Zim & Botswana on Trophy Hunting
Story by Theophilus Chuma
ZIMBABWE and Botswana have joined hands in denouncing a proposal by Germany and the United Kingdom to further restrict trophy hunting imports saying the move will have a negative social impact.
Zimbabwe has reaffirmed its position against the proposed ban on trophy hunting, a few days after Botswana indicated a willingness to donate twenty thousand elephants to Germany after the European country hinted on limiting trophy hunting imports.
Zimbabwe has, however, strongly condemned the move through wildlife agency, Zimparks.
“Our position is very clear, we stand by our regional counterparts to denounce this proposal which will disenfranchise communities. Trophy hunting is a way for us to enhance our conservation efforts and there is no scientific proof that it will have an impact on the survival of the endangered species. Besides if you look at our current figures the population has grown over the years due to prudent conservation,” said the Zimparks Communications Manager, Mr Tinashe Farawo.
Zimparks says conservation efforts have led to an explosion in the number of elephants, with Hwange National Park carrying an elephant population which is almost double its capacity at over fifty thousand elephants.
He added, “As the population herd increases we see a lot of challenges arising such as destruction of field crops and human-wildlife conflict. So we argue that to manage our populations we open the sector to trophy hunting which we have been doing in a sustainable way”.
Experts contend that banning trophy hunting will impact negatively on communities through the loss of land and increased cases of human-wildlife conflict.
