DannyLandrum
Member
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2017
- Messages
- 439
Well, since there are several other threads on Africa right now, I thought I'd throw this one into the mix as well.
We now have a live action, ongoing experiment that should prove, once and for all whether banning trophy hunting in a country has a net positive or negative effect on animal numbers.
One side (pro hunting) says that species are decimated in the ban countries like Kenya, yet thriving in strong trophy hunting countries like Namibia, Tanzania, and South Africa. I believe the stats bear this out, but the hunter-haters claim this is not true at all.
Well, Botswana banned most all hunting in what, 2014? So now they're the petri dish. We should be able to tell once and for all who's right in this debate (not that being roundly defeated by objective facts would ever change the minds or activities of the hunter hater crowd, but at least we should be able to get a great handle on whether our claims are strongly backed up by statistics).
I really hope someone has some good, verifiable numbers on animal populations, habitat acreage, etc. there, as of the time of the ban, for future comparisons. I fear it will be a disaster for Botswana as it always seems to be, but the hunter-haters (the pro-extinction crowd) seems to be holding sway with that government, and gaining more and more voice throughout world - just look at how any hunter of any kind is vilified incessantly on social media, especially from Europeans. There's little doubt that the poachers greased a few palms too - they'll be able to run brazenly at large without money for anti-poaching efforts.
We now have a live action, ongoing experiment that should prove, once and for all whether banning trophy hunting in a country has a net positive or negative effect on animal numbers.
One side (pro hunting) says that species are decimated in the ban countries like Kenya, yet thriving in strong trophy hunting countries like Namibia, Tanzania, and South Africa. I believe the stats bear this out, but the hunter-haters claim this is not true at all.
Well, Botswana banned most all hunting in what, 2014? So now they're the petri dish. We should be able to tell once and for all who's right in this debate (not that being roundly defeated by objective facts would ever change the minds or activities of the hunter hater crowd, but at least we should be able to get a great handle on whether our claims are strongly backed up by statistics).
I really hope someone has some good, verifiable numbers on animal populations, habitat acreage, etc. there, as of the time of the ban, for future comparisons. I fear it will be a disaster for Botswana as it always seems to be, but the hunter-haters (the pro-extinction crowd) seems to be holding sway with that government, and gaining more and more voice throughout world - just look at how any hunter of any kind is vilified incessantly on social media, especially from Europeans. There's little doubt that the poachers greased a few palms too - they'll be able to run brazenly at large without money for anti-poaching efforts.
