From The Hunting Report
January 2006

The other matter that needs to be
mentioned actually applies to Tanzania,
as well as Botswana. The two
countries are leading the way in an
effort to take only mature lions.
We’ve written about this important
effort before and explained how
hunter restraint in the taking of
young lions is crucial to the survival
of lion hunting all across Africa. It is
only a matter of time before other
countries join this effort.
The unpleasant side effect of this
new restraint is a predictable plunge
in success rates in some areas. And
that is causing some hunter resentment.
In one case I am aware of in
Tanzania, a disgruntled hunter took
video of several lions he was not allowed
to shoot, and he is using the
video to bad-mouth the company,
claiming it is using the new restraint
as a ruse to re-sell the same lion permit
over and over. In this particular
case, I know the PH involved, and I
am convinced he stayed the hunter’s
hand because he feared for his job.
And well he might, because the safari
company he works for has a
fired-on-the-spot policy toward any
PH who allows a hunter to take an
under-age lion.
That does not mean I think all
PHs are innocently telling clients to
hold fire. In fact, quite the opposite
is true. I am hearing credible stories
that make me think some PHs are indeed
exploiting the new restraint
and selling, in a calculated way, far
more lion hunts than they have
quota. Here at The Hunting Report,
we support the new restraint and I
urge clients to do the same. But fair
warning - that does not mean I won’t
air complaints from clients who feel
they have been toyed with in the
name of conservation.

Very interesting.

Often a hunter will be pissed when his PH tells him not to shoot. Hell, it's true of plains game, not only lion. But is that to be the standard?

I have seen elephant that I was almost sure were big enough, but was told were not. Did I doubt it? Yes, I must confess that I did.

But did I stake my paltry experience up against that of a PH who had led me to many good trophies and had never given me any reason to complain? Absolutely not.

Some of these guys who go to Africa are emphatically NOT hunters. They are just shooters on an ego trip, weighing the cost against the bag they bring home.

I detest that attitude and applaud those professional hunters who hold and maintain the highest standards of trophy quality, who hold out for the oldest, or for God's sake at least old enough, males--and who will not compromise, neither for client nor employing company.

The cure is to make the permit tagged to a paticular hunter. If that hunter can not find a suitable head, the permit is dead. That would take the incentive away from a PH selling a permit more than once. It also would lend credibility to the notion that the conservation efforts were the object of the game not the god almighty dollar. It would level the playing field and make things more honorable.

I heard that Tanzania Game Trackers has a policy to fire any PH who allows a client to shoot underage lions....Maybe they are the ones under complaint?

What's the difference in that and hunting lion where the success rate is 25-30%? A lot of lion "quota" gets sold (and resold) under those circumstances.

Regards,

Terry

Personally, i think it should be a standard policy for every outfitter that a PH should lose his job if they willingly allowed a client to take a young male lion. Accidents can happen and the decision to fire or not should always be taken after reviewing the incident with the Ph , client, trackers, game scout, etc. For example, the Ph that allowed this lion to be taken would be a prime candidate for the unemployment list IMO...


It is just too damaging to wild pride dynamics to shoot male lions that are under 6 years of age!

quote:

Originally posted by Bwanamich:

Bwanamich, why on earth would a hunter even want to take a lion like the one in that picture? I, far rather have a lioness permit, and take an old lioness! Hunting the female is far more dangerous anyway, if you are tracking a pride. You stand a good chance of getting into a multiple charge of her buddies when you knock her down in a pride group. To me the hunting of dangerous game is only real hunting if there is a real threat of the re-arranging of your body parts. The sencable, and selective hunting of OLD lioness' would damage the pride dynamics far less, IMO!

I was in on talks with the Government of Zambia back in 1992 when there was a proposal by the SCI, headed up by Wayne Pocious, to put into law that a lion permit would be tied to a particuler hunter, and a new permit had to be generated for the next client, if the first did not make a legal kill. The Safari companies kicked up a lot of dust on that one, because they had been selling the permit several times, before it was tagged on a lion. This also meant the quota was gone with the first hunter, if he did not take a lion. The cure would be to not tie the permit to the outfitter's quota, but make each hunter buy a seperate permit on his license. No matter how it is permitted, the quota doesn't change, and the same amount of lion will be taken. That is on the safari opperator to not shoot young lion. The partial cure would be to make that permit to the hunter, a double permit sort of like Alaska's method. The permit could be used to take an old, dry lioness, if a mature lion couldn't be found. This would let the outfitter sell another lion hunt, and give the client incentive to not take a little boy, and substitute a big mean old lioness, instead! Everybody wins, including the lion population.

quote:

Originally posted by lb404:
The cure is to make the permit tagged to a paticular hunter. If that hunter can not find a suitable head, the permit is dead. That would take the incentive away from a PH selling a permit more than once. It also would lend credibility to the notion that the conservation efforts were the object of the game not the god almighty dollar. It would level the playing field and make things more honorable.

Good idea. That would solve the problem, but would it create any other problems? (I refer to the Law of Unintended Consequences).

Many of the sentiments in that article do have merit. From my experience, sometimes it seems that PH's first reaction is that a lion they see should not be shot and that they they almost have to find reasons or evidence that it should, rather then the mindset of "there's a good one, lets go get it."

quote:

Originally posted by retreever:
Where can one study, read on aging a lion to make sure he is 6+ years old...

Mike

Mike,

Read this pdf file Sustainable Trophy Hunting of Lions. It may take a bit to download.

From this website Lion Research

Regards,

Terry

Terry, thank you..printed it and now will educated how to tell a mature lion...I hope!!!

Mike

A lot more research has taken place since that article and the same authors (i.e. C. Packer)has added to the "pink nose" theory. There is no sure way method to determine the exact age of a live wild lion but there are several ways to determine if the lion is young, mature or aged. That is the key! There is still so much more to learn about the sustainable utilisation of lion and until we know most of it, it is better to err on the side of caution.

Currently, there are just too many short sighted outfitters/ph's that are entirely profit motivated. The above posted picture is a perfect example of this. When a client has paid top $$ to hunt a lion there is a natural resistance against being told that a lion is not good enough.....especially when no better lions are being seen and the safari is drawing to an end.

I think it will take 3-5 years before the majority of the hunting fraternity are on the same wave length about the importance of hunting only "aged" male lions. If we really consider ourselves conservation minded sportsmen and women, then there should be no argument.

Gentlemen,

In a related matter, Tanzania should do something about citizens shooting animals they are not supposed to.

I have seen photos of Tanzanians proudly showing their daily bag.

In one instance there was a very young sable and two lions that could never have been a year old!

quote:

Originally posted by Spring:
Many of the sentiments in that article do have merit. From my experience, sometimes it seems that PH's first reaction is that a lion they see should not be shot and that they they almost have to find reasons or evidence that it should, rather then the mindset of "there's a good one, lets go get it."

That makes me suspect that the company may have oversold its lions.

Selection for older age lions will reduce the success rate. At leats until more young lions mature. The question I have is, "Will the lower success rate reduce demand and possibly the cost of hunting lions?"

465H&H

465 H&H

I of course cannot speak for the industry but it only seems lodgical to me that if quotas are reduced the price will go up and people will pay it because the lion will become an even more special trophy. Look at the prices for lions when Botswana reopened this year.

Mark

Saeed,

I am with you on that! Resident/citizen hunting is unchecked most of the time. the onus is entirely on the individual to follow any sort of ethic codes or for that matter respect the law. The rare occasions where one get's apprehended by officials, it is simply a matter of negotiating the "release" fee with the arresting officer.

On the other hand, numerous hunting operators just as easily abuse the law and overshoot their quotas, licenses, etc. No disrespect, but I always wondered how your outfitters could "arrange" for you to take the amount of buffalo you do on one trip? It's worth looking into next time, for your peace of mind.

465, Mark,
It is very unlikely that the quotas for lion will be reduced as the Game Dpt will stand to lose money if they do and African Gov's hate losing money a lower success rate won't lower the price of lion IMO. Demand will still be high.