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The Namibian, 23.9.2015
by Maggy Thomas
SAN ANTONIO - The Texas-based Dallas Safari Club plans to help the Namibian government to curb the poaching of wild animals and form partnerships in game conservation programmes.
Namibia is best known in Texas for its game hunting and safari services.
Representatives from Dallas Safari Club met President Hage Geingob last week to discuss how best the Namibian government and the club can collaborate in conservation and anti-poaching programmes.
In an interview with Nampa immediately after the meeting, a representative of the club, Geoffrey Connor indicated that the Dallas Safari Club, which stages a large safari convention annually with attendance of about 30 000 people, has invited President Geingob to attend the convention in January 2016.
“We invited President Geingob to be the speaker at the club's convention that will take place from 9 to 12 January next year. We ask him to consider coming to Texas for the convention as a way of publicly demonstrating the solidarity between responsible safari clubs organisations and governments in Africa,” he said.
Namibia has the best wildlife conservation programme in the whole of Africa, Connor said, adding that environment conservation is part of the country's constitution.
He said the country also has good procedures and laws to guide hunters, adding: “I am impressed with that.”
“We are promoting and supporting responsible hunting and conservation, which is the same thing the Namibian government is trying to do. We will be embarrassed anytime there is any type of corruption or illegal hunting or poaching. We want to help the Namibian government to continue promoting responsible hunting and help the government in its efforts to curb poaching,” he said, adding that many countries do not have environmental and conservation protection laws in their constitution.
“Namibia has already done the job and we want to help it to continue building on that. One thing we thought about was to establish better education and public information services talking about the advantage of hunting in Namibia, based on game maturity in selected areas, and those results will be published.
“By doing that, you encourage responsible hunters to come to Namibia to enjoy the trophy hunting, as well as tourism and culture,” he said. On his part, Geingob said Texas hunters should not have second thoughts about visiting Namibia, as they are not strangers to the country.
“Our constitution is the first in Africa to protect the environment and wildlife. We are a good hunting country,” Geingob said.
He said Namibia conserves its animals and that is why the country has a wide variety of wild animals.
He explained that trophy hunting is not a question of obtaining a trophy per se, but how you kill the animals.
“We are guarding our game and our trophy hunting is done in a proper way, and animals are properly conserved, which is why we have so many animals - we preserve them,” he said.
The Dallas Safari Club is a hunting conservation organisation based in Dallas, Texas. With 6 000 members, the club has a worldwide contingency and holds its annual convention and auction every January.
Much of what the DSC does throughout the year involves working to fund efforts that surround their three-pronged objective: conservation, education and the protection of hunters' rights.
Last year's expo drew protests over the auction of a permit to hunt a rare black rhinoceros in Namibia. The winning bid was US$350 000, all of which was aimed at supporting Namibia's rhino conservation.
A number of elderly rhino bulls are removed from the herd annually.
Namibia has a black rhino population of about 1 800. The overall African black rhino population is thought to be about 5 000. They are threatened by dwindling habitat and by poaching for their horns, used to make ceremonial dagger handles and believed in some cultures to have medicinal value.
by Maggy Thomas
SAN ANTONIO - The Texas-based Dallas Safari Club plans to help the Namibian government to curb the poaching of wild animals and form partnerships in game conservation programmes.
Namibia is best known in Texas for its game hunting and safari services.
Representatives from Dallas Safari Club met President Hage Geingob last week to discuss how best the Namibian government and the club can collaborate in conservation and anti-poaching programmes.
In an interview with Nampa immediately after the meeting, a representative of the club, Geoffrey Connor indicated that the Dallas Safari Club, which stages a large safari convention annually with attendance of about 30 000 people, has invited President Geingob to attend the convention in January 2016.
“We invited President Geingob to be the speaker at the club's convention that will take place from 9 to 12 January next year. We ask him to consider coming to Texas for the convention as a way of publicly demonstrating the solidarity between responsible safari clubs organisations and governments in Africa,” he said.
Namibia has the best wildlife conservation programme in the whole of Africa, Connor said, adding that environment conservation is part of the country's constitution.
He said the country also has good procedures and laws to guide hunters, adding: “I am impressed with that.”
“We are promoting and supporting responsible hunting and conservation, which is the same thing the Namibian government is trying to do. We will be embarrassed anytime there is any type of corruption or illegal hunting or poaching. We want to help the Namibian government to continue promoting responsible hunting and help the government in its efforts to curb poaching,” he said, adding that many countries do not have environmental and conservation protection laws in their constitution.
“Namibia has already done the job and we want to help it to continue building on that. One thing we thought about was to establish better education and public information services talking about the advantage of hunting in Namibia, based on game maturity in selected areas, and those results will be published.
“By doing that, you encourage responsible hunters to come to Namibia to enjoy the trophy hunting, as well as tourism and culture,” he said. On his part, Geingob said Texas hunters should not have second thoughts about visiting Namibia, as they are not strangers to the country.
“Our constitution is the first in Africa to protect the environment and wildlife. We are a good hunting country,” Geingob said.
He said Namibia conserves its animals and that is why the country has a wide variety of wild animals.
He explained that trophy hunting is not a question of obtaining a trophy per se, but how you kill the animals.
“We are guarding our game and our trophy hunting is done in a proper way, and animals are properly conserved, which is why we have so many animals - we preserve them,” he said.
The Dallas Safari Club is a hunting conservation organisation based in Dallas, Texas. With 6 000 members, the club has a worldwide contingency and holds its annual convention and auction every January.
Much of what the DSC does throughout the year involves working to fund efforts that surround their three-pronged objective: conservation, education and the protection of hunters' rights.
Last year's expo drew protests over the auction of a permit to hunt a rare black rhinoceros in Namibia. The winning bid was US$350 000, all of which was aimed at supporting Namibia's rhino conservation.
A number of elderly rhino bulls are removed from the herd annually.
Namibia has a black rhino population of about 1 800. The overall African black rhino population is thought to be about 5 000. They are threatened by dwindling habitat and by poaching for their horns, used to make ceremonial dagger handles and believed in some cultures to have medicinal value.
