The recent reports of a SCI world-record cheetah, which was shot by a South African trophy hunter guided by Namibian Professional Hunter Elaine Coetzee, has caused quite a stir in the press, as well as generated much negative reaction in various media. Although I would have liked to have reacted sooner, I have held back with the expectation that associations involved in trophy hunting would make a statement.
The contents of the messages sent to the press and Ms. Coetzee make it very clear to me that many readers are totally ignorant of the reality of trophy hunting. Also, unless the authors of the various messages are strict vegans i.e. do not eat or use any form of animal products, including eggs, leather and so on, their comments are also hypocritical.
As the public at large is not well informed of the realities of trophy hunting, please allow me space in your newspaper to share some facts with your readers.
In Namibia (then South West Africa) trophy hunting began to develop as a sideline to traditional agriculture in the early 60’s, in areas where game such as springbuck, oryx, kudu and warthog were plentiful. In those days game ranching was unknown in our country, wildlife was seen to be in direct competition with domestic stock for grazing and water, and therefore a liability for a stock farmer, and often shot indiscriminately. By the late 60’s, farmers began to realize that game indeed had value through trophy hunting, and increasingly thereafter our wildlife came to be seen as an asset. Since the mid-1970s the numbers of wild animals on private land has increased dramatically. As our American friends would say, “If it pays, it stays.” Today 80% of wildlife is found outside of protected areas, and wildlife is increasing on communal land.
Namibia is now a nation with a proud hunting heritage, and our trophy-hunting sector is well respected by our government and fellow Namibians as an essential and integral part of Namibia’s conservation, tourism, farming and business sectors. It is common knowledge that trophy hunting has grown to be one of the most important industries in our country in terms of its strong contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, employment creation, training opportunities and the wellbeing and social upliftment of our rural people as well as game conservation. Namibia is committed to the sustainable use of wildlife resources, as is indeed provided for in our national constitution. Trophy hunting is not a threat in Namibia - in fact it is a contributing factor to the effective conservation and good wildlife management, and it is our national interest to ensure that we use this resource sustainably. Trophy hunting utilizes a small percentage of a population, typically the surplus adult animals, usually post-reproductive males.
In Namibia there are currently greater numbers of wildlife than any time in the past hundred years. Our elephant population has virtually quadrupled over the last twenty years to nearly twenty thousand and we now have a large number of black rhinoceros, to mention just a few.
Namibia has the largest remaining number of free-ranging cheetahs in the world, 90% of which are found outside protected areas on commercial farms. Reports indicate that in the 1980s, farmers who considered the animals to be pests and a threat to livestock killed approximately 1,000 cheetahs per year. Our country became a CITES signatory nation in 1992. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments, which aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Namibia has a CITES quota to export 150 cheetah per year. The most recent statistics indicate that approximately 50% of that quota is currently utilized by trophy hunters.
The ability to utilize cheetah sustainably, just like any other natural living resource, aids conservation efforts by giving landowners and communal conservancy members economic incentives to preserve rather than reduce the cheetah population.
Both cheetah and leopard are carnivores and therefore cause huge losses to stock ranchers and game farmers, as they kill livestock and wild game animals. If they did not have the potential to generate a trophy fee paid by international hunters who wish to shoot mature specimens for their hides, these ranchers and farmers would kill these animals by trapping, poisoning or shooting irrespective of their ages.
Farmers/ranchers are willing to be tolerant of losses caused by both leopard and cheetah if they are in the position to recoup some of these losses through the income generated by trophy fees for the shooting of mature animals by international trophy hunters. This leads to a situation where females and cubs are protected. This policy is based on the principle that rural landowners will only be encouraged to preserve cheetah if the damage these predators cause to livestock is balanced by some economic value. The behavior of landowners and conservancy members is of crucial importance because their property constitutes approximately 90% of cheetah habitat in Namibia.
Trophy hunters invest huge amounts of money in wildlife conservation, as it is in their own best interest that all species are protected for future generations. I have yet to meet an anti-hunting activist who is willing to invest as generously in the protection of wildlife.
Domestic stock are the most utilized animals on earth, and yet no-one ever considers that they might become extinct? The reason is that human beings are dependent on them as an essential part of the food chain. Through trophy hunting our wild animals are given a value, which makes them absolutely essential for the livelihood of farmers and communities. They will therefore be managed correctly in order to ensure their survival.
I want anti-hunting readers to consider this: Animals hunted meet a far better end than domestic stock that are herded into pens, transported to abattoirs and then killed surrounded by the sight, sound and smell of death. Wild animals are hunted in their natural habitat and, in 95% of cases, are killed instantly with one shot without even knowing that the hunter is anywhere near them.
Every inch of the animal is utilized. The skin and horns go to the trophy hunter, and the meat is used to feed local communities as well as sold commercially. It might be argued that leopard and cheetah meat is not usually consumed, but the reality is that they are considered a delicacy by certain African ethnic groups/tribes.
Religious readers note: The Bible makes reference to man's right to utilize animals. Let's start in the beginning…Genesis 1:26…the Lord creates man in His image to be masters over all life. This is not so much directly related to my argument, but more to further set up these key verses, Genesis 9:2-3…God tells Noah, after the fall of man and the flood, to further multiply and fill the earth. God placed the animals in Noah’s/Man’s control/power. “I have given them to you as food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables.” There are many more illustrations and wordings throughout God’s Word relating to the act of hunting. There are verses that mention the act of hunting and fishing. Fowling, chasing, the acts of mighty hunters, archers, the eating of wild animals, the cooking of meat, the use of bows, arrows, snares, pits, nets, using decoys, using dogs to hunt, nooses, etc., are all mentioned throughout the Bible. In taking God’s Word as authoritative, it is clear that hunting and partaking of meat is an accepted part of life.
The reality is that hunting is part and parcel of Africa - it is built into the life of our continent and the spirit of our people.
Namibia is emphatically a pro-wildlife and wildlife-utilization country, and our progressive national constitution is the first in the world to formally enshrine the sustainable utilization of living natural resources.
As trophy hunting operators, we are dedicated to our country, the community, the wildlife and the environment. We know that it is essential to utilize this land effectively for our people and our wildlife, and our hands-on experience has shown that the most beneficial and sustainable form of rural land utilization is, indeed, trophy hunting.
Trophy hunting currently employs more people and pays better salaries, as well as provides more training, skill recognition and job promotion opportunities than any other form of commercial agricultural or communal conservancy land utilization in Namibia.
Our wildlife is a natural resource, which, if managed properly and utilized sustainably through fee-based trophy hunting, has the potential to develop into one of our country’s most valuable renewable assets. We should recognize that as we take on the many challenges of our time in Africa, including poverty, education and land reform, our focus increasingly must be on the most effective utilization of land for the direct benefit of human beings. It is with pride I say that the results of the past four decades have proved that selective, ethical and sustainable trophy hunting is one of the most lucrative forms of land utilization as well as a great conservation tool in our country.
With regards from a proudly pro-hunting Namibia
Marina Lamprecht
Marina Lamprecht is co-owner of Hunters Namibia Safaris, which is based in the Camel thorn Kalahari of eastern Namibia. She served four two-year terms on the Executive Committee of the Namibian Professional Hunting Association, NAPHA. Earlier this year, in Nuremberg, Germany, Marina was honoured with the World Forum for Sport Shooting Activities International Ambassador award for her pro-hunting seminars and articles. (The co-recipient was the Namibian Minister of Environment and Tourism, Honourable Nandi-Ndaitwah, and previous winners include Wilbur Smith.)
