When the witch hunt for Walter Palmer began on social media, following the killing of an old, collared lion tagged "Cecil" by humans, many warned that the emotional outburst would result in further loses of lions and lion habitat. This is because trophy hunting is what provides the mechanism to conserve lions in the wild. This is especially true in Africa, where locals view lions as a pest, and only tolerate them if they bring in desperately needed dollars, marks, or euros. Trophy hunting makes lions valuable. Social Justice Warriors (SJW) who work to destroy trophy hunting out of ignorance and misplaced anthropomorphism, accomplish exactly the opposite. The predictions of those who sought to bring reason and facts to counter the demonization of Dr. Palmer, are being vindicated, as was Dr. Palmer. From the nationalpost.com:
BUBYE VALLEY CONSERVANCY, Zimbabwe — It is the country where Cecil the lion was killed, sparking international anger against the American dentist who harvested the lion with bow and arrow.Lions, aside from men, are at the top of the African food chain. It takes a lot of range, dozens of antelope and other animals every year to support one lion. It can only be done if there is a reason to support the enormous open spaces required. Trophy hunting is the mechanism to that allows this. All animals die, but trophy hunting allows for a quick, clean death compared to what most animals suffer in the wild. Trophy lion hunters kill lions far more humanely than lions kill their prey. It is a good trade-off to be able to preserve the wild country that would otherwise be overrun by grazing or farming.
The outcry over Walter Palmer’s killing of Cecil drove other big-game hunters away from Zimbabwe, fearful they too would attract the ire of the public.
But in what is being described as a side effect of the affair, Zimbabwe’s largest wildlife area says it now finds itself suffering from an overpopulation of lions.
Bubye Valley Conservancy has more than 500 lions, the largest number in Zimbabwe’s diminishing wildlife areas.
It has warned that its lion population has become unsustainable and that it may even have to cull around 200 as a result of what is being called “the Cecil effect.”
Some SJWs will say that we need to set aside more land for lions. Here is their chance to do so. It will only take a couple of billion dollars to purchase enough land to sustain 200 lions in the wild. If each SJW chips in a few dollars or Euros, the sum should be raised in a few days. Let the SJWs put their money where their ideology is. Trophy hunters do. Trophy hunters are why some African lion populations are hanging on. Just remember, lions multiply, so next year, the SJWs will have to come up with another few billion. The trophy hunters do not need to do that. Practising their ideology keeps the lion population in check.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included. Link to Gun Watch
Who is James Palmer?
ReplyDeletehttp://africageographic.com/blog/aftermath-cecil-interview-lion-researcher-brent-stapelkamp/
ReplyDeleteCecil was killed illegally. Sport hunters should not be puzzled because no one likes them. Palmer is vintage Safari Club International- a self centered narcissist always looking for the next sport trophy and recognition at a black tie awards dinner in Arizona...This is only the beginning. Expect more scrutiny.
What a load of rubbish. If hunting of lions is so good for them why are there numbers down form 200,000 in 1960 to about 15,000 in the whole of Africa now. Read this.
ReplyDeleteThis story is getting everyone in a panic and there are some glaring misrepresentations of the truth (lets put it that way!) that I feel I need to correct.
There are headlines that mention "Cecil's reserve" and "Cecil's park" and that is incorrect. Bubye valley conservancy is many hundreds of kilometers from Hwange national park so the wild lions of Hwange are not in danger of being culled.
On that note, yes Bubye says that they have too many lions but I don't believe for a second that they would cull lions.
We must understand the distinction here between a fenced reserve with no dispersal of excess lions, a high density of prey and no other source of human related mortality other than trophy hunting and an un-fenced area like Hwange. This is chalk and cheese!
Bubye is a hunting reserve and because lion hunting has recently been restricted there is a backlash against lions.
To say that there is a population explosion because of the "Cecil factor" is non-sense. Lions breed fast but not that fast!
To say that they are eating more prey because of the drought and the short grass means that the prey are in some way more vulnerable is non-sense. Lions need cover to ambush prey! If prey was easier to catch with less effort, the lions would be suffering from obesity.
I will say though that this story highlights a very serious issue in Lion conservation and that is the lack of space for lions in today's Africa. Lions need vast areas of territory with abundant prey, where they won't come into conflict with man and his livestock and these are few and far between.
We should all now be putting our innovative minds together and generating a ground-swell of support for lions. We need to secure their habitats and landscapes, not just for them but for the people who live with them, so that lions from a place like Bubye could be relocated as whole prides to repopulate suitable habitat or corridors between suitable areas are managed to allow dispersal to repopulate areas. It is going to be costly but can we afford to tun our backs when Lions need us most?
Brent Stapelkamp https://www.facebook.com/brent.stapelkamp/posts/752043808230032?hc_location=ufi
Hunting has been severely restricted, and lion populations are down.
ReplyDeleteIt is the loss of habitat that is the problem for lions. Hunting preserves habitat.
If you want habitat without hunting, then purchase the land, as indicated in the article.
Thanks for sharing this great Post dude
ReplyDeleteGreenland & Trophy Hunting