SOUTH AFRICA-GAME HUNTING Hunting safaris a roaring business in South Africa

Record ID: 150767

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA-GAME HUNTING Hunting safaris a roaring business in South Africa
  • Date: 11th June 2015
  • Summary: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (FILE) (REUTERS) LIONS FEEDING AT PARK LIONS RUNNING WITH MEAT IN MOUTH
  • Embargoed: 26th June 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAVL3VISM1TKI1IS3LQACWXK9F
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: South Africa's Iwamanzi game reserve's 12,000 acres are home to a variety of animal species that attract tourists from around the world - many for the thrill to kill.
    Specially guided tours give visitors a chance to stalk animals in the wild and take trophies of their kills back home.
    Lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffalos are the animals most coveted by trophy hunters but impala are the most popular with 5,700 shot in 2013.
    Stan Burger is a professional hunter. He offers tourists guided safaris through Iwamanzi and charges between 500 and 4,000 US dollars to hunt different types of game. Elephants, lions and leopards attract a special price on request.
    "We found a herd, a bachelor herd of impala males and we... the wind was fortunately in our and we did a stalk on him, there was some intervening bush between us and the impala. They looked at us a couple of times but we were by keeping dead still we were able to get quite close to them - within about 50 yards. This one exposed himself and I managed to get the hunter onto the sticks and he shot a very good shot, a clean shot, broke the impala's spine, put him down with one shot," said Burger.
    Trophy hunting has drawn criticism from animal conservationists around the world but advocates of the activity argue that controlled hunting protects wildlife because owners of African hunting concessions have a financial incentive to deter poachers, conserve stock and cultivate a prey base that predators such as lion need.
    South Africa provides a case study in the debate. Its game population has grown to 24 million from around 600,000 in the late 1960s, a fact hunters attribute to revenue generated from the sport, most of which takes place on private land.
    South Africa's hunting industry was worth 765 million US dollars - almost 10 billion rand in 2014.
    Wildlife Ranching of South Africa estimates the sport employs 100,000 in a nation where one in four is without a job.
    In 2013, foreign hunters spent about 1.072 billion rand ($91 million) in South Africa, 32 percent more than the previous year, Department of Environmental Affairs statistics show.
    "As far as international and local hunters are concerned it's a economic contribution of about R10 billion and then you look at the wildlife industry with more than 10,000 game farms, it's a huge contribution to our GDP," said Adri Kitshoff, chief executive of the Professional Hunters' Association (PHASA).
    Some African wildlife populations have fallen dramatically in the last few decades due to poaching, loss of habitat and a reduction in the animals predators feed on.
    Hunting only makes matters worse, according to anti-hunting groups.
    Eleven African countries issue hunting permits but hunting advocates say the industry could be threatened if the United States imposes permit limits on the import of lion trophies. Hunting advocates and its opponents have lobbied the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ahead of its expected ruling in the coming weeks.
    The International Fund for Animal Welfare, said the U.S. government should ban trophy imports and list lions as an endangered species. Outsiders - including around 15,000 Americans each year - make up the bulk of sport hunters in Africa.
    Activists are also working to ban the controversial practice of canned hunting - the killing of lions bred in captivity.
    Campaign against Canned Hunting (CACH) recently held protests calling for a ban on captive breeding saying it leads to various wild animals being sold to parks for trophy hunting.
    "There has been so much awareness and people around the world have all said, "enough". In fact if you have picked Australia last Friday actually banned the importation of all trophy permits, lion trophy permits and body parts, that was a huge monumental decision, and we are working on getting the rest of the world to follow suit, which will actually cut down the whole canned hunting industry, because what is the point of hunting if you can't take your bits and pieces out of the country," said Linda Park, director for CACH.
    Tanzania's hunting industry is smaller than South Africa's but it remains a popular destination.
    The government collects about 11 million US dollars per year in fees and charges 15,000 US dollars for an elephant killed and 4,900 for a lion.
    Tanzania allows up to 100 elephants to be shot each year. Last year 50 were hunted, officials said.
    Kenya banned hunting in the 1970s to curb poaching and hunting lobbyists say it hurt conservation. Game numbers have declined due to a growing bush meat culture and human encroachment on animal habitats.
    The east African economic giant makes about $1 billion each year from photographic safaris and beach tourism.
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