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  1. AFRICAN INDABA

    Wyss Foundation Commits $65M to African Parks

    The Wyss Foundation is partnering with African Parks [currently managing ten parks in seven countries, totaling approximately six million hectares of protected areas] to safeguard more large wild landscapes in Africa from poaching and destruction,” said Hansjörg Wyss, Founder and Chairman of The...
  2. AFRICAN INDABA

    News From And About Africa

    African Leopard & US Fish & Wildlife Service The deadline for comments to assist the US Fish & Wildlife Service with its decision on whether to up-list leopard to ‘Endangered’ was January 31st. It will take another year or more before a decision is rendered and action taken. Hunters taking...
  3. AFRICAN INDABA

    What’s The Environmental Impact Of Your Toast?

    Editor’s Note: When you come across vegetarians/vegans again – here are some good arguments for a civilized dialogue When it comes to food, few things are more universal than a loaf of bread. Wholemeal, white, or seeded, we consume billions of loaves annually, all over the world. But despite...
  4. AFRICAN INDABA

    Africa’s Other Elephant Is Fading Fast

    When Richard Ruggiero first saw the gold mine from the air, he was reminded of one of Dante’s circles of hell. It In the midst of Gabon’s Minkebe National Park—a huge protected area the size of Belgium—there was “a gaping hole in the forest more than half a mile wide and long.” On the ground...
  5. AFRICAN INDABA

    Giraffes: The Silent Extinction Of Africa’s Gentle Giants

    Although widespread across the savannah, woodland and desert regions of 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, giraffe populations are increasingly fragmented and shrinking in size, and have already been lost from 7 countries. There are now estimated to be less than 100,000 individuals left – less...
  6. AFRICAN INDABA

    Boone And Crockett Club On Trophies

    The Boone and Crockett Club, the oldest hunter-conservationist organization in North America, has released a position statement and video on big-game trophies and hunting on 18 January 2017. There are several aspects to public hunting and its connection to wildlife and habitat conservation that...
  7. AFRICAN INDABA

    Defining Fair Chase Behind A High Fence

    Editor’s Note: I recently discovered Dougherty’s 2011 article when searching the internet. Although written in a North American context, it strikes me as being applicable to Southern Africa, if one exchanges deer with buffalo, antelopes, etc. and readjusts the property sizes. We have written...
  8. AFRICAN INDABA

    The Color Game Is Over

    The breeding of wildlife to produce unusually colored animals, in the hope that hunters would pay a lot more to shoot them, has fallen flat in a spectacular manner — with the practice being widely condemned If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The old adage has become a painful...
  9. AFRICAN INDABA

    Prides, Protection & Parks: Africa’s Protected Areas Can Support Four Times As Many Lions

    Africa’s protected parks and reserves are capable of supporting 83,000 wild lions if well funded and managed, according to a new report led by Panthera. Published in Biological Conservation [1], the study shows that populations of the African lion and its prey species are drastically below their...
  10. AFRICAN INDABA

    Why Men Trophy Hunt

    Editor’s Note: Carl D. Mitchell sent me this article. Considering the main topic in this issue of African Indaba it seems appropriate to include this opinion piece of Darimont et al. in full length. 1. Introduction The killing of Cecil the lion (Panthera leo) ignited enduring and...
  11. AFRICAN INDABA

    Culling To Conserve: A Hard Truth For Lion Conservation

    People that don’t live in Africa tend to learn about wildlife conservation in easy-to-understand terminology. But safeguarding animal species like lions is often more complex than mainstream media sound bites would have their audiences believe. The National Post recently reported that...
  12. AFRICAN INDABA

    The Baby & The Bathwater – Trophy Hunting, Conservation & Rural Livelihoods

    A new paper by IUCN experts presents substantial evidence that the controversial practice of trophy hunting can produce positive outcomes for wildlife conservation and local people. Download the PDF at Unasylva 249, Vol. 68, 2017/1 Trophy hunting is the subject of intense debate and polarized...
  13. AFRICAN INDABA

    People Don’t Care How Much You Know Until They Know How Much You Care!

    President Teddy Roosevelt said more than 100 years ago “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”. This statement aptly describes the present status of the relationship between hunters and non-hunters. Anti-hunting activism un-fettered by scientific facts and logic...
  14. AFRICAN INDABA

    News From And About Africa

    Africa – Ivory Carbon-14 measurements on 231 elephant ivory specimens from 14 large ivory seizures (≥0.5 ton) made between 2002 and 2014 show that most ivory (ca. 90%) was derived from animals that had died less than 3 years before their ivory was confiscated. More details HERE Africa – Giraffe...
  15. AFRICAN INDABA

    Open Letter To Ambassador Xin Shunkang Of The People’s Republic Of China To Namibia

    Dear Ambassador Xin Shunkang, During the past few weeks, several Chinese nationals have been apprehended and charged with wildlife crimes, including illegal possession of rhino horn, ivory and pangolin skins and scales. Your embassy is on record stating that “it will not allow a few of its...
  16. AFRICAN INDABA

    The Fair Chase Guild – What Is It?

    I attended an historic meeting on Tuesday 18 October 2016. Or at least in time to come, I hope people will look back and say it was an historic meeting. Fittingly, it was held under canvass at the HQ of SA Hunters and chaired by its President, Gerhard Verdoorn. Present were ten other people –...
  17. AFRICAN INDABA

    How To Enhance Value Of Legal Rhino Horn

    The Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) thinks out of box to enhance funding for the rhino anti-poaching battle: rhino-horn-infused wine, rhino horn massages, additional hunts with the original rhino horn trophy replaced by a mouldings are just some of the suggestions WESSA...
  18. AFRICAN INDABA

    In memoriam - Dr. Graham Child (1936-2016)

    Dr. Graham Child passed away on December 2nd in South Africa. In his young days, Graham held a good number of positions in conservation in his home country, Zimbabwe, and in Botswana. Later in life he served two terms as IUCN regional councilor and worked as a consultant advising governments...
  19. AFRICAN INDABA

    The Lion’s Share? On The Economic Benefits Of Trophy Hunting

    Dr Cameron K. Murray of Economists at Large Pty Ltd from Melbourne, Australia is the lead author of the report “The lion’s share? On the economic benefits of trophy hunting“. This report was commissioned by Humane Society International (HSI). HSI hails the report with the article “New report...
  20. AFRICAN INDABA

    Judging Cape Buffalo

    Accurate Buffalo Trophy Assessment Being able to accurately assess the greatest outside spread of a mature bull buffalo’s horns is an essential skill all aspirant Professional Hunters need to acquire. There is a good reason for this. Along with a 100 pound per side elephant, and a 60 inch kudu...
  21. AFRICAN INDABA

    Accurate Buffalo Trophy Assessment

    Being able to accurately assess the greatest outside spread of a mature bull buffalo’s horns is an essential skill all aspirant Professional Hunters need to acquire. There is a good reason for this. Along with a 100 pound per side elephant, and a 60 inch kudu, a 40 inch or larger, ‘greatest...
  22. AFRICAN INDABA

    Why Do Hunters Choose Not To Shoot?

    Hunting animals, like deer, is often important to keeping their population at a reasonable size. In areas where natural predators are few or nonexistent, the only way to control populations of certain species is through human hunting. Human hunters behave differently from natural predators...
  23. AFRICAN INDABA

    Documentary: Custodians of Wilderness – Ethiopia

    A 35-minute documentary video Custodians of Wilderness: Ethiopia by The Conservation Imperative and produced by Zig Macintosh of the Osprey Filming Company. The documentary features Jason Roussos of Ethiopian Rift Valley Safaris and Dr. Paul Evangelista from the Natural Resource Ecology...
  24. AFRICAN INDABA

    Documentary ‘TROPHY’ Premiered At The 2017 Sundance Film Festival

    Is big-game hunting a mere excuse to kill—a murderous sport for rich people to gun down animals and display the stuffed carcasses on their walls as emblems of pride and power? Or is it, contrary to what you might think, the key to saving endangered species? This is the controversial crux of...
  25. AFRICAN INDABA

    In memoriam - In Memory Of Our Friend Paul Olivier

    Our great friend and colleague, Paul Olivier, passed away tragically and suddenly at the beginning of December at the young age of 34 in Arusha, Tanzania. To say hunting was Paul’s passion would be an understatement. He started hunting when he was ten years old, and did not stop until his life...
  26. AFRICAN INDABA

    Guidelines For Improving The Administration Of Sustainable Hunting In Sub-Saharan Africa

    Abstract: These guidelines provide both operational and technical guidance on approaches in countries practising regulated hunting. When and where well-managed, this hunting industry brings considerable conservation benefits and socio-economic profits. However, like any sector, the hunting...
  27. AFRICAN INDABA

    #AdamRuinsEverything… Adam On Trophy Hunting

    This Time Adam ruins the Conventional Wisdom that Trophy Hunting Is Bad for Conservation Turns out the real threat to endangered animals isn’t trophy hunters…, says comic Adam Conover, a cast member and writer at the popular comedy website CollegeHumor. The show debuted on September 29, 2015 on...
  28. AFRICAN INDABA

    A Film Everybody Should Watch: A Conservationist’s Cry

    This Time Adam ruins the Conventional Wisdom that Trophy Hunting Is Bad for Conservation Turns out the real threat to endangered animals isn’t trophy hunters…, says comic Adam Conover, a cast member and writer at the popular comedy website CollegeHumor. The show debuted on September 29, 2015 on...
  29. AFRICAN INDABA

    Judging Cape Buffalo

    Remote Identification And Measuring Of Buffalo The use of available technology and the applied learning process, which is fundamental to the College’s training methodology, is aimed at helping develop best practice for the industry. One area currently being addressed by the Sustainable Use and...
  30. AFRICAN INDABA

    Wildlife Populations Thrive In Wealthy Urbanized Countries

    Editor’s Note: This is a though provoking article which has been discussed extensively on the IUCN-SSC SULI Network. Not all agreed in full with the author’s findings and some said that a bit more differentiation is necessary. Reactions, particularly what people from developing countries are...
  31. AFRICAN INDABA

    News From And About Africa

    Africa Africa’s overall elephant population has seen the worst declines in 25 years, mainly due to poaching over the past ten years – according to IUCN’s African Elephant Status Report launched at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The...
  32. AFRICAN INDABA

    Fiona Capstick Receives CIC Gold Medal

    Fiona Claire Capstick is not only a prolific author and past recipient of the CIC Literary Award for her masterwork “The Diana Files – The Huntress-Traveler Through History” published in 2005 (ISBN: 978-0-9584590-4-4) but also the sponsor of the Peter Hathaway Capstick Hunting Heritage Award of...
  33. AFRICAN INDABA

    WWF & Trophy Hunting

    WWF is dedicated to protecting the earth’s wildlife and the ecosystems that support us all. Myriad threats have led wildlife populations to decline by an average of 52 percent globally since 1970. Success in conservation requires the use of a range of approaches to address the world’s...
  34. AFRICAN INDABA

    SA Hunters Concerned About New Regulations That Allow Cross-Breeding Of Wildlife

    The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) added twelve wildlife species to the list of tame and domesticated animals regulated under its Animal Improvement Act (No. 62 of 1998) in July. This amendment will allow genetic manipulation and cross-breeding of wildlife in the same...
  35. AFRICAN INDABA

    Giant Sable Report

    Update... Between July and August we carried out an ambitious aerial census and capture operation in Luando and Cangandala which was integrated into the Action Plan for the Giant Sable Conservation, developed in collaboration between the Kissama Foundation and the Ministry of Environment. This...
  36. AFRICAN INDABA

    Women & Sustainable Hunting

    The Working Group Artemis of the CIC, International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey, Working Group Diana of the Netherlands organized the 3rd International Women and Sustainable Hunting (WaSH) Conference in Wageningen, The Netherlands in July. The huntresses from...
  37. AFRICAN INDABA

    The Hunter’s Image

    Yes, a lion got killed. Yes, he had a name and was a favorite at a well-known photographic installation in Hwange National Park. He was killed in a place with no lion permit and the world went nuts: Millions of words of rhetoric were generated, some true, some false, most opinions and feelings...
  38. AFRICAN INDABA

    The Evolution Of CITES

    CITES COP 17 And Africa Willem Wijnstekers, a former Secretary General of CITES participated in CoP 17 Sandton/South Africa in the team of the CIC International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation. Here is his report on African hunting related matters discussed at CoP 17. Willem is also...
  39. AFRICAN INDABA

    Keep Calm & Let Africa Speak

    The International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation, CIC, sponsored two high-level panel discussions and press conferences on 24th and 28th September during the 17th Conference of the Parties of CITES. Initially CIC planned only one press conference, but due to demand by the Africa...
  40. AFRICAN INDABA

    News from and about Africa

    Angola Pedro vaz Pinto reported that rains in Cangandala had been quite generous, constraining so much the researchers’ movements. They could only access the park between late January and early February to reach the trap cameras. This time they couldn’t approach the giant sable inside the...
  41. AFRICAN INDABA

    Will Keeping the Rhino Horn Trade Illegal Kill More Rhinos?

    Many conservationists are lauding South Africa’s recent decision not to propose the reintroduction of trade in rhino horn, citing concerns that legitimizing it could reignite consumer demand. Other conservationists, however, fear that keeping the ban in place will paradoxically lead to an...
  42. AFRICAN INDABA

    Can There be Sustainable Lion Hunting in Africa?

    By now the arguments for both sides are well known. Trophy hunting provides important revenue for African landowners, and without that income, they might be persuaded to convert land currently managed for wildlife into farms and mines. Sacrificing a few older, non-reproductive lions—it is...
  43. AFRICAN INDABA

    Abstracts Of Recently Published Wildlife Papers

    THE CUSTOMER ISN’T ALWAYS RIGHT—CONSERVATION AND ANIMAL WELFARE IMPLICATIONS OF THE INCREASING DEMAND FOR WILDLIFE TOURISM Tom P. Moorhouse, Cecilia A. L. Dahlsjö, Sandra E. Baker, Neil C. D’Cruze, David W. Macdonald. 2015 PLoS ONE 10(10): e0138939. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138939. Tourism...
  44. AFRICAN INDABA

    Statement on Captive-Bred Lion Hunting and Associated Activities

    It is the opinion of the African Lion Working Group (ALWG) that captive-bred lion hunting, which is defined by ALWG as the sport hunting of lions that are captive bred and reared expressly for sport hunting and/ or sport hunting of lions that occur in fenced enclosures and are not...
  45. AFRICAN INDABA

    Two “Famous” Lions Killed in Non-Hunting Kenya

    Two more lions – both of them “named and famed” – have been killed in Kenya in the waning days of March, although hunting is prohibited since 1977. “Mohawk the most famous lion of Kenya”, the other one called “Lemek”, which Maasai leaders said that residents speared the two-and-a-half-year-old...
  46. AFRICAN INDABA

    Rhino Poaching What Is The Solution?

    Rhino poaching is a serious contemporary global concern. Significant recent growth in demand for rhino horn in Asian consumer markets has driven black market prices to extraordinary levels, undermining attempts to conserve wild rhinos and enforce a worldwide trade ban. A closer analysis of...
  47. AFRICAN INDABA

    Decisions of the Scientific Review Group on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora

    Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 establishes a Scientific Review Group (SRG) consisting of representatives from the Member States’ Scientific Authorities. The role of the SRG is to examine scientific questions relating to the application of the Regulations and it has specific tasks relating to...
  48. AFRICAN INDABA

    Hunters & Anglers Pay For Conservation In USA

    The American System of Conservation Funding as a unique “user-pays, public-benefits” program has generated billions of dollars for conservation since 1937; Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) programs are a key component. Hunters and anglers are the primary funders of wildlife...
 
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