Government benefiting from illegal sport hunting of endangered species

By Tererai Karimakwenda
16 October 2006

A symposium on sport hunting organised by Safari Club International attracted a large gathering at the London Zoo on Friday, including safari operators, hunters and government officials from Zimbabwe, who are accused of ignoring the illegal killing of endangered species. Several experts made presentations promoting hunting as a sport and its supposed benefits to the local communities. But there seemed to be a veil of secrecy surrounding the involvement of government officials in the safari business, the illegal seizure of private game reserves and abusive practices that are causing much damage to the environment.

It is no secret that war veterans, under orders from top government officials, have taken over protected areas and some national parks where a lucrative and reckless business in sport hunting is thriving. Foreigners seeking to kill rare species of animals like the black rhino are taking advantage of the lawlessness in the country and offering large sums of money to these corrupt officials.

Susie Watts of the Humane Society International attended the hunting symposium Friday and is a strong critic of hunting as a sport. She said she supports the shooting of animals, but only with a camera. Watts said Zimbabwe authorities should restructure the tourism industry because it was a lot more profitable in its hey day than hunting, which is riddled with corruption. The sport makes Zimbabwe about US$10 million a year, but before tourism crashed visitors brought in about US$300 million a year.

Watts criticised the Safari Club International for ignoring the facts on the ground in Zimbabwe. She said: “They know what war veterans are doing. They know that politicians are benefiting and they know the black rhino is being decimated.” But instead of backing off from this unsustainable situation Watts said they are praising the Zimbabwe government for experimenting with handguns, trying out dogs and bows and arrows. She said the majority of the hunters are coming from Europe and North America.

Barbara Maas from Care For The Wild is also strongly opposed to the killing of animals for sport. She stressed that hunting was once the sport of rich aristocrats during colonial times and this abuse of Africa must not be allowed to continue. She said Zimbabweans need to be self-regulating and should take a stand and choose not to accept money to destroy their own country.