Zimbabwe’s Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said the country is now focusing on luring more professional hunters from countries such as China and Russia in the wake of ban on the importation of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe as well as the restrictions imposed on lion hunted trophies by the United States Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS).
The USFWS imposed new restrictions on African lions harvested after January 22, 2016 particularly lions from Southern and Eastern Africa, a move viewed by many as a “ban” meant to cripple the local hunting industry.
Tanzania and Zimbabwe are the second and third largest exporters of lion trophies to the US, after South Africa, and the United States has already stopped all imports of elephant trophies from those two countries because of what it believes to be organisational problems in the wildlife management programmes of these Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states.
Recently, USWFS, listed two lion sub-species under the Endangered Species Act. The two species are found in India and western and central Africa and Eastern and Southern Africa.
Kashiri said apart from efforts to lure hunters from other countries, SADC was also lobbying the US to reverse its decisions.
“We now have hunters from Russia and China coming to Zimbabwe and efforts are underway to ensure that more will come from these countries and others to hunt in Zimbabwe to ensure that the sector will continue running,” Kashiri said.
“Locally we are also engaging the US Ambassador to ensure that we will be able to continue to export our lions and elephants to the US as we have been doing before. We know South Africa and other countries in the region are interested as well thus efforts are also being made at that level.”
The local hunting industry generated $45 million in 2014.
Kashiri said Zimbabwe was committed to a “sustainable utilisation” of all natural resources, wildlife included.
In most countries across the region, resources generated from hunting goes mainly to conservation, developing communities from where the hunted species are located (where the money has been used in the construction and maintaining of schools, clinics and hospitals).
This is manly done through Community Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE).Apart from CAMPFIRE, restrictions imposed on imports of lion trophies from Africa to the United States will also negatively impact on local safari operators who also rely on revenue from sport hunting.
The United States is the leading market for the country’s hunting industry ahead of Canada. If hunting products are banned, it is expected other countries will follow suit.
Lion hunting in the region is the biggest attraction and contributor to the hunting industry.
http://southernafrican.news/2016/01/29/zim-turns-to-china-russia-for-hunters/