambassador James D. McGee for reason 1.4(d).



-------

SUMMARY

-------



¶1. (C) After issuing commercial hunters hundreds of

questionable permits for elephant hunting in national parks,

the Zimbabwean Parks and Wildlife Authority (Parks) has

agreed, under pressure from photographic tour operators, to

suspend the hunting. The operation, which only lasted a few

weeks, appears to have failed as hunters and Parks staff

killed animals larger than allowed and outside the parameters

Parks set. Photographic safari operators and

conservationists agree that Zimbabwe's burgeoning elephant

population should be managed, but Parks' get-rich, quick-fix

strategy was poorly implemented, involved professional

hunting guides of questionable ethics and connections, and

was ecologically unsound. While photographic safari

operators believe the hunts will likely resume in some form,

they hope their "quiet diplomacy" efforts will keep the issue

out of the media and encourage Parks and the Zimbabwean

Government (GOZ) to seek fully legal and ecologically-sound

means to increase revenue and maintain Zimbabwe's wildlife.

END SUMMARY.



--------------------------------------------- --

Overpopulation of Elephants Needs to be Managed

--------------------------------------------- --



¶2. (C) In an August meeting with Dr. Morris Mtsambiwa, the

Director of Parks, poloff asked about rumors of questionable

hunting involving foreign tourists within national parks.

Dr. Mstambiwa unequivocally refuted the hunting rumors. He

said that hunting within national parks is only allowed under

limited circumstances: management quotas (to reduce or

maintain animal populations), ration quotas (to provide

Parks' staff with meat), or to kill rogue animals. In each

of these cases, animals should be killed by professional

hunters on Parks' staff. He told poloff that Parks did have

a plan to kill about 1000 elephants in 2008 in four

administrative areas: Hwange, Chizarira, Gonarezhou, and the

Zambezi valley. He termed the program an "elephant

management strategy" that had been approved by the Minister

of Environment, Frances Nhema. Dr. Mtsambiwa said there were

five ecologically responsible means to reduce elephant

populations: translocation of animals, contraception, sale

within the region to conservancies or other interested

parties, chasing, and culling. Zimbabwean Parks' staff

conducted many successful culls in the 1980s and 1990s. Dr.

Mtsambiwa said the last cull in Zimbabwe was in 1992, and

that current Parks staff did not know how to do it. He told

us that the 1000 elephants, including 400 in Hwange, would be

killed as a training exercise for Parks staff and for

population reduction.



¶3. (SBU) Conservationists, Parks, hunting and photographic

safari operators all agree that Zimbabwe has a serious

overpopulation of elephants. Parks estimates the current

population is about 100,000 elephants, well above Zimbabwe's

capacity of 40-50,000. This significant overpopulation has a

detrimental impact on levels at watering holes and

biodiversity, as elephants can cause significant damage and

stress to ecosystems. Poloff spoke with numerous

conservationists and former Parks officials who participated

in elephant culls in the 1980s and 1990s. They described a

cull as a highly resource-intensive, dangerous, and gruesome

operation that is also very effective in controlling elephant

populations if done properly. In a cull, an entire family

unit of 10-20 elephants is surrounded on three sides by a

group of armed, trained professional hunters who kill the

entire group in unison. (NOTE: In Zimbabwe all professional

guides and hunters must be certified after having passed



HARARE 00000956 002 OF 004





rigorous written and field tests. END NOTE.) The entire

operation happens very quickly, to prevent traumatized and

scared elephants from stampeding. Professional hunters

stressed the importance of having trained staff present, as

each hunter must select the animal he will shoot and must

kill it with one or two shots. Because the staff surrounds

the elephants, there is a reasonably high risk of shooting

another hunter, in addition to the risks posed by frightened

elephants. Dr. Mtsambiwa repeated this description of a

proper culling operation, and said that very few of his

current Parks staff had this experience. He added that the

current population reduction operation would provide them

with that experience and training. All agreed that an

important component of culling was selecting the correct

animals and family units. Culling should not target large

bulls, groups of adolescent males, or individuals within a

family unit.



-------------------------------

AmCit Questions Hunting Package

-------------------------------



¶4. (C) Despite Mtsambiwa's assurances at our August meeting

that Parks was only planning a management/training exercise

for Parks staff, in early September poloff received an email

from an American citizen in California, asking about an

advertisement for an elephant hunt in Zimbabwe to hunt five

elephants over ten days for USD 6,000 as part of a culling

exercise. The meat from the animals would go to local

villagers and hunters were expected to help with on-site

butchering of the animals. This price is significantly less

than most elephant hunting packages. Normally, elephant

hunting excursions in Zimbabwe cost about USD 1,000 per day,

plus a fee for each animal killed. The hunting operation was

to be led by Zimbabwean Headman Sibanda and was arranged by

Thomas Powers Internationale, based in Colorado.



---------------------------

Elephants and Ivory Pile Up

---------------------------



¶5. (C) In mid-September, Sally Bown, Administrative Officer

for the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe (SOAZ),

informed poloff that numerous photographic safari operators

in Hwange National Park were sending emails reporting

commercial elephant hunting incidents within the park to

SOAZ, Parks, and Minister Nhema. Specifically, elephants

were killed in Hwange National Park in areas frequented by

tourists and near main roads within the park. (NOTE: Hwange,

along the Botswana border, is Zimbabwe's largest national

park and is one of the best areas in the world for elephant

viewing. END NOTE.) The emails contained photos showing

elephant carcasses in various states of decay, large tusks,

and Parks staff vehicles escorting hunters near recently

killed elephants as proof of the questionable hunting. The

photographic safari operators named the professional hunters

who served as commercial guides and indicated that foreign

hunters, including Americans and South Africans, were killing

the elephants with Parks staff assistance.



¶6. (C) Refuting Mtsambiwa's claims, the safari operators also

reported that some of the hunting guides had been issued

hundreds of hunting permits for elephants in Hwange and other

national parks in mid-to-late August. Normally, hunting

permits are offered in an auction to all professional hunting

guides. In contrast, Bown said these recent permits were

issued through a non-transparent process to professional

hunters of ill-repute, including some South African

operators. (NOTE: Under Zimbabwean regulations, all tenders

should be offered to local companies first. END NOTE.) This

action particularly alarmed photographic safari operators,

whose businesses depend on calm animals in the national parks

who are used to humans and vehicles.



¶7. (C) Meeting with poloff and conoff on October 10, Bown



HARARE 00000956 003 OF 004





said that it was unclear "how legal" these hunting operations

were, since it appeared the hunters had permits issued by

Parks to kill the animals, despite the provision in the

National Parks Act that prohibits commercial hunting. The

photographic safari operators indicated Parks had given

several local and South African hunting companies concessions

to kill elephants in Hwange if they met specific criteria:

(1) total ivory weight less than 30 pounds, (2)

young/adolescent males, (3) isolated areas (i.e. away from

watering holes and main roads), and (4) controlled by Parks

staff. Parks has never publicly stated these criteria or

explained the operation. Frustrated photographic safari

operators weighed and photographed many of the tusks at the

Park's ivory store in Hwange and found that many were over 30

pounds each. In one case, an operator claimed an American

hunter killed an elephant with tusks weighing over 120

pounds. Photos also show some elephants were killed very

near main roads and close to watering holes. In at least one

reported case, a vehicle drove around the animal before the

hunter killed it at close range. In emails to Mtsambiwa and

Nhema, safari operators decried the unethical hunting both in

terms of the detrimental ecological impact and the negative

impact it would have on their own businesses.



------------------------------------

Unscrupulous Hunting Guides Involved

------------------------------------



¶8. (C) Bown, Save Valley Conservancy Director Clive Stockil

and other conservationists opined in conversations with us

that hunting permits were issued by Parks under intense

pressure from its politicized board and ZANU-PF. Bown

believed this frantic last grab at hunting revenue was one

more aspect of ZANU-PF insiders' efforts to strip assets and

fill their pockets before losing power to the MDC. She said

that the same small group of hunters involved in this

operation had been consistently involved in unethical and

marginally legal hunting. Bown had no evidence that they

were involved specifically with sanctioned individuals within

the Mugabe regime, but believed such connections were likely.

According to Bown, the Zimbabwean professional hunters

involved include Guy Whitall, Tim Schultz of African Dream

Safaris, Headman Sibanda and Wayne Grant of Nyala Safaris,

Evans Makanza, Alan Shearing, Buzz Charlton and James

Macullam of Charlton Macullum Safaris, A.J. Van Heerden of

Shashe Safaris, Barry Van Heerden of Big Game Safaris, and

Lawrence Boha. (COMMENT: Numerous conservationists have

suggested the Van Heerden brothers are involved in suspicious

hunting and land deals with the Director of the Central

Intelligence Organization, Happyton Bonyongwe, although none

have provided proof of the relationship. END COMMENT.)

Additionally, one safari operator accused an American, by

name, of killing a lion illegally and then smuggling its hide

out through South Africa. Given the rampant smuggling of

other animal products across Zimbabwe's southern border

(reftel), this is not unlikely. As reported in reftel,

American hunting dollars are vital to Zimbabwe's conservation

efforts, but there are also serious risks that Americans

could be implicated in smuggling and poaching operations.



--------------------------------------------- --------

Parks Suspends, But Doesn't Explain Hunting in Hwange

--------------------------------------------- --------



¶9. (SBU) On October 9, Dr. Mtsambiwa issued a statement to

SOAZ and conservationists, without admitting that illegal

commercial hunting had taken place, announcing that Parks was

suspending the management hunting he had told poloff in

August would be the only authorized operation. The statement

reiterated trophy hunting is not allowed in national parks.

However, it conceded the management exercise involved both

trophy and non-trophy animals, as the elephants were not

selected based on size or tusks. It also stated that the

tusks and hides in the current operation were not to be used

for export and that the management offtake was for "training,



HARARE 00000956 004 OF 004





staff rations, support for state and other functions, sale to

crocodile farmers... Meat is also sold cheaply or given

freely to communities to supplement their protein

requirements." The Parks statement claims Parks had

"embarked on a training exercise for its staff through

engaging some experienced hunters using part of this

management quota." (COMMENT: Post has neither seen nor heard

of game meat distributions to communities near national

parks. Further, based on the photographic evidence from

Hwange, the most recent operation violates every tenet of a

"proper cull" and instead bears the characteristics of

commercial hunting. END COMMENT.)



-------------------------

"Quiet Diplomacy" Success

-------------------------



¶10. (C) In our October 10 meeting, Bown demurred when asked

if SOAZ would consider making the hunting disputes or

unscrupulous hunting more public through local or

international media. She said private land conservancies and

photographic safaris -- sectors that remain primarily

white-owned -- had been allowed to continue because they had

consistently and quietly proven their economic benefit to the

GOZ. She contrasted SOAZ with the Commercial Farmers Union

that represents white farmers who routinely bring their

grievances to the international media, bringing shame and

rebuke on Zimbabwe and the government. Bown believed that

exposing these internal conflicts over elephant hunting would

only serve to further reduce all tourism and increase

animosity between safari operators and the GOZ, putting the

businesses and wildlife at even greater risk.



-------

COMMENT

-------



¶11. (C) Hunting has long been a source of ill-gotten revenue

for members of the ZANU-PF elite, and given the ongoing

resource grab, it is not surprising that new hunting schemes

have developed to supply the elites with forex. SOAZ's quiet

efforts succeeded in changing Parks' policy on hunting within

national parks -- for now -- and SOAZ is gathering proposals

to present to Parks for means to increase revenue and manage

the elephant population through ecologically and

tourist-friendly means. This ongoing struggle over greed,

ill-gotten forex, and natural resource management is just one

more result of the continued political impasse in Zimbabwe.

END COMMENT.



MCGEE

There's nothing new regarding the level of political interference within the industry -its been common knowledge for years.

What is shocking are the names of well-to-do Professional Hunters, alledgedly linked to the malpractice.

WOW !!!!!!!!!!

quote:

She said

that the same small group of hunters involved in this

operation had been consistently involved in unethical and

marginally legal hunting. Bown had no evidence that they were involved specifically with sanctioned individuals within the Mugabe regime, but believed such connections were likely.

Just a couple of points and I rarely write much. First, because a cable comes from the US Embassy adds no credibility to anything in my mind. All are controlled by our wonderful liberals.
Second, some of the names on here I would never believe and also do not believe that Sally Brown would publish such. It just does not seem to follow normal protocol. I suggest we get her on here (I think she is a poster) and see what she really says when quoted directly. Some of the PH's I know, some I do not but for example to imagine that Buzz and Myles would do this,,, I just do not buy it. If there were some names on there such as Wayne Jardins(sp), Out of Africa, etc. but to not include them on this tells me it is a smear effort. Just my thinking but there is more to this. Hunting some ele in the parks is needed, no doubt but remember there are many regardless of a population explosion that do not want 1 single elephant shot, regareless of the need or reason.

Larry

It's very clear our State Dept uses information other than fact to move other agendas...so don't jump to conclusions too quickly on the named PHs.

Some of the most credible and infamous and reputable guides and outfitter/PHs here are guilty. Unfortunately for them, it was easy to bend the ethics/rules and justify it to make a living.

It does not surprise me one bit that some of the more familiar ones are named; listening and knowing hunters who've gone there, they bend the rules and justify it on Zim bribe/flex and the money is just too great for some to ignore. It's crazy but true.

So those named here, why aren't you commenting? are you guilty as charged? Just come clean and admit it!

Just more BS and rumor mongering from Zim! I consider myself a pretty good judge of character and I would say that Buzz and Myles are stand up gentlemen they would not be involved in any skull duggery to make a quick buck. Who gives 2 hoots about a diplomatic cable, as if those are the gospel truth!

Arjun

Reddy375,

Agreed, Buzz addressed this in a post about a year ago.

quote:

When the "national Parks" quotas came out several years ago on a "bidding basis" we successfuly got 5 non trophy elephant. There was a strict format to follow been non trophy bulls or cows and there was alot of emphasis on the scientific research on animals shot. We went and did 4 and was so disgusted as to what was happening that we pulled out before completing our "quota". Having collected the overies and filled in all the nessesary data on the ele cows we shot I handed it in to the warden and he said we were the very first to do that and proceeded to bin it!

I also saw MANY trophy ele bulls that were shot and can assure you were exported. I bought this to the attention of our hunting association as well as the Hide which is a photographic camp close to the area we were "allocated". I also saw several trophy buff that were shot. Every trophy ele/buff I saw shot there had a South African involved with an equaly unpleasent Zimbabwean PH all in it for a quick $!

I have to say as honest as our intentions were it was wrong to hunt in a park and I am afraid with the present situation in Parks , the influx of the worst of the worst South African fellows accompanied by corrupt unethical PHs from Zim the system will get abused. Stay away from Parks hunts- they are unethical and 99% of those involved are peole you certainly do not want to do buisness with.

Thanks for posting this, Mike. I know Buzz is in the bush for a month, glad to see this up now.
I haven't known Buzz and Myles as long as some here, but I have been very impressed with their high ethical standards.

It is obvious that this “cable” is from SEVERAL YEARS AGO (2008?) and related to hunts being done in Hwange Park. I also recall that Buzz has addressed this on the forum. To recap, from my perspective, at the time Parks was financially broke, and there was an initiative to, in a controlled manner, raise funding for Parks while reducing the number of elephant which is beyond the carrying capacity and is destroying the habitat for all animals. There were abuses (not by CM Safaris), which correctly drew public attention, and the initiative was withdrawn. The Cable outlines this, but unfortunately singled out the wrong individuals. There were several reputable operators that I know of who were looking at getting involved with this program, and had it worked, it would have solved multiple problems while providing opportunity to hunters. But, it didn’t, and now instead of reputable outfitters adhering to the guidelines, there has been a constant stream of reports of out-of-country outfitters (and some local PH’s) “hunting” in Hwange.

So fast-forward to 2012 and the SAVE Conservancy. Forced “Indigenization” has caused havoc in the SAVE, as the pressure on the operators/owners was turned up from previous years to turn over 51% of their business to local individuals ("partners"), most (all?) associated with the ZANU PF Party. The season started normally, but as the drama unfolded and the parties dug in their heels, it became clear that despite a High Court Order, Parks was not going to be issuing the necessary paperwork for export of the trophies. Some operators kept hunting, whereas companies such as CM Safaris did not, and moved their hunters to other locations, primarily the Zambezi Valley. By all accounts, these hunters had excellent hunts, and there will be no problem exporting their trophies.

This “article” and others floating around the Internet who are all quoting each other are IMO junk journalism. It is taking a quote from a Cable where Sally Brown is to have said certain things years ago and applying it to the current situation in the SAVE, and infers that all the hunters named have ties to the ZANU PF Party. Typical of the type of “journalism” we see these days as it relates to hunting.

And Johnny Rodrigues, search on his name here and you will see the opinions of others in the know as to where he stands relative to hunting. Safe to say, he is far from “pro hunting”.

There are some dodgy operators in Zimbabwe, but Myles and Buzz and Alan are not among them.

Glad to see that there is a rebuttal of the BS that adds to the woes of those still trying to do what is right in Zimbabwe.

Myles asked me to post the following for him this morning. First, let me echo the comments of others. While there are many abuses taking place in Zim and a number of well known operators that have close ties to individuals very close to the government, Buzz, Myles and Alan are part of the solution in my mind, not part of the problem.


CM SAFARIS STATEMENT:

Hi everyone.

I want to breakdown this report in to two parts:

1. The actual article from October 2012. Insofar as it relates to us (CM SAF) it is all total BS. It comes on the fourth anniversary of the leaked cable you have all seen and has simply been twisted to suit 2012 by some twit reporter. This type of reporting certainly out here is commonplace. There is simply zero accountability. Interpret it as you will.

2. The actual leaked cable from October 2008. I am fairly certain that we were included in this elite group of individuals because in October 2008 WE DID shoot 4 elephants in Hwange Park (three old cows and a young bull). I do believe Buzz has dealt with this on AR some time ago.

Anyhow to refresh everyone’s memory - Back in 2008 (probably Zim’s darkest year ever) National Parks made it quite clear that they were totally broke and needed assistance. This is when commercial ration hunting started.

We DID donate $4000 worth of diesel and six new tires for Land Cruisers to the Park;

We DID receive a permit to shoot five elephants with the option to take another five -– all legal;

We DID NOT sell or advertise “hunts” in the park, we DID NOT profit from this;

We DID NOT shoot trophies (far from it); and

We DID at the time believe we were helping, but when we arrived and actually witnessed what was going on pulled out.

It is also worth noting that at around the SAME time SOAZ made FORMAL applications to Parks that they administer the ration hunting to (1) generate money for Parks as well as more importantly (2) to regularize the entire operation.

The basic idea being that hunting operators would administer ration quotas in their own concessions and photographic operators the quotas in their Parks. Sadly this was turned down by Parks.

In hindsight yes we do have regrets, there is no excuse for hunting in a Park. At the time though we did think we were actually helping and did have exactly the same goals as SOAZ.

Cheers

Myles

quote:

Originally posted by Hunter54:
Some of the most credible and infamous and reputable guides and outfitter/PHs here are guilty. Unfortunately for them, it was easy to bend the ethics/rules and justify it to make a living.

It does not surprise me one bit that some of the more familiar ones are named; listening and knowing hunters who've gone there, they bend the rules and justify it on Zim bribe/flex and the money is just too great for some to ignore. It's crazy but true.

So those named here, why aren't you commenting? are you guilty as charged? Just come clean and admit it!

you have anything intelligent to add?????

quote:

Originally posted by DTala:

quote:

Originally posted by Hunter54:
Some of the most credible and infamous and reputable guides and outfitter/PHs here are guilty. Unfortunately for them, it was easy to bend the ethics/rules and justify it to make a living.

It does not surprise me one bit that some of the more familiar ones are named; listening and knowing hunters who've gone there, they bend the rules and justify it on Zim bribe/flex and the money is just too great for some to ignore. It's crazy but true.

So those named here, why aren't you commenting? are you guilty as charged? Just come clean and admit it!

you have anything intelligent to add?????

No he does not. He is just a pathetic troll who jumps on posts like this to stir the pot. Check out his history. Unless someone quotes him here is what I see:

Ignored post by Hunter54 posted 18 October 2012 21:15

Accused hunter denies ‘damaging’ claims of illegal activity

http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/oct20_2012.html#Z11

A former Zimbabwean based hunter who was named among a group of professionals allegedly involved in illegal activity in the country, has strongly denied the claims, calling them seriously damaging.

The hunters were named in a recently released confidential diplomatic cable created by the US Embassy in Zim in 2008, which has since been released by the online whistleblower WikiLeaks. The cable quotes the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe (SOAZ) as raising concerns that the hunters had links to top ZANU PF officials and were being given hunting licences by National Parks under pressure from its politicised board.

The US Embassy cable said that this illicit parcelling out of hunting licences was part of ZANU PF’s strategy to grab as many resources as possible ahead of the 2008 elections. The cable warned that hunting “has long been a source of ill-gotten revenue for members of the ZANU PF elite, and given the ongoing resource grab, it is not surprising that new hunting schemes have developed to supply the elites with forex.”

The cable quotes SOAZ’s Sally Bown who named the hunters as being “consistently involved in unethical and marginally legal hunting.” The diplomatic cable named professional hunters Guy Whitall, Tim Schultz of African Dream Safaris, Headman Sibanda and Wayne Grant of Nyala Safaris, Evans Makanza, Alan Shearing, Buzz Charlton and James Macullum of Charlton Macullum Safaris. Brothers Alan Van Heerden and Barry Van Heerden were also named, and, according to SOAZ’s Bown, numerous conservationists had suggested that the brothers were involved in suspicious hunting and land deals with the CIO’s Happyton Bonyongwe.

SW Radio Africa was this week contacted by both Van Heerden brothers, who have vehemently denied being linked to any illicit activity in Zimbabwe. Alan Van Heerden told SW Radio Africa on Friday that he believes he and his brother are being victimised after receiving signed memorandums of understanding and permits from National Parks and the Tourism Minister.

Van Heerden called the claims being made against him and his brother a “vendetta” because their signed permits were the only legitimate ones handed out at the time. He blamed “middle management staff” at National Parks who were
“abusing the system by letting other hunters come in and shoot.” He explained that known safari operators continue to bribe underpaid Parks staff to hunt in certain areas.

“It’s all down to bribery, greed and parks staff being underpaid. And the situation in country doesn’t help. I am 100% behind people being named and shamed, but what law am I breaking if I have a valid permit?” Van Heerden asked.

“I know exactly who it is. And we told parks. But there is such a big political faction within National Parks and they do what they want and everyone turns a blind eye. And it’s all within the organisation. But it’s easy to find out who they are. They are all linked to national parks stations,” Van Heerden said.

He also insisted that his and his brother’s operations were 100% legal and nothing they did was done without a permit. He said the allegations that they are linked to ZANU PF in any way, and particularly to the CIO chief Bonyongwe, are “rubbish.”

“There are big operators that have ministers and governors in their companies, because it is the only way to keep their concession. But not us… It (the allegations) come from disgruntled people in the safari industry,” Van Heerden said.

Van Heerden also spoke of the damage the allegations have had, explaining that he left Zimbabwe three years ago and has struggled find a job since because of accusations that he was involved in poaching. He said the “damage has been done,” but the US Embassy and SOAZ need to take responsibility for the situation.

“The only way to sort this out is to tackle the American embassy, get hold of SOAZ and sort this out once and for all. It’s got out of hand and its damaged people’s reputations,” Van Heerden said.

He added: “Yes there are people poaching and doing illegal hunting but we are not the people that are doing it. We’ve been victimised because we were the only people who got permits.”

The full interview with Van Heerden can be heard on SW Radio Africa’s Weekend Special Report with Alex Bell.