Conservation of African Animals Through Hunting

Black Rhino

(Conservation Force, “Namibia’s Rhino Conservation Success)

Regulated hunting is a tool used to increase black rhino population growth rates.
Hunting does not have a negative impact on the black rhino population. The potential removal of 5 certified surplus bulls by hunters would account for 0.26% of Namibia’s black rhino population, at most only a fraction of the annual growth rate.
According to the chair of the IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group: “In population terms, it’s of minor significance, as we are talking about one old bull that would have contributed genetically to the rhino population already. In monetary terms, it's important as it generates funds that go directly into the wildlife products fund that feeds 100% back into rhino conservation.”
Namibia’s anti-poaching success is largely due to the resources available from conservation hunting.
All black rhino hunting permit fees are deposited into the Game Products Trust Fund, to be used only for black rhino protection and management.
Since 2004, when the CITES Parties approved an export quota of five black rhino/year from both Namibia and South Africa, black rhino populations have increased by 67%, with only 47 black rhino hunted from 2005 to 2015 (most in South Africa).
Photographic tourism cannot replace the conservation funds gained through hunting. Rhino hunting is low impact and high value. Photographic tourism is the opposite, and it has not succeeded in much of Namibia, especially the communal conservancies.

Elephant

(Conservation Force, “Benefits to Elephant Conservation From Safari Hunting”)

Safari hunting has generated benefits and revenues that are especially effective and unique in reducing those threats and conserving elephants
Most of the African countries with sizable elephant populations rely on hunting as an important part of their national wildlife conservation strategies, especially Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Half the world’s African elephant inhabit these six countries. They also protect about 40% of the global African elephant range. It is not coincidental that these six countries maintain the most elephant.
The land set aside for safari hunting is 1.5 to 5 times larger than the strictly‐protected national parks in Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. More habitat generally means more elephant.
Elephant was the source of most hunting revenue in Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique and the fourth‐highest source of revenue in Tanzania prior to the April 2014 suspension of elephant trophy imports by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A significant portion of these revenues is directed to wildlife department operating budgets and used for anti‐poaching enforcement, and to community development.
Because commercial ivory poaching is the greatest threat to the global elephant population, the contribution from hunting activities is significant, especially because of the remoteness and breadth of hunting areas

Lion

(Conservation Force, “The Surprising Benefits of Safari Lion Hunting”)

Tourist safari hunting protects and secures the largest share of lion and prey habitat.
It is the primary funding mechanism of most poaching control, incentivizes rural community tolerance, supports rural livelihoods, and significantly funds management authority operating budgets.
The benefits of tourist hunting overwhelmingly account for the survival of most lion, habitat, and prey as well as the most lion population growth.
Safari hunting is essential to maintain lion outside of national park boundaries as well as lion in parks when inevitably ranging beyond park boundaries
Habitat loss is the largest threat to lion populations
The leading lion ecologists agree that “the most important benefit from an African conservation perspective is that trophy hunting maintains vast areas of land for wildlife.”
Most lion owe their existence to countries that rely on safari hunting as a conservation tool, with Tanzania representing the world’s largest lion population and Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe assessed as having “increasing” lion populations by the IUCN Red List.
In Tanzania, approximately 56.8% of the lion found in protected areas are found in hunting areas.