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The Namibian, 31 March 2016
AMERICAN hunters can import endangered black rhino trophies from Namibia despite opposition from two conservation groups that argued this will encourage poaching.
A Washington DC District Court ruled on Monday that there was no legal basis in the challenge mounted by the US-based conservation group Friends of Animals and the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF).
Judge Amy Berman Jackson made the ruling in a joint lawsuit filed in the Washington DC District Court in April 2014 by the two conservation groups that sought a court interdict against two contentious black rhino hunts conducted in Namibia last year.
A US website Courthouse News quoted Judge Jackson saying the importation of proceeds from hunting permits, which included a US$300 000 rhino hunt carried out by trophy hunter Cory Knowlton, did not constitute a threat to the preservation of the black rhino.
Judge Jackson said this was because the permits were issued by the Namibian government after considering the possible impacts on conservation.
“The court recognises the plaintiffs' sincere commitment to the preservation of endangered animals, and this ruling does not suggest that there is no relationship between the importation of trophies of endangered animals and protecting these species.
“But the relationship between the particular permits challenged here, which authorise the import of spoils of hunts that were entirely within Namibia's control, and plaintiffs' feared diminished enjoyment of black rhinoceros in Namibia in the future is too attenuated to confer standing on plaintiffs,” Jackson added.
Further, Judge Berman said any decision to cancel the hunts and import permits in the US would not prevent Namibia from staging black rhino hunts in future.
She added that the two organisations were 'neither an agency action nor a final action agency', and as such, their objections to the two permits did not grant them a platform to request a 'wholesale correction' of the actions of the agencies which issued the permits.
The judge said the arguments presented were 'conclusory' and depended on the actions of third parties who were not part of the court proceedings.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) say the black rhino has been a critically endangered species for decades.
In 2014, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) also approached a US court in Virginia challenging the two Namibian hunts.
Namibian Information minister Tjekero Tweya announced in early March that the government had resolved to reject all calls by conservationists opposed to its policy of allowing the intentional hunting of animals which include rhinos.
Tweya said Cabinet directed the environment ministry to actively campaign against any attempt to ban or restrict hunting and exporting of wildlife products.
“Cabinet took note that a code of conduct for conservation hunting is being developed, accompanied by improvements in the regulation of hunting and strengthening the link between hunting and conservation,” Tweya said.
According to the government, proceeds from trophy hunting are used to fund several wildlife conservation projects. In 2013, the Namibian government approved plans to sell five black rhinos for trophy hunting annually until 2018.
Nearly 100 rhinos were killed by poachers in Namibia in 2015. This year, more than 40 carcasses of poached rhinos have been discovered, mainly in the Etosha National park, while more than 100 elephants have been confirmed as having been killed by poachers in game sanctuaries which include the Bwabwata National Park since January. - ANA
AMERICAN hunters can import endangered black rhino trophies from Namibia despite opposition from two conservation groups that argued this will encourage poaching.
A Washington DC District Court ruled on Monday that there was no legal basis in the challenge mounted by the US-based conservation group Friends of Animals and the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF).
Judge Amy Berman Jackson made the ruling in a joint lawsuit filed in the Washington DC District Court in April 2014 by the two conservation groups that sought a court interdict against two contentious black rhino hunts conducted in Namibia last year.
A US website Courthouse News quoted Judge Jackson saying the importation of proceeds from hunting permits, which included a US$300 000 rhino hunt carried out by trophy hunter Cory Knowlton, did not constitute a threat to the preservation of the black rhino.
Judge Jackson said this was because the permits were issued by the Namibian government after considering the possible impacts on conservation.
“The court recognises the plaintiffs' sincere commitment to the preservation of endangered animals, and this ruling does not suggest that there is no relationship between the importation of trophies of endangered animals and protecting these species.
“But the relationship between the particular permits challenged here, which authorise the import of spoils of hunts that were entirely within Namibia's control, and plaintiffs' feared diminished enjoyment of black rhinoceros in Namibia in the future is too attenuated to confer standing on plaintiffs,” Jackson added.
Further, Judge Berman said any decision to cancel the hunts and import permits in the US would not prevent Namibia from staging black rhino hunts in future.
She added that the two organisations were 'neither an agency action nor a final action agency', and as such, their objections to the two permits did not grant them a platform to request a 'wholesale correction' of the actions of the agencies which issued the permits.
The judge said the arguments presented were 'conclusory' and depended on the actions of third parties who were not part of the court proceedings.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) say the black rhino has been a critically endangered species for decades.
In 2014, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) also approached a US court in Virginia challenging the two Namibian hunts.
Namibian Information minister Tjekero Tweya announced in early March that the government had resolved to reject all calls by conservationists opposed to its policy of allowing the intentional hunting of animals which include rhinos.
Tweya said Cabinet directed the environment ministry to actively campaign against any attempt to ban or restrict hunting and exporting of wildlife products.
“Cabinet took note that a code of conduct for conservation hunting is being developed, accompanied by improvements in the regulation of hunting and strengthening the link between hunting and conservation,” Tweya said.
According to the government, proceeds from trophy hunting are used to fund several wildlife conservation projects. In 2013, the Namibian government approved plans to sell five black rhinos for trophy hunting annually until 2018.
Nearly 100 rhinos were killed by poachers in Namibia in 2015. This year, more than 40 carcasses of poached rhinos have been discovered, mainly in the Etosha National park, while more than 100 elephants have been confirmed as having been killed by poachers in game sanctuaries which include the Bwabwata National Park since January. - ANA
