https://www.nation.co.ke/news/...52-ax2kj8/index.html



Game hunting plan will cause poaching crisis, experts warn

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 22 2018



In Summary
Loss of wildlife has been detrimental to the tourism sector for decades.

The Kenyan economy earns almost Sh300bn a year from tourism which is reliant on wildlife.

The number of donkeys has declined from over 3 million during the legalisation in 2013 to just 1.5 million today.



By PAULINE KAIRU

Conservationists in Kenya are warning of an imminent poaching crisis should proposals to open the doors to game hunting sail through.

Dr Paula Kahumbu, CEO of WildlifeDirect, told Daily Nation over the phone on Tuesday that the proposed consumptive utilisation of wildlife would be a shoo-in for international wildlife poaching syndicates, who are after wildlife trophies, to return into the country as well as exacerbate the problem of local bushmeat hunters to go on hunting sprees.

Loss of wildlife has been detrimental to the tourism sector for decades. Kenya Wildlife Service has over time complained about lack of adequate equipment to carry out anti-poaching operations as the main challenge the country faces to dealing with the problem.

BUSH MEAT

“Commercialising bush meat trade is a major threat to wipe out Kenya’s precious natural heritage entirely,” said Kahumbu. “But beyond that it will lead to an escalation of poaching rates for the most imperilled elephants and rhinos that we already know are highly targeted for their horns. As conservationists, we are convinced that this is a very bad idea.”

According to her, even though the only people who would be able to produce game meat on a commercial scale will be the private sector, national parks and reserves would become soft targets for poachers.


Union of Veterinary Practitioners of Kenya chairman, Benson Kibore warned such a move would reverse the gains that have been achieved in the conservation sector in the last decade. He said the CS was “out of touch” and had “not considered the ramifications.”

BREAKING SIGMA

“Already we have seen wildlife populations decline, except monkeys. Breaking that stigma especially among communities that live with these animals will never be undone if Kenya ever decides to rescind the decision. So this is a place that Balala should not take this country,” said Kibore.

The task force launched by Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala on March 29, wrapped up its work on Tuesday.

The task force chaired by Dr John Waithaka (Chairman), and Carole Kariuki (CEO) was charged with assessing and advising on modalities for implementing of wildlife utilisation in Kenya.

During the taskforce’s unveiling, Balala went on record to deflate concerns that the move will only make the poaching problem worse.

"All wildlife belongs to the government and the government is determined to keep the recognition of the industry worldwide in the wildlife sector," he said.

POPULATION DECLINE

He said the government was exploring other ways of increasing the number of tourists coming to Kenya. He compared Kenya’s paltry 1.4 million tourists per year to competing destinations like South Africa at 10 million and Tanzania’s 2.2 million. He said Kenya was aiming at getting at least 5 million in 10 years.

“If we do not have numbers, it will not sustain the economy," he had warned. But according to Dr Kahumbu, the CS is misguided on the most immediate wildlife concerns in the country.

“The biggest issues that afflicts the wildlife sector right now in Kenya are human-wildlife conflict and population decline. But seems the CS is yet to release this,” she said, “There’s nobody clamouring for wildlife meat. No restaurant or public demand in Kenya for wildlife meat. In fact the reverse is true, as has been witnessed with donkey meat, people are wary about it. But now the ministry is trying indoctrinate it in the eating habits of Kenyans?”

REMOVE STIGMA

She said there was a serious risk in removing stigma around wildlife meat among Kenyans. “We already know people don’t want to eat these animals. But once we remove that stigma we will create a poaching crisis because all those species will now start supplying into that market,” she noted.

“For the ministry to be pushing this and spending so much money to be moving around the country gathering views, yet it is not the number one priority to me is very suspicious,” she added.

According to Dr Kahumbu, efforts should instead be made to improve the living standards of communities living alongside wildlife through conservations endeavours, through good government policies that focus on poverty alleviation for sustainable development to encourage them to conserve the country’s heritage.

DONKEY MEAT

The Kenyan economy earns almost Sh300bn a year from tourism which is reliant on wildlife.

“The problem is going to be that if now you have to fence off place and start producing game for meat you reduce the wilderness value of the country’s tourism product,” she said.

Dr Kibore compared the proposed development to that of legalising donkey meat trade which has seen populations plummet. The number of donkeys has declined from over 3 million during the legalisation in 2013 to just 1.5 million today.

“In just within a span of three years we have already halved the population of donkeys. Now imagine what will happen to zebras which are the sisters to donkeys,” he said.

He wondered why Balala was in a rush to legalise game meat when Kenyans had not exhausted the other protein sources.

ZOONOTIC DISEASES

“Why would we be in a hurry to slaughter our wildlife. This will disturb the ecosystem completely and as the union we can’t sit and watch it happen,” he said.

He said another point of concern was the transfer of zoonotic diseases from the wild to humans. The most commonly known disease are Marburg virus, Ebola, Brucellosis, Tb from wildlife, monkey pox among others.

“How much is Kenya willing to spend to tackle zoonotic diseases from wildlife that will cross over to humans? This would be scary looking at the crisis in DRC,” he said.

Besides, Kenya Wildlife Service, with only seven veterinarians to monitor and inspect the meat, lack adequate capacity. KWS’ budgetary allocation was also reduced from Sh4bn 2017-18 to Sh3bn 2018-19.

Morons.......South Africa and Namibia have a growing wildlife population BECAUSE there is hunting..


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What should we expect? These aren't experts, they're activists.

Just commented on this on Safaritalk.
Kenya is doing so well, let's continue with more of the same I hope for Kenya's wildlife that they start up with game farming and hunting. Last hope!

https://www.nation.co.ke/oped/...42-dyyx9n/index.html

Is new campaign for sport hunting in Kenya being pushed by poachers?
MONDAY AUGUST 27 2018

In Summary
Last week, Malaysian customs officials seized 50 rhino horns worth $12 million at Kuala Lumpur airport.

There is a proposal to introduce a Bill to allow tourists to engage in sport hunting in Kenya. That is simply allowing tourists to shoot and kill wildlife at a fee.

That even one can dare propose game hunting in a country whose rhinos, elephants and lions are on the verge of extinction is, to say the least, abominable. Our law courts are full of poaching cases.

Last week, Malaysian customs officials seized 50 rhino horns worth $12 million at Kuala Lumpur airport. This might have originated in East Africa.

If game hunting is legalised, then Kenya will have to forget tourism for good as that will open the country to poachers.

Primates, zebras, hippos and gazelles will dress our dinner table at home at also eateries. We will have mongoose soup, roast crocodile and python stew, gnu tongue and warthog head for sale.

WILDEBEEST MIGRATION

In short, we may as well prepare to bid farewell to the annual Masai Mara wildebeest migration spectacle, which is among the Wonders of the World.

History has shown that, where game hunting or poaching is prevalent, wild animals migrate to safer areas — which means they may leave Kenya.

Those that may remain may forage or only hunt at night; so, non-hunting tourists may never even see them.

Where are the conservationists of this world? Why is Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala silent when, only last month, he was breathing fire when 11 rhinos died in Tsavo during relocation?

Are poachers behind this Bill?

Let all Kenyans defend our wildlife from the few greedy self-serving individuals.

ROBERT MUSAMALI, Nairobi.

What a goofy bastard.

I sure see a lot of animals in the Kruger with hunting going on in South Africa. Did anyone say the where gonna open the Massai/Mara to hunting?

Africans don't deserve Africa.....

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https://www.the-star.co.ke/new...fic-immoral_c1807661



JUDE MALONE: Trophy hunting horrific, immoral
Aug. 27, 2018, 12:30 am
By JUDE MALONE



Kenya has stood its ground against the consumptive utilisation of wildlife for decades now.

Alliances between wildlife tourism enterprises and the communities offer unforgettable experiences for visitors, who often return for more.

In a post-Cecil world where people are increasingly aware of and angered by trophy hunting, Kenya has been a guiding light, one that is now threatening to self-extinguish.

In March headlines from Kenya informed us that Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala had initiated a task force to reevaluate wildlife game farming in community and private lands.

This committee would be chaired by former Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) director David Western. Western supports trophy hunting in Africa and has argued that tourists should have no say in the matter, in spite of foreign hunters having a very big say.

He now seems to have given up his chairmanship, perhaps to assuage concerns of bias, but he is still very much in the room. Questions about legality of actions, including his appointment, have not been answered.

Public comment was invited, with a closing date of July 31, yet there was a sense no one was listening. Instead we read of a new era in wildlife conservation policies, and that its proponents have been "former big game hunters who retain large scale ranches that host wildlife".

Looks like Western is taking a page from South Africa's game book, and that if left to its own purposes this task force will conclude that utilising wildlife contributes to the national GDP, food security, job creation, and enhances co-existence between communities and wildlife.

Safari Club International (SCI) lobbyists are on the sidelines, and have been since the hunt ban was implemented. In online forums, American hunters are salivating over fresh trophy prospects.

Then came the rhino translocation fiasco. In its aftermath, Kenyan media reported that the government was "concerned" about the multiple deaths, warning it would not spare "anyone doing injustice to the country’s tourism sector".

Kenyans on social media were calling for the resignation of none other than Balala, the man behind both the translocation and the task force. Balala told them all to "go to hell", a revealing outburst for which he later apologised.


What a mess. The great land of Kenya described in 1977 as "the last great reservoir of wildlife on earth", is failing on its stated goal to protect that reservoir. At the time of the ban companies and persons holding concessions were ordered to immediately turn hunting trips into photographic safaris.

Mathews Ogutu, then Minister for Tourism and Wildlife, said no one would be allowed to enter Kenya with firearms or other hunting weapons. "It is an electrifying and bold move," said a special adviser to the United Nations Environment Programme. "The millions of people who are interested in the future of East African wildlife will be greatly encouraged by this step."

What has gone wrong? Consumptive use of wildlife for profit makes no sense morally, economically, or from any conservation-incentive point of view. It has no place in today's world, the vast majority of people everywhere are against it.

As for the "tradition" of foreign hunters coming to hunt big game, some traditions should die. Here is what the Daily Nation had to say in an editorial from 2000: "The massacre of animals for sport...is unAfrican and an abomination...Countries such as South Africa and Zimbabwe refuse to see what is essentially a simple truth: The only way to guarantee the future of the world's wildlife is to ruthlessly destroy the market for animal products. "

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) defines sustainable utilisation as an economic activity that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations.

But in reality it facilitates systematic killing and environmental destruction. Political compromise has ensured the term 'sustainable' now means whatever the user wants it to mean. New research warns us that the misplaced belief we can use wild animals for profit is driving many species towards extinction. These findings should inform all policies surrounding wildlife everywhere.

Instead we see the Kenyan government and its advisers poised to step back in time. Popular opinion among Kenyans however seems overwhelmingly on the side with its wildlife. Concerns about the potential for corruption and conflicting interests are high.

This is a misstep that will be intensely controversial in the international community, which does include tourists. If this reaction doesn't matter to the individuals on this task force, it should matter to the Kenyan government.

Tourists Against Trophy Hunting (TATH) is an international lobbying coalition. We are conservationists, journalists, photographers, activists, tourism operators, and tourists, and through member connections reach a global audience in the millions.

We oppose trophy hunting everywhere. Kenya has been the example, and in more recent years Botswana too, of how to shut down these violent people who are intent on depleting our wild places for ego gratification.

Safari Club International has said that anti-trophy hunting arguments are based "merely" on morals. They are not, but they certainly do include the moral values and laws of nature that are central to all our societies. We trust Kenya will continue to uphold these values.

I guess it hasn't dawned on any of those dimwits that, even though there has been no regulated hunting, poaching is largely what has gotten them into the mess they're in.

So, how is hunting going to cause a poaching crisis?