Welcome to MGO's Internet Discussion Forums…Please Consider Becoming a Dues-Paying Member of the ORG…Click >>>>>HERE<<<<< for more info…………****DONATIONS**** can also be made toward MGO's Legal Defense Fund and/or MGO's Forums >>>>>HERE<<<<<

Firearms Legal Protection

Results 1 to 9 of 9
  1. #1
    I am a Forum User
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    West of Bravo
    Posts
    7,477

    Botswana Set To Allow Elephant Hunting Again

    Botswana is one of the few African countries with a stable, effective government. Wildlife poaching does not occur there.

    Botswana’s then President, Brigadier General Ian Khama, banned all hunting nationwide in 2014. This caused immediate privation for the country's Bushmen who depend upon hunting for their sustenance and now their elephant herd has outgrown its habitat to the point where it is wreaking havoc on farms across the country.

    The current President of Botswana, Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi, has sent a proposal to Parliament to end the hunting ban. From Deutsche Welle:

    https://www.dw.com/en/botswana-mulls...ban/a-47637554

    Botswana mulls lifting big game hunting ban

    Botswana is mulling lifting a ban on big game hunting following recommendations from a government committee. The committee said lifting the ban on hunting animals, such as elephants, would "promote conservationism."


    Botswana's government is considering lifting a ban on big game hunting, saying it might be necessary to prevent conflict with humans.

    Botswana is home to about 130,000 elephants — almost a third of Africa's elephant population — but some lawmakers say the number of elephants in the country is higher than that and causes problems for small-scale farmers.

    A committee set up by President Mokgweetsi Masisi to review the ban his predecessor set said it recommended "a legal framework that will enable the growth of a safari hunting industry and manage the country's elephant population within the historic range" and also called for "regular but limited" elephant culling.

    Former President Ian Khama, a keen conservationist, imposed the ban after surveys showed declining wildlife populations in the north.

    Parliament to discuss ban

    Masisi said he would pass the report on to the parliament before making any decisions.

    "If need be, we will give the opportunity to parliament to also interrogate it," Masisi said.

    The ruling Botswana Democratic Party has been lobbying to overturn the ban, especially on elephant hunting, saying numbers have become unmanageably large in parts.

    Game hunting would 'promote conservationism'

    Masisi took over as president in April last year and the review began five months later, just days after a wildlife charity Elephants Without Borders said some 90 elephants had been slaughtered for their tusks, suggesting a sudden spike in poaching.

    But the committee's report, put together by Rural Development Minister Frans Van Der Westhuizen, sought to debunk the charity's concerns. [The government of Botswana says the 90 elephants died of natural causes and their tusks were not harvested by poachers.]

    Van Der Westhuizen wrote that overturning the hunting ban would "promote conservationism."

    Rural communities would no longer be "concentrating on the negative aspects of property destruction and loss of human lives caused by wildlife," he wrote.

    A blow to tourism

    Dex Kotze, an independent conservation expert, told the French news agency AFP that a decision to overturn the ban could seriously harm Botswana's tourism industry.

    "Botswana has got two million residents and the economy thrives on diamonds and tourism," said Kotze. "This can do major brand damage to Botswana's tourism industry. It's crazy."

    Over the past decade, the number of elephants across Africa fell by around 111,000 to 415,000, according to figures from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

  2. #2
    MGO Member westcliffe01's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Napoleon,MI
    Posts
    2,042
    Every game reserve in South Africa is filled with surplus elephants. Park officials have to cull hundreds from helicopters every year, for more than 20 years, when hunters would have paid $20k + per animal. But the UN have blocked their attempts to allow hunting and also legalize the ivory trade. So the tusks are burned in the field and the animals left to rot.

  3. #3
    MGO Member JohnJak's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Lake Orion/Oxford
    Posts
    18,247
    I wonder if MGO is going to sponsor a trip or two?
    Teachers leave them kids alone
    Hey! teacher! leave us kids alone!

  4. #4
    I am a Forum User
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Livingston Co.
    Posts
    5,779
    Quote Originally Posted by westcliffe01 View Post
    Every game reserve in South Africa is filled with surplus elephants. Park officials have to cull hundreds from helicopters every year, for more than 20 years, when hunters would have paid $20k + per animal. But the UN have blocked their attempts to allow hunting and also legalize the ivory trade. So the tusks are burned in the field and the animals left to rot.
    My question is what is the population outside of game reserves? Not questioning your data, but I'm not sure how the conditions within a game ranch factor in to the overall policy on hunting these animals.

    Are there healthy populations in the wild in areas they're native to?

  5. #5
    MGO Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Montmorency Co, MI
    Posts
    4,866
    Quote Originally Posted by westcliffe01 View Post
    Every game reserve in South Africa is filled with surplus elephants. Park officials have to cull hundreds from helicopters every year, for more than 20 years, when hunters would have paid $20k + per animal. But the UN have blocked their attempts to allow hunting and also legalize the ivory trade. So the tusks are burned in the field and the animals left to rot.
    And some of the local 'elephant cops' have airplane to patrol for poachers but no fuel to fly them. The ivory could be auctioned and plenty of fuel bought. I know it says this country has no poaching. Surrounding countries do.

    Many countries game pops are eating themselves out of a home.

  6. #6
    MGO Member westcliffe01's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Napoleon,MI
    Posts
    2,042
    There are people living outside of the nature reserves. Have you considered what it might be like having 20 elephants in your neighborhood each weighing 10 tons ? There is nothing they cant destroy, flip over, tear limbs off or whatever.

    Quote Originally Posted by Musta Demoni View Post
    My question is what is the population outside of game reserves? Not questioning your data, but I'm not sure how the conditions within a game ranch factor in to the overall policy on hunting these animals.

    Are there healthy populations in the wild in areas they're native to?

  7. #7
    I am a Forum User
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    West of Bravo
    Posts
    7,477
    Botswana has - surprise, surprise - caught a lot of flak over their decision to allow the resumption of hunting. They have hired a PR firm to contest the campaign against reopening hunting:

    https://www.wtrf.com/entertainment/b...-pr/2024969841

    Botswana hires Hollywood firm to fight elephant hunting PR

    WASHINGTON (AP) -
    The Botswanan government has enlisted a public relations firm with deep ties to Hollywood to push back against the bad publicity generated by the southern African nation's decision to lift its ban on elephant hunting.

    42 West, a firm mostly known for its work with celebrities and the film industry, notified the U.S. Justice Department last week that it will be working with Botswana's tourism ministry, according to a filing made under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

    The firm will be paid $125,000 over the next two months - with the possibility of more work to come - for developing talking points and a communications plan that "articulates Botswana's policy on elephant hunting" that will be delivered to "key U.S. and other Western audiences," according to its filing.

    That puts 42 West in an awkward spot. Big-game hunting is a deeply divisive issue, particularly in Hollywood, and numerous celebrity activists have spoken out against killing the world's largest land mammal for sport, including some calls for a tourism boycott of Botswana.

    Among the firm's clients is actress Meryl Streep, who has been a vocal opponent of the sale and importation of ivory, which in 2014 she called a "product of horrific cruelty to elephants, who could very well become extinct within decades if we don't act now."

    Allan Mayer, a principal with 42 West who is leading the effort, declined to comment on Friday. Streep publicist Leslee Dart, a 42 West co-CEO who is named in the filing, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Botswana has been a relatively safe refuge for elephants on a continent where illegal poaching and habitat loss has sent their numbers into sharp decline. The country is home to an estimated 130,000 African elephants - about a third of all that remain.

    After its initial announcement on Thursday was met with social media blowback, the Botswanan government clarified on Friday that it plans to issue no more than 400 elephant hunting permits per year.

    Elephant hunting is already legal in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa. With a population of just over 2 million people, Botswana has more space than some of its more densely populated neighbors for elephant herds to roam. Still, the government said there have been a growing number of conflicts between elephants and humans - especially farmers.

    Groups lobbying in favor of trophy hunting, such as U.S.-based Safari Club International, have long argued that the fees paid by well-heeled American and European hunters provide essential revenue for cash-strapped African governments to fund anti-poaching and conservation programs. A licensed two-week elephant hunting safari can cost more than $50,000 per person, not including airfare, according to advertised rates.

    The African elephant has been classified as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 1978. Though President Donald Trump has decried big-game hunting on Twitter as a "horror show," his administration has reversed Obama-era restrictions on the importation of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia. Elephants have long been hunted for their hides and tusks, either for taxidermy trophies or ivory used for carving and jewelry making.

    Botswana's hunting ban was put in place under a previous president, Ian Khama, an outspoken conservationist. But the current president, Mokgweeti Masisi, has advocated for reopening the nation to hunting, and the decision to lift the ban comes ahead of general elections in October.

    Masisi raised eyebrows earlier this month when he gave stools made of elephant feet to regional leaders while hosting a meeting on the animals' fate.

    The American talk show host Ellen DeGeneres tweeted Tuesday: "President Masisi, for every person who wants to kill elephants, there are millions who want them protected. We're watching. #BeKindToElephants."
    Fight fire with fire....

  8. #8
    MGO Board of Directors

    Trustee Jackam's Avatar


    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Flint, Mi
    Posts
    15,215
    Do people eat elephant meat?
    "But then there are plenty of gun folks who think no one should rock the boat because it might piss off the anti gun crowd/politicians and cause even more gun control." - Bikenut
    Submissive gun rights advocates need to lose their submissiveness before we lose our 2A rights.

  9. #9
    MGO Member Ruger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    WaCo
    Posts
    12,462
    How To Make Elephant Stew


    Ingredients

    1 elephant
    2 cups salt
    2 cups pepper

    Instructions

    Cut elephant into one inch cubes (allow approximately 72 days for this procedure) frequently adding pinches of salt and pepper. Cook over Kerosene fire about four weeks at 465 degrees.

    If more than 3,800 guests are expected for dinner, two (2) rabbits may be added. Caution: Do this only if necessary, as most people do not like to find hare in their stew.


    Name:  images.jpg
Views: 84
Size:  6.1 KB

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
only search Michigan Gun Owners Forums
MGO's Facebook MGO's Twitter