A kudu bull that was caught in a wire snare and left to suffer, die and rot in the bush – this is the horrific reality of the bush meat poaching problem.
If you ask me, the debate that has erupted over trophy hunting in Africa, as a result of the death of one old lion, has involved far too much unfounded and ill-placed emotion and way too little fact and common sense. There are many animal liberationists calling for inhuman punishments for trophy hunters and for the world to ban trophy hunting but they do not have any real solutions or programs to ensure the survival of Africa’s wildlife – they only seem to have hate and anger to offer.
However, most effective conservation programs, in Africa (and elsewhere) rely heavily on hunting for financial support and, in addition, physical support on the ground, too. The attached poster gives a quick overview of one aspect where hunting helps conservation in Africa and I would urge people to read this and think about it. If you are not convinced, then please go and research it for yourself, but just make sure that your research is unbiased, balanced and objective.
Conservation of Africa’s wonderful wildlife is far too important an issue to allow emotions, often out of control emotions, to effect the end result.