Trophy Hunting

The international outcry and indignation which followed the killing of “Cecil the Lion” in Zimbabwe in July 2015 opened a Pandora’s Box on the ethical and economic implications of trophy hunting, especially in African countries. Private trophy hunting operators such as Hunters Namibia Safaris, a Namibian company, more than ever before, had to justify their business. No easy task when your trade is often described as being controversial, unsustainable and, in many instances, cruel. While the debate on trophy hunting was always intense internationally and locally, the death of “Cecil the Lion” only escalated it. Governments, trophy hunting operators, professional hunters, communities impacted by trophy hunting, and national and international NGOs all had a point of view in the heated debate over whether or not trophy hunting is indeed a sustainable and worthwhile activity. Some countries such as South Africa and Namibia tout the success of the industry in terms of economic gain and wildlife conservation. Botswana took another direction and banned trophy hunting in 2013. But now the country faces the loss of income that hunters provided, as well as growing instances of wild animals such as lion and elephant threatening rural communities. So who is right and who is wrong about the sustainability of the industry? Some say that a well-regulated trophy hunting industry plays an important role in the conservation of wildlife and guarantees immediate and long-term economic benefits for communities (as well as the country as a whole). Others say the opposite – according to this view, trophy hunting is an unsustainable and unethical practice which wreaks havoc amongst big cat populations, elephants and endangered species such as black rhino.

The international outcry and indignation which followed the killing of “Cecil the Lion” in Zimbabwe in July 2015 opened a Pandora’s Box on the ethical and economic implications of trophy hunting, especially in African countries. Private trophy hunting operators such as Hunters Namibia Safaris, a Namibian company, more than ever before, had to justify their business. No easy task when your trade is often described as being controversial, unsustainable and, in many instances, cruel. While the debate on trophy hunting was always intense internationally and locally, the death of “Cecil the Lion” only escalated it. Governments, trophy hunting operators, professional hunters, communities impacted by trophy hunting, and national and international NGOs all had a point of view in the heated debate over whether or not trophy hunting is indeed a sustainable and worthwhile activity. Some countries such as South Africa and Namibia tout the success of the industry in terms of economic gain and wildlife conservation. Botswana took another direction and banned trophy hunting in 2013. But now the country faces the loss of income that hunters provided, as well as growing instances of wild animals such as lion and elephant threatening rural communities. So who is right and who is wrong about the sustainability of the industry? Some say that a well-regulated trophy hunting industry plays an important role in the conservation of wildlife and guarantees immediate and long-term economic benefits for communities (as well as the country as a whole). Others say the opposite – according to this view, trophy hunting is an unsustainable and unethical practice which wreaks havoc amongst big cat populations, elephants and endangered species such as black rhino.

Published in the Future Pasts Working Paper series - see the whole series at http://www.futurepasts.net/future-pasts-working-papers .

ABSTRACT:
This paper presents a case study of ethical discourse generated by the officially sanctioned trophy hunting by a US hunter of an endangered black rhino (Diceros bicornis) in Namibia, following a permit auction raising US$350,000 for rhino conservation in this context. Both the hunter and the Namibian government were vocally condemned by those focussing on the welfare of the animal. The emphasis here, however, is not on animal welfare concerns directly, but on the dominance of economic reasoning in the heated debate surrounding the story, and on how an apparently ‘wrong’ action is seen to become ‘right’ if it has economically desirable consequences. The welfare of the individual animal is one of several ethical considerations rendered invisible or illegitimate in this process: others may include local perspectives, historical context, contemporary power relations, and the pre-shaping of future management decisions. The calculative consequentialist logic of the market displaces other forms of ethical reasoning, marginalising critique and further consolidating its own hegemony. But this is not a triumph of utilitarianism: little trace remains of Bentham’s egalitarianism, or of J.S. Mill’s concerns with the qualities of pleasures, and their effect on character. It is rather a triumph of economics over ethics, in which almost anything can be commodified into commensurable ‘capital’, thereby erasing other ways of understanding and engaging with the world.

Key words: trophy hunting; Namibia; rhino; ethics; utilitarianism; economism.

The study on the anthropogenic factors affecting protected area was carried out in Senkele Swayne's Hartebeest Sanctuary (SSHS). discussion (FGD), direct observation and literature reviews w secondary data. Four kebeles were purposefully selected from 8 kebeles surrounding SSHS. Thereafter, about rate of 10 households per kebele were purposefully selected whereas relevant offices and 2 Aba Gada, which accounts a total of 12 key informants were purposefully selected for KII. uncontrolled fire, illegal settlement, deforestation, agricultural expansion and poaching as replied by 66.3%, 8.6%, 7.3%, 13.2%, 2.6% and 2.0% respondents respectively. The causes factors were mainly scarcity of land, enormous livestock and fast population growth as reported by 28.5%, 23.2% and 26.5% respondents respectively. About 37.7%, 27.2%, 15.2% and 19.9% of the respondents indicated that loss of biodiversity agricultural productivity as the main effect of human induced factors to the sanctuary respectively. The survey result also indicated that creating employment opportunity for local community, solving local community's problem, benefit sharing and Ecotourism development as principal solution to anthropogenic factors to SSHS respectively. on the sanctuary particularly for livestock grazing. sanctuary is not hopeful. Therefore, developing alternative means of livelihood for local communities and enhancing livest community and sustainability of the sanctuary. Copyright©2017, Mustefa Sultan and Teyiba Amano. unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

A very important book by a former speech writer for Pres. George W. Bush.  Well written and heavily researched by a devout Roman Catholic who puts his passion and compassion for animals to work in a call for mercy for animals.  Review Published in Trinity Seminary Review, pgs. 132 - 134

Should we kill animals to save animals? This question lies at the heart of this case study. Sovereign nations have an interest in protecting and conserving their natural resources, and, in particular, their distinctive flora and fauna. As they seek to promote these interests, they inevitably face the economic question of how they are going to finance their conservation efforts. One way of answering this question is to engage in the practice of selling big game hunting licenses and using the revenues to fund conservation programs. This strategy is counterintuitive (and, to some, morally repellent), but it has a partial track record of success in places such as Namibia, South Africa, and the United States. Despite its successes, there are some who believe that the moral objections to such a strategy outweigh any potential benefits. This case study provides the student with an opportunity to explore the tension between the desire to save endangered animals and the possibility that the best way to do that involves killing some of them.

Maharaja Nripendra Narayan (1863-1911) of the princely state of Cooch Behar was a world-famous sports hunter who wrote his big game shooting experiences in his diary (1871-1907). Through this research article, an attempt has been made to analyse the hunting diary (1871-1907) of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan (1863-1911) of the princely state of Cooch Behar. The primary focus will be on the bag sizes and the record specimens of his shoots and their relationship with masculinity. This paper highlights that the big bag sizes and the record specimens were the symbols of the masculine traits of the Maharaja’s sports hunting. He secured such bags and record specimens following the game ethics. He imbibed masculine ideology from western education. The hunting diary of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan has some mistakes and miscalculations. His motive was to keep the records of the big bag and the record specimens of hunting. Most of the time, he recorded the details of dangerous animals and was careless about accurate record keeping of the smaller or non-dangerous games. He was very keen to record those animals whose size and weight was the best. Securing a good position in the big game world records was his desire. He secured a respectable position in some of the world records.

In a number of African countries, the trophy hunting of large felids is an important revenue generator for landholders, governments and in some cases communities. The hunting of large felids is especially profitable but they are sensitive to harvest, as the killing of prime-aged, dominant males can lead to infanticide and lowered reproductive success. In an attempt to limit the negative impacts of trophy hunting on large felids, the scientific community has proposed a number of interventions, including age restrictions on the animals that may be hunted. Such interventions are theoretically complementary to trophy hunting, as hunters typically seek large trophies, and older animals are normally larger than younger ones in large felids. If trophy size results in an increase in trophy price, then interventions that improve average trophy size could confer elevated earnings. This is particularly true if such interventions increased the number of failed hunts such that the same tag can be sold more than once. However, if trophy size is not one of the most important factors determining the desirability of a hunt (which we judge by the price paid for a trophy hunt package), it may be more difficult to implement such schemes. It is therefore important to evaluate potential determinants of trophy hunt package price; and we examine that here for leopards (Panthera pardus) in Africa, at both the country and outfitter level. We show that Tanzania and Botswana have the most expensive package prices while South Africa has the cheapest packages. At the country level, we found no statistical relationships between package price and leopard trophy size (either through advertised website or Safari Club International (SCI) leopard trophy size), country GDP, relative hunt success, or quota size. Contrastingly, the number of charismatic species offered within a package and an index of outfitter reputation (as measured by total SCI trophy records) were positively associated with package price. Interestingly, SCI leopard trophy size was inversely correlated with package price. Our results suggest that hunters do not value leopard trophy size above other factors, which could hinder the implementation of more sustainable, age-based leopard hunting regulations.

This article draws from political ecology and ecofeminism to examine sympathy, expressed by record-breaking donations from North Americans, for the death of Cecil the Lion. The overlapping normative critique offered by these two perspectives together demonstrates how sympathy is disclosive of power relations. Sympathy reveals, relies upon, and reinforces different forms of gender, racial, and neocolonial domination; especially when western sympathy remains ignorant of the power relations, including their politics and histories, that shape attitudes toward non-human animals and grant them status as members of the (western) moral community.

Résumé Cet article s'inspire de l'écologie politique et de l'écoféminisme pour examiner la sympathie, exprimée par des dons record de Nord-Américains, pour la mort de Cecil le Lion. La critique normative qui se chevauchent offerte par ces deux perspectives montre ensemble comment la sympathie révèle les relations de pouvoir. La sympathie révèle, s'appuie sur et renforce différentes formes de domination sexiste, raciale et néocoloniale; en particulier lorsque la sympathie occidentale reste ignorante des relations de pouvoir, y compris leur politique et leur histoire, qui façonnent les attitudes envers les animaux non humains et leur accordent le statut de membres de la communauté morale (occidentale).

In species in which juvenile survival depends strongly on male tenure, excessive trophy hunting can artificially elevate male turnover and increase infanticide, potentially to unsustainable levels. Simulation models show that the likelihood of safe harvests can be improved by restricting offtakes to males old enough to have reared their first cohort of offspring to independence; in the case of African leopards, males were $7 years old. Here, we explore the applicability of an age-based approach for regulating trophy hunting of leopards. We conducted a structured survey comprising photographs of known-age leopards to assess the ability of wildlife practitioners to sex and age leopards. We also evaluated the utility of four phenotypic traits for use by trophy hunters to age male leopards in the field. Our logistic regression models showed that male leopard age affected the likelihood of survey respondents identifying the correct sex; notably, males ,2 years were typically misidentified as females, while mature males ($4 years) were sexed correctly. Mature male leopards were also more likely to be aged correctly, as were portrait photographs. Aging proficiency was also influenced by the profession of respondents, with hunters recording the lowest scores. A discriminant model including dewlap size, the condition of the ears, and the extent of facial scarring accurately discriminated among male leopard age classes. Model classification rates were considerably higher than the respective scores attained by survey respondents, implying that the aging ability of hunters could theoretically improve with appropriate training. Dewlap size was a particularly reliable indicator of males $7 years and a review of online trophy galleries suggested its wider utility as an aging criterion. Our study demonstrated that an age-based hunting approach is practically applicable for leopards. However, implementation would require major reform within the regulatory framework and the hunting industry.

In the global neoliberal ecological discourse, trophy hunting proponents
often articulate the economic benefits it creates for local communities,
especially through jobs and meat. Trophy hunting revenues are also crucial to support the overall operational costs of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM). The aim of this paper is to show that this rather simplified dominant discourse, based only on “benefits”, sells short the local realities of the Khwe and Ju/’hoansi Bushmen (San) in the Bwabwata National Park and the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, Namibia, respectively. Building on Gibson, I use the concept of “social affordances” as an addition to economic benefits. This leads me to argue for an expansion of the debate beyond the limits of economic benefits to the human domain, to better understand the multiple experiences, perceptions, power relations and meanings (for good and ill) of local actors on trophy hunting and its main players.

This paper presents a case study of ethical discourse generated by the officially sanctioned trophy hunting by a US hunter of an endangered black rhino (Diceros bicornis) in Namibia, following a permit auction raising US$350,000 for rhino conservation in this context. Both the hunter and the Namibian government were vocally condemned by those focussing on the welfare of the animal. The emphasis here, however, is not on animal welfare concerns directly, but on the dominance of economic reasoning in the heated debate surrounding the story, and on how an apparently ‘wrong’ action is seen to become ‘right’ if it has economically desirable consequences. The welfare of the individual animal is one of several ethical considerations rendered invisible or illegitimate in this process: others may include local perspectives, historical context, contemporary power relations, and the pre-shaping of future management decisions. The calculative consequentialist logic of the market displaces other ...

The study on the anthropogenic factors affecting protected area was carried out in Senkele Swayne’s Hartebeest Sanctuary (SSHS). discussion (FGD), direct observation and literature reviews w secondary data. Four kebeles were purposefully selected from 8 kebeles surrounding SSHS. Thereafter, about rate of 10 households per kebele were purposefully selected whereas relevant offices and 2 Aba Gada, which accounts a total of 12 key informants were purposefully selected for KII. uncontrolled fire, illegal settlement, deforestation, agricultural expansion and poaching as replied by 66.3%, 8.6%, 7.3%, 13.2%, 2.6% and 2.0% respondents respectively. The causes factors were mainly scarcity of land, enormous livestock and fast population growth as reported by 28.5%, 23.2% and 26.5% respondents respectively. About 37.7%, 27.2%, 15.2% and 19.9% of the respondents indicated that loss of biodiversity agricultural productivity as the main effect of human induced factors to the sanctuary respectivel...

Language-often said to set human beings apart from other animals-has resisted explanation in terms of evolution. Language has-among others-two fundamental and distinctive features: syntax and the ability to express non-present actions and events. We suggest that the relation between this representation (of non-present action) and syntax can be analyzed as a relation between a function and a structure to fulfill this function. The strategy of the paper is to ask if there is any evidence of pre-linguistic communication that fulfills the function of communicating an absent action. We identify a structural similarity between understanding indexes of past actions of conspecifics (who did what to whom) and one of the simplest and most paradigmatic linguistic syntactic patterns-that of the simple transitive sentence. When a human being infers past events from an index (i.e., a trace, the conditions of a conspecifics or an animal, a constellation or an object) the interpreters' comprehension must rely on concepts similar in structure and function to the 'thematic roles' believed to underpin the comprehension of linguistic syntax: in his or her mind the idea of a past action or event emerges along with thematic role-like concepts; in the case of the presentation of, e.g., a hunting trophy, the presenter could be understood to be an agent (subject) and the trophy a patient (direct object), while the past action killed is implied by the condition of the object and its possession by the presenter. We discuss whether both the presentation of a trophy and linguistic syntax might have emerged independently while having the same function (to represent a past action) or whether the presentation of an index of a deed could constitute a precursor of language. Both possibilities shed new light on early, and maybe first, language use.

Wildlife in Tanzania has been property and responsibility of the state since the colonial period. In the late 1900s, however, the government ushered in new policies that granted wildlife user rights to communities that established Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) on Village Land. 
In 1974, the independent government of Tanzania passed the Wildlife Conservation Act, which further consolidated central control over wildlife in State agencies. The Act re-emphasized that wildlife is State property, further restricted access to and use of wildlife by local people, and gave the government greater control over commercial uses of wildlife.  For the purpose of this session the term Act means the Wildlife Conservations Act of 2009.
There are number of legislations that provides for a number of penalties and convictions relation to unlawful possession of government trophies and other relevant penalties relating to government trophies. These legislations may have different penalties and convictions compared to the principal legislation which is Wildlife Conservations Act of 2009.

However, due to the amendments made to the Economic and Organized Crime Control Act, 1984, [RE. 2016] by the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act No.3 of 2016 which includes wildlife and firearms offences, the punishments and fines vary in accordance with the type or class of animal hunted, killed or poached as specified by the Act. The most protected species, the more punishments and fines imposed.
This paper presents some of the provisions as provided by some legislation on penalties and convictions in relation to unlawful possession of government trophies and weapons in Tanzania.
For the purpose of this paper, the Acts referred shall be The Wildlife Conservations Act of 2009, the Economic and Organized Crime Control Act, 1984, [RE. 2016], the National Park Act [Cap.282 RE.2002] and the Firearms and Ammunition Control Act No.2 of 2015.

This article draws from political ecology and ecofeminism to examine sympathy, expressed by record-breaking donations from North Americans, for the death of Cecil the Lion. The overlapping normative critique offered by these two perspectives together demonstrates how sympathy is disclosive of power relations. Sympathy reveals, relies upon, and reinforces different forms of gender, racial, and neocolonial domination; especially when western sympathy remains ignorant of the power relations, including their politics and histories, that shape attitudes toward non-human animals and grant them status as members of the (western) moral community.

We respond to two rejoinders (Dickman et al. 2021; Naidoo et al. 2021) to our review article Science for Success (Koot et al. 2020), which proposed fuller contextualization of epistemological approach, researcher position and interests in conservation research. This way readers-including reviewers and journal editors-can more accurately understand and interpret findings. We suggest this contextualization is particularly important when conservation and development professionals do research about programs they are involved in, as this can potentially create a conflict of interest. Both rejoinders follow an extended process of complaint about our article that included academic and legal threats, and ad hominem attacks, but rather little engagement with the points made about researcher positionality. We consider these threats and demands for retraction of our paper to be a form of 'discursive violence' deployed to silence unfavourable perspectives, confirming our argument that positionality in conservation (research) begs self-reflection and transparent disclosure.

The international outcry and indignation which followed the killing of “Cecil the Lion” in Zimbabwe in July 2015 opened a Pandora’s Box on the ethical and economic implications of trophy hunting, especially in African countries. Private trophy hunting operators such as Hunters Namibia Safaris, a Namibian company, more than ever before, had to justify their business. No easy task when your trade is often described as being controversial, unsustainable and, in many instances, cruel. While the debate on trophy hunting was always intense internationally and locally, the death of “Cecil the Lion” only escalated it. Governments, trophy hunting operators, professional hunters, communities impacted by trophy hunting, and national and international NGOs all had a point of view in the heated debate over whether or not trophy hunting is indeed a sustainable and worthwhile activity. Some countries such as South Africa and Namibia tout the success of the industry in terms of economic gain and wi...

Trophy hunting has occupied a prominent position in recent scholarly literature and popular media. In the scientific conservation literature, researchers are generally supportive of or sympathetic to its usage as a source of monetary support for conservation. Although authors at times acknowledge that trophy hunting faces strong opposition from many members of the public, often for unspecified reasons associated with ethics, neither the nature nor the implications of these ethical concerns have been substantively addressed. We identify the central act of wildlife " trophy " taking as a potential source of ethical discomfort and public opposition. We highlight that trophy hunting entails a hunter paying a fee to kill an animal and claim its body or body parts as a trophy of conquest. Situating this practice in a Western cultural narrative of chauvinism, colonialism, and anthropocentrism, we argue trophy hunting is morally inappropriate. We suggest alternative strategies for...

The international outcry and indignation which followed the killing of “Cecil the Lion” in Zimbabwe in July 2015 opened a Pandora’s Box on the ethical and economic implications of trophy hunting, especially in African countries. Private trophy hunting operators such as Hunters Namibia Safaris, a Namibian company, more than ever before, had to justify their business. No easy task when your trade is often described as being controversial, unsustainable and, in many instances, cruel. While the debate on trophy hunting was always intense internationally and locally, the death of “Cecil the Lion” only escalated it. Governments, trophy hunting operators, professional hunters, communities impacted by trophy hunting, and national and international NGOs all had a point of view in the heated debate over whether or not trophy hunting is indeed a sustainable and worthwhile activity. Some countries such as South Africa and Namibia tout the success of the industry in terms of economic gain and wildlife conservation. Botswana took another direction and banned trophy hunting in 2013. But now the country faces the loss of income that hunters provided, as well as growing instances of wild animals such as lion and elephant threatening rural communities. So who is right and who is wrong about the sustainability of the industry? Some say that a well-regulated trophy hunting industry plays an important role in the conservation of wildlife and guarantees immediate and long-term economic benefits for communities (as well as the country as a whole). Others say the opposite – according to this view, trophy hunting is an unsustainable and unethical practice which wreaks havoc amongst big cat populations, elephants and endangered species such as black rhino.

This chapter evaluates the arguments for and against trophy hunting as a tourism activity. It begins by exploring debates surrounding the definition of consumptive wildlife tourism and differences that can be said to exist between wildlife leisure activities and wildlife tourism activities. Distinctions between different types of hunting are then discussed before arguments for and against trophy hunting are explored. The chapter then concludes with an exploration of the issues that surround providing animals with moral consideration and how a number of key ethical theories view hunting activities.