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The Reality of Trophy Hunting

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The Reality of Trophy Hunting

帖子admin » 周一 6月 24, 2019 10:46 am

https://www.turpentinecreek.org/the-rea ... y-hunting/
In the early 1900’s, around 200,000 African lions roamed the entire country, the king of the savannah and of beasts. In 2015, it was estimated that only roughly 20,000 wild lions were left in fragmented subpopulations, losing 43% of this population in only two decades (21 years). (Panthera Beyond Cecil: Africa’s Lions in Crisis 1). It is also estimated that 60% of the lion populations in West, Central, and East Africa have declined by 60%. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, lion populations are declared vulnerable, although with fragmented populations, the subspecies Panthera leo leo is critically endangered in West Africa, and Endangered in India.
With the consistent decline of wild lions in Africa, why is there still an ever-pressing desire and demand for game hunts of this vulnerable species?
A canned hunt refers to the shooting of an exotic animal on a game farm or hunting ranch for a guaranteed kill. The animals are sourced from breeding farms that raise cubs from birth, that are typically used in a pay-to-play or cub petting scheme when they are young for extra profit. Once they are big enough to be considered a trophy, they are sold to hunters and shot within the confines of the ranch. These animals have been hand raised by humans, only to be killed where they were raised for a plaque on a wall.
Hunters prefer hand raised animals because they are not afraid of humans and are much easier to shoot. They are also more aesthetically pleasing because they have not had to fend for themselves in the wild. Canned hunted animals come from roadside zoos, backyard breeders, and were once considered someone’s pet. The hunt is conducted in a small enclosure coining the term “canned”, because it is just as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. There is a guaranteed kill, and breeders hand rear animals to ensure they are not afraid of people.

Facilities that raise big cats and other exotic animals for canned hunting usually claim that they are raising the cubs for conservation purposes, and will help wild populations thrive. They will tell stories of orphaned cubs, and coax volunteers and patrons into donating their time and money to help raise the animals. The general public is easily convinced that what they are doing is truly helping the animals have a better life. But the reality is that captive-bred animals cannot be released into the wild due to their negligent breeding, habituation to people, and lack of natural skills to survive on their own. Once they are born into a captive setting, their fate is sealed and can never live wild and free. Babies are almost always prematurely taken from their mothers so they can continue to reproduce. Breeding wild animals in captivity does not help sustain wild populations.
Texas has a lucrative canned hunting industry, with the state being home to approximately 4,000 tigers, more than the 3,820 that are declining in the wild. There are 500 hunting ranches in the state that allow “exotic animal hunts”, and is substantially growing into a multi-billion-dollar industry. According to the Humane Society of the United States, there are over 1,000 exotic hunting ranches in approximately 23 states (“Spreading Like a Disease”).
South Africa is also famously known for their canned hunting opportunities, which legally allow the commercial farming and hunting of captive lions. With roughly 160 lion farms within the country, the industry continues to thrive. There are 2,000 lions that roam wild and free in South Africa, but over 5,000 that are held on hunting ranches for this booming hunting business.

Many ranch owners claim to not allow canned hunts on their property but continue to breed lions to fuel canned hunting. They simply sell their lions to other places that perform canned hunts, so they cannot be held responsible for what happens to their lions once they leave the property. They breed for specific traits such as dark manes or white lions because they are more desirable. This causes extreme inbreeding due to the selection of specific traits.
There is a lot of money to be made in this industry, and the animals are treated as a commodity, not a living being. A canned hunt for a trophy lion can make upwards of $50,000. Around 1,000 lions are shot and killed each year in South Africa. Because of the riches that can be made off of lions in captivity, and lack of strict regulation of the trade, the business continues to grow every year.
Unfortunately, other ecotourism opportunities such as lion or cheetah walks are hurting the animals’ conservation efforts as well. Many tourists pay very little to go on a leisure stroll with an exotic cat. Captive bred big cats are heavily exploited for this industry and are never allowed to live a normal life. Some animal welfare activists argue that a live animal is better than a dead one, although public interactions with big cats continues to fuel the captive breeding industry. A dark reality for such a glorified and sought after personal experience. Being able to walk around with and touch a lion is not worth its entire life being trapped in captivity, and prohibiting it from being wild and free.
Due to the declining number of tigers to fuel the Asiatic industry of tiger bone wine, the illegal wildlife industry is turning to the heavy populations of lions to create this pseudo-medicine. Lions that are sold off into the black market are not well taken care of because they are being slaughtered for their bones. Lions that are sold to the canned hunting trade have to maintain a certain level of animal welfare so they are aesthetically pleasing. Lions are worth more dead than alive, whether they are being shot and killed by wealthy hunters or slaughtered for their body parts.
To ensure a bright future for Panthera leo, education and awareness is key in order to take action against the canned hunting and captive breeding industry. The value of a dollar has to be less important than an animal’s life, and there should be no reason why an apex predator should be shot and killed for sport. By supporting the ban on canned hunting and speaking up against the sport, a true difference can be made for these animals. Speak up and be a voice for animals that do not have one. The more people that reach out to the government and do not accept the industry, the more pressure they will have to stop it. Demand a nationwide ban on canned hunting. Do not support places that breed wild animals in captivity for exploitation. Share what you have learned! Together a difference can be made, and it will not happen without a fight.
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Re: The Reality of Trophy Hunting

帖子admin » 周一 6月 24, 2019 10:48 am

https://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/24/afri ... index.html
(CNN)South Africa's wildlife is thriving.

One of the reasons for this is that landowners can profit from animals living on their land. Wildlife can be hunted for meat and trophies as well as being used non-consumptively for ecotourism. Thousands of former cattle ranches are now profitable game farms, hunting reserves and ecotourism lodges making South Africa a conservation success story.
But mixing profit and conservation is not simple. For example, a wildlife ranch generating profit from hunters must have animals that clients wish to hunt while a tourist lodge needs to stock species that are attractive and visible to those enjoying recreational game drives. Successful conservation requires a balanced, long-term approach but sometimes the goals of pursuing profit and long term conservation don't always coincide.
One example of this is the market for "color variants" - unusually colored forms of particular species caused by rare mutations. Naturally occurring mutations causing color variations happen in many animals. Rare color variants of hunted African species have been known for a long time. They include black and white varieties of impala, golden wildebeest and pure white varieties of springbok. Trophy hunters seeking novelty might pay more to hunt these unusually colored individuals.
The extraordinary spike, and then spectacular collapse, in the prices that these mutant color forms sold for in the game auctions of South Africa over the past decade or so provides a timely reminder that profit does not always sit comfortably with conservation. Using resources on color variant animals will divert from the conservation of other wildlife and can be detrimental.
South African hunters have been willing to pay more for rare colored variants of animals such as impala and wildebeest.
South African hunters have been willing to pay more for rare colored variants of animals such as impala and wildebeest.
The history
Over the past decade or so, color variants of a number of species including wildebeest, impala, zebra, blesbok, gemsbok and springbok began to be intensively bred by some game farmers, ultimately for the trophy hunting market.
In 2012, these rare varieties were estimated to represent only 1% of game in the country. Scarcity and the thought that hunters would pay handsomely for novel trophies led to a confidence that there would be considerable future payoffs. As a result, prices escalated. Normal impala could be bought for 1,400 rand ($106), whereas black impala fetched 600,000 rand ($45,450). These color variants were not yet being hunted -- owners were focused on breeding lines and increasing numbers.
But over the next 2 years things changed. By 2014 rare game accounted for 16% of turnover at game auctions with the average price for white impala rams reaching 8.2 million ($621,130) rand.
As prices continued to rise, critics continued to point out problems. Many believed it was putting profit before conservation.
They pointed out:
the dangers inherent in intensively breeding animals from limited genetic stock, leading to the problems associated with inbreeding, including reduced viability and fertility;
of offering captive bred animals to hunters, which many believe to be unethical and not "fair chase";
of diverting resources from other conservation as game farms focus on color variant animals to the detriment of other wildlife.
Despite naysayers, breeders bred and sold animals that commanded high prices throughout 2015. But talk of a bubble -- when the price of an asset is based on past performance rather than actual value -- was rife. Once potential buyers realize the asset is overvalued no one wants to buy it and prices collapse.
This is exactly what happened. At the beginning of 2016 prices started to fall and the devaluation continued spectacularly. Black impala rams now fetch perhaps less than 10,000 rand ($757) (1.7% of 2012 price) and white impala have dropped to 48,000 rand ($3,635) (0.5% of their 2014 peak value).
The problem seems to have been that demand didn't exist on the scale imagined. Hunters were simply not enthused about adding these new color variants to their trophy rooms. As a result, breeders were only selling to other breeders and to game farmers, many of whom went on to become breeders themselves, exacerbating the problem.
Colored variant animals have had genetic problems associated with inbreeding.
Colored variant animals have had genetic problems associated with inbreeding.
The problem with the profit motive
As one bubble bursts another seems to be inflating rapidly.
Advertisements for unusual color variant game can still be seen in game ranching publications. But more apparent in the last two years have been captive-bred buffalo, sable and roan. They are normally colored, but many have massive horns, a trait that is being bred for, and made even larger, by specialized game breeders. These animals are now regarded as the "fashionable" high-value game species and, as with color variants, their prices are soaring. A buffalo bull went under the hammer for 168 million rand ($12.7m) in 2016.
Inflated prices and controversy over hunting -- especially following the killing of Cecil of Lion in Zimbabwe -- make "greedy" wildlife ranchers obvious targets for those who oppose the use of wildlife for hunting.
But the profit-conservation balance isn't necessarily any better in non-consumptive models. For example, baiting popular dive sites for sharks, crowding waterholes with cars or pushing boats closer to bird colonies are but a few of the sharp ecotourism practices driven mainly by greed.
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Re: The Reality of Trophy Hunting

帖子admin » 周一 6月 24, 2019 10:49 am

https://www.indiatoday.in/education-tod ... 2018-10-25
1.2 million animals have been killed by people in the name of trophy hunting. That breaks down to about 70,000 animals each year.
What is trophy hunting?

Trophy hunting is hunting of wild game for human recreation. The trophy is the animal or part of the animal kept, and usually displayed, to represent the success of the hunt.
Generally, only parts of the animal are kept as a trophies (usually the head, skin, horns or antlers) and the carcass itself is used for food or donated to the local community.
(Warning: Disturbing images ahead)

Recently, social media has started shedding more light on trophy hunting as people have expressed their anger on viral trophy pictures.
Where is it more predominant?

Canada, South Africa, Namibia, Mexico, Zimbawbe, New Zealand are the major countries which are the primary witnesses to trophy hunting.
South Africa has the largest hunting industry worldwide and it's the second most popular source of American trophy imports. Trophy hunting has been practiced in Africa and is still a practised in many African countries.

According to a study sponsored by International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the revenue generated by hunting tourism in seven Southern African Development Communities (SADC) in 2008 was approximately 190 million USD.
Most hunted animals

The most expensive species to hunt are known as the Big Five: the lion, elephant, leopard, rhinoceros (both black and white) and Cape buffalo.
Why is trophy hunting now a booming business?

Globally, the trophy hunting of rare animals is a booming business largely championed by the US-based Safari Club International (SCI).
The SCI encourages wealthy big-game hunters to compete in contests to kill the most animals for awards, such as the 'Africa Big Five' that includes lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards, and Cape buffaloes

Where does trophy hunting stand legally?

Trophy hunting is legal in many countries like Africa. However, there are restrictions on the species that can be hunted, when hunting can take place, the number of animals one can kill and the weapons that can be used.
Permits and government consent are also required. Specific laws of trophy hunting vary based on the criteria mentioned, and some areas have even banned trophy hunting altogether.
Some shocking facts about trophy hunting

1. Trophy hunters have killed over 78,000 mountain lions in the last two decades.
2. Mexico has a hunting industry valued at approximately $200 million with about 4,000 hunting ranches.
3. Big names like Teddy Roosevelt and George W Bush have been associated with killing animals/trophy hunting.
4. A 21-day lion hunt can cost anywhere from $52,500 to $70,000.
'Trophy', a 2017 documentary directed by Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz shows an in-depth look into the powerhouse industries of big-game hunting, breeding and wildlife conservation in the US and Africa unravels the complex consequences of treating animals as commodities.

Every year hundreds of thousands of wild animals globally are killed solely to obtain a "prize"-that is, the heads, hides or pelts, and even whole stuffed animals-to hang on a wall, throw on the floor, or pose in a room. The practice is unethical, cruel, harmful and unsustainable.
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Re: The Reality of Trophy Hunting

帖子admin » 周一 6月 24, 2019 10:50 am

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4844148/

Storyline

Mia is 11 years old when she develops an extraordinary relationship with Charlie, a young white lion born in Mia's parents farm, in South Africa. During three years, they will grow up together and live a beautiful friendship. When Mia reaches the age of 14 and that Charlie has become a magnificent adult lion, she discovers the unbearable truth: her father has decided to sell the lion to trophy hunters. Desperate, Mia has no other choice than to escape with Charlie in order to rescue him. Written by Hugo Van Herpe
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