Elephant imports now allowed from Zimbabwe & Zambia

Uintaelkhunter

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U.S. Now Allows Elephants From Zimbabwe, Zambia To Be Imported

Nov 14, 2017
Elephants legally hunted in Zimbabwe and Zambia between 2016-2018 now can be imported into the United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced today in Africa.

At the African Wildlife Consultative Forum (AWCF) co-hosted by Tanzania and Safari Club International Foundation, the FWS announced that it had made positive enhancement findings for elephants legally hunted in Zimbabwe and Zambia between 2016-2018. Individuals who have hunted or wish to hunt elephants during that period will need to apply for and obtain import permits from the FWS in order to bring their elephants home.

“These positive findings for Zimbabwe and Zambia demonstrate that the Fish and Wildlife Service recognizes that hunting is beneficial to wildlife and that these range countries know how to manage their elephant populations,” said SCI President Paul Babaz. “We appreciate the efforts of the Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior to remove barriers to sustainable use conservation for African wildlife.”​

Elephants in Zimbabwe are listed as a threatened species and are on CITES Appendix II. Elephant importation from Zimbabwe has been closed since May 2014 when the FWS, under the Obama administration, abruptly imposed an import ban.

SCI and the National Rifle Association filed suit to challenge the ban and a court has already pushed back the start date of the ban from April 4, 2014 to May 12, 2014. Individuals who legally hunted elephants in Zimbabwe during that period are now obtaining permits to bring their elephants home to the U.S. SCI and NRA continue to pursue their challenge in court to assist hunters who legally took elephants in Zimbabwe between May 12, 2014 and the end of 2015.

The FWS’s announcement also brings positive news for elephant importation from Zambia. Zambia’s elephants are listed as threatened in the U.S. and on CITES Appendix I. Individuals who wish to import elephants from Zambia into the U.S. will need to obtain both U.S. and CITES import documents.

The FWS also announced at the AWCF that it is working diligently on other enhancement findings and hopes to be able to make them soon.

SCI and SCI Foundation are honored that the FWS chose the AWCF as the forum to make these significant announcements. SCI will continue to work with the FWS in additional efforts to conserve African wildlife through sustainable use.
 


Are you going to get a full body mount done now?

Great price on the hunt and you get to import the elephant. Best of both worlds.(y)
 
Are you going to get a full body mount done now?

Great price on the hunt and you get to import the elephant. Best of both worlds.(y)

It really is ironic.... I went when I did not only because of the price, but a fear that if the ban was lifted I'd be priced out of the market at least for the next several years. So just getting to go was the main thing, but getting my ivory back is one heck of a bonus!

I need taller ceiling for that full body mount....
 
It really is ironic.... I went when I did not only because of the price, but a fear that if the ban was lifted I'd be priced out of the market at least for the next several years. So just getting to go was the main thing, but getting my ivory back is one heck of a bonus!

I need taller ceiling for that full body mount....


I know you have posted that the trophy isn't what is important. The experience is what counts. Irony is that by proving that statement, it looks like you will get both.!!!

Truly happy for you!(y)
 
Great News! I had heard some rumors of this coming soon. Glad to know this finally happened...
 
Well guys........Finally some Ivory will be going home........glad to see this.....!!!!
 
I know you have posted that the trophy isn't what is important. The experience is what counts. Irony is that by proving that statement, it looks like you will get both.!!!

Truly happy for you!(y)

Thanks again!

I did get lucky on the timing, as I'm sure outfitters will be offering "deals" at much higher prices very soon. I mean look at the lion offer that was made recently. It's double what the same hunt would have been "pre-ban." I'm sure you'll see some of the same here before the prices sort themselves out.

I'll also be curious to see if the ele prices in other countries go up as a result of this.
 
What fantastic news!!
 
Happy for you, Royal !
 
Oh well...bye bye reasonable Zim elephant hunts...hello americans with $$ :whistle:
 
Do you guys think this will drive the price of tuskless hunts up or down? I have two ways of thinking more guys will go for the tusks since they can now be imported causing tuskless demand to decrease...or people will want to import the skin and this will cause demand to go up. Not sure but would like to hear others opinions.
 
Do you guys think this will drive the price of tuskless hunts up or down? I have two ways of thinking more guys will go for the tusks since they can now be imported causing tuskless demand to decrease...or people will want to import the skin and this will cause demand to go up. Not sure but would like to hear others opinions.

That's an interesting question.... I love the economics questions.

So...

I don't think there will be much long term impact to Tuskless and here is why. Although it's still an elephant, most seem to view it as "different" and if you're in the market for one you're not in the market for the other. Even before the 2014 ban Tuskless was a relatively inexpensive hunt and the pricing really didn't change much upon the ban, so I expect to see the same now.

Most hunters want the ivory, or not to hunt elephant at all. That's why demand dropped with the ban and that's why Tuskless demand amd price didn't go up after the ban. No matter how cheap they become, Tuskless still don't have ivory.

Heck, look at me as an example. When I booked the hunt I truly didn't expect the ban to be lifted the correct economic decision would have been to hunt Tuskless. Why pay the premium to have ivory I couldn't bring home???? The answer for me personally was simple. I wanted to hunt a bull elephant if I could afford it and saw that I could. It was a "different animal" to me.

Now there will certainly be those who will move to Tuskless in Zim (and in the future i might well be one of them) when that price delta increases, but I don't think enough to put the supply and demand out of balance.
 
It was interesting to see how many ads popped up here the moment the announcement came out.
 
It was interesting to see how many ads popped up here the moment the announcement came out.

Trying to take advantage of a believed (I agree) immediate increase in demand for Zim ele. It's smart business is all.

What will be truly interesting is to see if the prices immediately sky rocket in an effort to capture every last dime and actually stifle demand. Remember, there were some pretty dang good late season deals on exportable to the States ele in Nam and SA this year before this happened. So, supply there already exceeded demand. I'm not sure why Zim would be a totally separate demand pool. I think it will be really easy for Zim operators to get over zealous and end up with quota left over next year.

And to be really clear here. I'm a capitalist through and through. If a Zim operator can double his price on ele and sell all his quota he should absolutely do so. If that prices me out of the market for another elephant in the future, boo flipping hoo. I took advantage of an inexpensive elephant hunt that is looking like it was a better value by the second, but getting to have a cheap hunt sure isn't a right.
 
Do you guys think this will drive the price of tuskless hunts up or down? I have two ways of thinking more guys will go for the tusks since they can now be imported causing tuskless demand to decrease...or people will want to import the skin and this will cause demand to go up. Not sure but would like to hear others opinions.

The following are my general thoughts. I definitely don't make my living as an economist. :oops:

Zimbabwe tuskless - same to slightly down. More options to hunt elephants now

Zimbabwe bull elephants - up significantly percentage wise. Especially if people view a one term Trump presidency. (will still be a bargain in the industry) Areas around Hwange and Gonarezhou/Kruger with a chance for 60 or 70+ may go way up with pent up demand and concerns USFW will change in three years.

Zambia bull elephants - up. See above, but they don't have near the supply.

RSA bull elephants - down. Competition just heated up.

Namibia bull elephants - slightly down. They were already the high end of the market.
 
One of two things will take place on elephant hunting.......Zimbabwe and Zambia outfitters will raise prices to match South Africa or they will go for the volume and keep prices relatively close to where they are now. If the latter happpens one would expect prices on SA hunts to fall as demand falls. Anybody up for an elephant hunt in 2018?

@Royal27 this news is really good for you and I hope the ivory reaches you quickly!
 
Congrats guys! I was seriously hoping to book a Zim bull ele hunt in the next couple years and it's maybe looking like that'll be abit harder now. As a Canadian it didn't get much better then the past few years for deals.

But great news for a lot of guys on here!!
 
Great news!!(y)(y)
 

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