Hunting vs Non-Hunting Countries in Africa
(Safari Club International Foundation, The Conservation Equation in Africa)
In African countries that have banned hunting the negative consequences are clear….
-After Kenya banned hunting in 1977, wildlife populations were decimated, decreasing by over 60%. (Joseph Ogutu, Extreme Wildlife Declines and Concurrent Increase in Livestock Numbers in Kenya: What Are the Causes?)
-Much of Kenya’s natural habitat that was once preserved for hunting has now been converted into farming and livestock operations. (Joseph Ogutu, Extreme Wildlife Declines and Concurrent Increase in Livestock Numbers in Kenya: What Are the Causes?)
-Virtually no wildlife lives outside national parks in Kenya. (Joseph Ogutu, Extreme Wildlife Declines and Concurrent Increase in Livestock Numbers in Kenya: What Are the Causes?)
-During this no hunting period, lion populations in Kenya have fallen from over 20,000 to just 2,000. (John Platt, African Lion Populations Drop 42 Percent in Past 21 Years)
-Tanzania banned hunting in 1973, and it’s wildlife populations were similarly decimated. The country reopened hunting in 1983 and now has some of the largest wildlife populations in Africa, including in protected areas outside of the National Parks. (A. Cauldwell, Tourist hunting and its role in development of wildlife management areas in Tanzania)
-Since banning hunting, Botswana has seen a steep increase in conflicts between animals and humans. According to the country’s Department of Wildlife’s problem animal control unit, such conflicts have risen from 4,361 in 2012 to 6,770 in 2014. (Joseph Mbaiwa, Effects of the safari hunting tourism ban on rural livelihoods and wildlife conservation in Northern Botswana)
African countries who have based their conservation strategies around hunting have had much better results.
- In Zimbabwe, 90% of the funding for The Communal Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE), comes from regulated hunting safaris. Today, the CAMPFIRE program protects over 12 million acres of wildlife habitat. (Simon Metcalfe, Campfire: Zimbabwe's Communal Areas Management Program For Indigenous Resources)
-25% of all households in Zimbabwe benefit from resources developed by the hunter-funded CAMPFIRE program- $21.5 million between 1994 and 2012 (Simon Metcalfe, Campfire: Zimbabwe's Communal Areas Management Program For Indigenous Resources)
-In South Africa, where private ownership of wildlife is legal, many areas that were degraded by livestock have now been returned to pristine habitat in the form of hunting ranches. As a result the southern white rhino population, has grown from just 30 animals to nearly 21,000. (World Wildlife, White Rhino Facts)
