There are BIG RUMORS ( from Outfitters ) in Dar es Salaam that ALL Gov. Fees ( Trophy Fees, Block Fees etc. ) will raise Dramaticly nothing is confirmed yet. Anybody knows more

Seloushunter

That sounds ominous. It's already gotten to the point that most of us cannot hunt there due to high daily rates, mandatory charters, etc. That's a real shame as there are some really interesting species there that I would love to see.

They have been in "talks" for the last 5 days. Nothing in concrete yet, but expect some sort of increase .. .somewhere. Rest assured it will be passed to the hunting client in some way.

Since these hunts are selling out way in advance, I am not surprised that it occurred to someone to raise the price.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Since these hunts are selling out way in advance, I am not surprised that it occurred to someone to raise the price.

Simple Supply and Demand. I have noticed 1500.00 Kudu in SA now. Someone must be paying it.

Dramatic increases HAVE been confirmed! These have been backdated and ARE applicable from 1st July and effectively the 2007 hunting season.

Class action suits and court a injunction is being initiated by TAHOA. The court injunction will hopefully stall everything until it can be resolved in a better way.

Mich, do you have any specifics? The gov't trophy fees themselves always seemed pretty reasonable...are we taking a few bucks or a couple of hundred...or more? Bill

quote:

...are we talking a few bucks or a couple of hundred...or more? Bill

Bill C

Rumors are for Trophy Fees in US$

Elephant 5000.- Now 15000.- New
LION 2500.- Now 12000.- New
1st Buffalo 750.- Now 1500.- New
etc...

Seloushunter

Ouch! Tanz seems further away today than it was yesterday. What about daily rates? They are already at 2k.

quote:

What about daily rates? They are already at 2k.

Some Outfitter Charge a Daily Rate up to US$ 2800.- per day

Hunting Block Fee was US$ 7500.- New US$ 50000.-

The Daily Rate will not geting Cheaper !!!

Seloushunter

There is no need to panic right now. We have seen this sort of ill-informed decisions being taken by authorities in the past only to be withdrawn.

It will take a bit longer to sort out and it is a bit more serious this time around but a court injunction preventing the Ministry from proceeding with their decisions is imminent. Multiple class action law suits are underway and these will get the attention of the Gov real quick.

The next few days will tell...

I hate to split hairs but Tanzania has only been a destination for the 'Rich" for a number of years now. Just simple fact. The number of hunters that can afford this type of trip is in fractions of single digit percentage wise and this will just make it worse.

Fortunately for the outfitters over there with probably 90% of their foreign hunters being from the US and there are millions of hunters in that pool......many thousands of whom are in that kind of income bracket......they continue to get enough customers.

I will never be in a position to do Tanzania unless I win the Lottery or I take the money that is needed in other areas of our lives....and expect my wife to forget any of her interests........and sock it towards a hunt there. But at the rate an average guy like me can actually save it will never happen as inflation of the costs easily outstrips my savings capabilities.

I will never get to hunt there period......not without some devine intervention........and my situation is the norm, not the exception.

quote:

Originally posted by mboga biga bwana:

Rumors are for Trophy Fees in US$

1st Buffalo 750.- Now 1500.- New
etc...

But various promoters on here have been pushing 'trophy fees' as $1200 or even $1500 for "first buffalo" for a year or two ?????

quote:

But various promoters on here have been pushing 'trophy fees' as $1200 or even $1500 for "first buffalo" for a year or two ?????

There is often a big difference between the Tanzanian government rates and the rates charged by any given outfitter.

It is common knowledge than many outfitters charge a premium and use trophy fees as a profit center.

It is incumbent on the hunter to know the government fee schedule and determine if he is willing to pay any premium the outfitter may charge.

I hope this info turns out to be all wrong and any legislation to increase prices does not pass!

Tanzania is and has always been a dream of mine. I would rather hunt there than any other place on earth. However, with price jumps like the proposed that dream will change to a distant bloody fantasy!!!

Those in the loop on this issue please keep us informed as to the outcome of the price hike.

Best Regards,
Dave

Folks,

Let's not panic yet. Nothing has changed as of now and nobody knows exactly how it will all shake out. When I know something firm I will pass it along.

Mark

Unfortunately, the Tanzania Game Department is trying to emulate Botswana and their fee structures and their game department income.

They want to know why a country with half the resources makes twice as much.

"If they can do it, so can we."

Today i spoke with a couple of friends what i know the already have booked a hunt for TZ 2007.
4 out of 5 will cancel there Safari when there is any change on Gov. Fees confirmed.....

Seloushunter

quote:

Originally posted by mboga biga bwana:
Today i spoke with a couple of friends what i know the already have booked a hunt for TZ 2007.
4 out of 5 will cancel there Safari when there is any change on Gov. Fees confirmed.....
Seloushunter

That is ridiculous. Why would someone make a decision to cancel when they don't even know the outcome????

Maybe it will be a trophy fee increase of a nominal amount.

When the governemt increased trophy fees in 2005, none of my clients canceled their safari, everyone just accepted that it was inevitable and paid the difference.

quote:

That is ridiculous.

Wendell

When i make a Contract with an Outfitter and the Gov. Trophy Fee for Lion and Leopard each is US$ 2500 and after Changeing the Gov. Trophy Fees for each Cat is US$ 12000.- makes a huge difference for me.
Mayby i been lucky takeing both Cats makes a difference from US$ 19000... which this amount of money i can make a Very nice Safari somewhere else IMO

But hopefully nothing will Change now !

Seloushunter

well, I'm leaving for the Selous in 2 weeks. My PH sent me an e-mail outlining what to expect for trophy fees for plains game. The fees looked a little higher than originally advertised but we are talking $450 for a wart hog vs $350 or something like that.

Very interesting, if lion and leopard TFs to to $12K each I will be canceling the safari I have booked for next year in the Selous...

Brett

quote:

Originally posted by mboga biga bwana:
When i make a Contract with the Outfitter and the Gov. Trophy Fee for Lion and Leopard each is US$ 2500 and after Changing the Gov. Trophy Fees for each Cat is US$ 12000.- makes a huge difference for me.
Mayby i been lucky took both Cats makes a difference from US$ 19000... where i can make a Very nice safari somewhere else IMO

Seloushunter

I see, I agree, that is a huge difference, and one that is not easy to take, for most people.

But this is not likely to stick because the end result would be mass cancellations, which is counter productive to the game departments goal of raising revenue.

My comment that, it was ridiculous, is in relation to someone making a plan to cancel a safari when they do not even know what the increase will actually be.

Wendell,

Of course you are right, it's wait and see now.

However nothing would supprise me. Recent government policy decisions in Zim come to mind...

Best regards;
Brett

quote:

Originally posted by mboga biga bwana:
Today i spoke with a couple of friends what i know the already have booked a hunt for TZ 2007.
4 out of 5 will cancel there Safari when there is any change on Gov. Fees confirmed.....

Seloushunter

I have a 21-day safari booked with Adam Clements in Tanzania for this year and I too have inquired about potentially cancelling. I was told the fee's have been increased as mentioned above, but they were still working with the government - nothing final yet. I can uderstand some increase, but not going from a $3000 lion trophy fee (when I booked) to now $12,000 trophy fee.

Rates will come back down when people STOP going.Things are FUN when they are not too expensive.I like hunting but I also like money in the bank.

Skyline,I predict prices will drop as soon as all the money passed on from prosperous years like the 60's and 70's is spent.Look around and see businesses opening up at levels we never seen before who cannot support themselves or have to rely on fraud or artificial support to temporaririly survive.Once all this inherited money is spent all that will be left is money that was earned the hard way,and money that is earned hard is hard spent.I think people would be surprised to discover that people who are seen as billionaires have never earned a penny in their life.It is this crowd that is driving up the cost.

In many cases there's a 50% deposit paid for your safari as long as a year in advance, which on a 21-day TZ dangerous game hunt can be substantial. If new unanticipated TZ trophy fees essentially blew up a hunter's budget shortly before departure, would he have the case to cancel and expect a refund?

Vic,

I just depends on the cancelation policy of the outfitter. This is one thing to be sure of when paying a down payment, also a reason to use a US agent.

Most have a clause stating that the outfitter has no control over changes in government fees (including trophy fees). Cancelation terms are usually not too harsh up until 6 months or so of the safari. If it happened weeks before a trip you would most likely be out the deposit.

Brett

Guys,

There is no way this can stick. For one, the block fee increase represents a $200/day to $600/day increase in overhead per hunter for the safari operator. (depending on the volume of hunters and quota allocation)

That is a fee that you can not pass on to the client because the block fee does not appear anywhere on your bill, it is a portion of overhead. So the operator must absorb it or raise day rates.

So, under the new block fees, operators who have 2 blocks now have to net $80,000 more to make the same amount of money as before. For most operators, it is not possible!

Look at the Pasanisis and Luke Samaras? These guys need an additional $240,000 to absorb the fees.

This is getting more coverage than when they closed Lion hunting in Tanzania in the middle of July 2005, which only lasted for 2 days.

Yes, these new fees are ridiculous. Imposing them on hunters already in the field is insane!

Let's all calm down and wait and see how this ends. My bet is that it will not end as they have proposed.

When hunting in the Selous and info gleaned from AR it seems that all the blocks actually in the Selous were leased for 7500 each per year. Many of the leaseholders hold multiple blocks which are subleased for 50k or more to the various outfitters and marketing companies. One can see the same thing occuring in Mozambique where those who opened hunting in Moz. have sold or subleased to large companies with many clients or slick marketing. It is what it is. Capitalism cuts both ways however, we can take our money and go somewhere else. IF we do our homework we can still hunt Africa.(I hope)
Adrian

This boils down to "Supply and Demand"

The proposed increases would cause a 21-day hunt with trophy fees to double, that will reduce demand for this particular hunt by more than double I would imagine. I would hazzard a guess that maybe only 10-15% of hunters booked on 21-day hunts would accept this increase.

I would bet a lot of money that every 21-day hunt I have booked will cancel their hunt if this were to stick.

Just this week I was quoted a Tanz buff hunt for 08 with first buff fee of 1200 and a second buff of 1500. For those of you who know the Tanz govt rate, are these figures real govt rates, or inflated by someone in the middle? I do not know the true Tanz govt rates.

Currently the first Buffalo is $750, 2nd Buffalo is $900.

Elephant $5000
Lion & Leopard $2500
Roan, Sable & Sitatungq $1500
Eland Hippo & Crocodile $1050

On top of this expect to pay at least 10% Anti poaching or community development fees.

Most operators add profit on to their trophy fees, so a Buffalo that starts out at $1200 will be increased by how much to accommodate the new fee schedule? Will they now charge $3000?

This is a great time to be glad that you didn't book with a suitcase ph in Tanzania (One who relys soly on buying their quota from the concession holder)

TWL,

Be sure to consider all the various costs. Some will lower daily rate somewhat and increase trophy fees. I like this within reason as it gives you a little more control over total costs.

Brett

Wendell as usual offers good information and advice and I couldn't agree more with the latter.

Here is a complete list of current Tanzanian government trophy fees for game on a 21 day license in the Selous Game Reserve:



Note the asterisk: "Under reserve of increase by the Tanzanian government."

HUNTING REPORT

E-Mail Extra



If you are about to board a plane for Tanzania, be aware that a government directive announcing a last-minute fee increase has sent a wave of panic through the hunting industry in this East African country. The announced fee increases include a quintrupling of government concession fees and a huge hike in trophy fees. According to the directive, trophy fees for leopard and lion will go to $12,000, for example, while elephant will go to $15,000 and Cape buffalo to $1,500. Concessions fees on many areas will leap from $10,000 to $50,000.

Will these fee increases hold? TAHOA (Tanzanian Hunting Operators Association) tells us the fees have not been legally approved, and officials there urge us to tell hunters not to cancel safaris. An effort to contest the new fees in court is already underway. On the other hand, we have heard from one subscriber who tells us his outfitter has already cancelled his safari.

We are not going to try to call this situation right now, as it is too fluid. However, our hunch is, operators are going to be able to turn this around, just as they did an announced last-minute lion closure in Tanzania last year. We are going to monitor this situation closely and issue a new bulletin as events unfold.

On another issue relating to Tanzania, we regret to announce that the US Fish & Wildlife Service has not yet completed its annual Scientific Authority Finding regarding Tanzanian elephant populations. Although they have the required data from Tanzania, service officials simply have not completed their end of the process for a non-detriment finding. A non-detriment finding is required before CITES permits can be issued.

John J. Jackson, III, of Conservation Force tells us there is no reason for the service not to make a non-detriment finding very soon and begin issuing import permits. He believes hunters can safely continue with their elephant hunting plans even if they do not have a CITES import permit in hand. Again, we are monitoring this closely and will issue a follow-up bulletin as soon as there is something new to report. - Barbara Crown.

Govt set to plug holes in tourist hunting sector

June 12, 2007


-Reforms underway to tackle corruption over concessions
-Weaknesses in wildlife division to be addressed
-Hunting fees also in line to be raised

THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam

TOUGH new measures to tackle what is deemed as institutionalised corruption leading to massive revenue losses in the country’s wildlife sector are set to be announced in the national budget for the coming financial year, it has been learnt.

Impeccable sources have told THISDAY that the envisaged reforms are likely to pay special attention to the local tourist hunting industry, one of the areas considered particularly prone to serious graft.

The expected new measures will come on the back of widespread reports that some well-connected individuals have been monopolising licences for hunting blocks, which they covertly sublease to foreign hunting companies for exorbitant fees.

While currently paying an annual concession fee of just $7,500 (approx. 9m/- ) to the government per hunting block, some outfitters are believed to be illegally subleasing the blocks to foreign hunters for fees exceeding $100,000 (approx. 125m/-).

And it is no secret that repeated criticism has been levelled at the wildlife division in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, for favouring a select group of hunting outfitters.

According to the findings of a new research into the local hunting industry, widespread corruption and lack of proper controls by the wildlife division have seriously depleted revenue earnings and led to the exclusion of communities that are legitimate holders of land where the hunting is conducted.

’’Concessions are leased at rates far below the true market value, which represents a massive loss of income to the wildlife division (possibly $7m or more),’’ the research report says.

It asserts that most of the concessions are leased to local companies that do not have the capacity to market their hunting opportunities. A system of subleasing, mostly to foreigners without any residence status in Tanzania, has thus developed.

And since the hunting blocks are subleased secretly, much of the real income generated by the industry never enters the country and the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) becomes unable to properly administer taxation.

Records show the ministry’s wildlife division currently earns an average annual income of just $10m (approx. 12.5bn/-) from its concessions.

Contacted for comment, the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Prof. Jumanne Maghembe, confirmed that reforms were indeed underway in the wildlife sector, with July 1 this year pencilled in as the start date for implementation.

’’The problem we have right now is that wildlife is a huge industry, but it gives very little returns to the government,’’ Prof. Maghembe told THISDAY in a telephone interview from Arusha yesterday.

He, however, declined to give further details of the planned reforms for the time being, saying all would be unveiled in his ministry’s budget estimates for 2007/2008.

The National Assembly’s annual marathon budget session is scheduled to open in Dodoma next week, with Finance Minister Ms Zakia Meghji set to unveil the government’s overall budget proposals in the august House on Thursday, June 14.

In a related development, Prof. Maghembe told THISDAY that the ministry’s wildlife division is planning a two-day meeting for stakeholders to discuss industry performance, challenges and prospects, as well as the envisaged reforms.

The meeting is scheduled for Dodoma on Saturday next week (June 16), he said.

It has frequently been noted that although Tanzania boasts of the greatest network of protected areas in Africa - game reserves, game controlled areas, national parks, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, forest reserves and wildlife management areas - precious little is accrued from the industry.

Industry watchers also say that while the tourist hunting industry has shown substantial growth in recent years, the prevailing fee structure on wildlife resources remains a stumbling block.

According to our own sources, one of the proposed reform measures is to make ’’substantial increases’’ in tourist hunting fees to replace current rates which have been described as being ’’grossly outdated.’’

’’Why should, for instance, a lion in Tanzania be hunted for a mere $2,500 while the same animal in Botswana and South Africa costs up to $20,000,’’ queried one industry source.

Criticising what he called a ’’naive attempt of trying to attract many tourist hunters by charging them a token hunting fee,’’ the source said the intention is to aim for much higher earnings from the country’s natural resources ’’which we cannot continue to sacrifice for peanuts.’’

The wildlife division is empowered to lease concessions to qualified hunting outfitters that have been authorised to guide foreign clients on big game hunting safaris. Each concession is allocated a quota of animals that can be hunted during the season starting July through December. The quotas may be adjusted annually for various reasons, and a single outfitter can be allocated more than one concession. Though concessions are leased on a five-year tenure, there is no guarantee that a concession will be re-allocated to the same operator.

Yet insiders say some operators, mostly influential foreigners, have held a strong monopoly on the most lucrative concessions. ’’Some of these foreigners have been granted licences to the same lucrative hunting blocks consecutively for over 25 years now,’’ said one industry source.

Tanzania has over 130 hunting concessions covering an area in excess of 200,000 km? that are leased to hunting outfitters licensed to conduct tourist hunting. More than 60 species of animals can be hunted on a tourist-hunting licence.

And another one bites the dust.

Yes Skyline, it is simple. As I understand it, (If I can stand to be corected on any of this, please feel free ... )

Block fees - for the lease of the hunting area. $7500-$10,000/year.

Government trophy fees - All operators pay the government the same amount for the trophies killed or wounded. I posted some prices, Mrlexma posted a list of gov trophy fees for the Selous.

"Government fees" paid per hunter determined by license purchased or length of hunt - Safari License, export permits, Dip and Pack, day fees for the nunber of hunting days or the number of days on the license, whichever is greater, gun import licenses.

This is how the government makes their money.

The concession holder makes his money by operating a safari operation and charging day fees and any profit he wants to add to the trophy fees. Or he can sell quota to other operators who want to hunt there.

This is quite common in Tanzania and just about every country where there are big game hunting blocks. (Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, etc).

Some operators in Tanzania will not sell any of their quota, some will sell 100% of their quota, some will hunt half of it, trade or swap or sell the other half.

Nothing wrong with buying some quota here or there, to get some unique species.

It is all a part of business, not unlike any business in the USA. Just like a job here, all the work can be done in house of some or all of it can be subcontracted out.