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“In northern Botswana, the Linyanti river’s proximity to Namibia’s Caprivi Strip — a thin finger-like stretch of the country just 30 kilometers (18 miles) wide in parts — makes it an ideal target for gangs of poachers. “Poachers can act with impunity here, because there is nothing blocking their movements,” explains Chase. “These borders are open to wildlife, and within a matter of minutes [they] can be in three different countries.”

I noted that most of the article discussed poaching, which in many areas is out of control. Now, having hunted many of the countries discussed in that piece, here is what I know and have seen. Take Mozambique. A good safari operation there pays for, equips, finances and directs anti-poaching patrols.  They spend many tens of thousands of dollar to do so- and it works. I have seen the result first hand. Now- realize if that if hunting were banned ( as happened in Botswana to elephant hunting)- all of those valuable poaching patrols are gone. Poachers now have full run of the forest, with no controls. The decline in Botswana ellephants was predicted by a number of conservation and safari organizations who understood that patrolling the concessions hunted – would disappear on the day the season was closed.

A good piece appears on-line discussing the rampant poaching in Kenya where there is no legal hunting at all. So no anti-poaching patrols there– unless the local communities jump into the breach. See: www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/30/kenya-poaching-elephant-ivory-rhino-horn-future-communities .

Also realize that in many areas, the funds gained from a safari done on communal lands, means money gets paid for the rights to hunt- much like when we lease land to deer hunt. The community covets that money, so now if a few crop raiding ellies hit them, they likely leave them alone as those animals (where there is legal hunting)– are money in their pocket, which is often more useful then some lost crops. Money they desperately need. And the meat is ALWAYS donated to the villages, who often are desperate for fresh meat. I have seen them hacking a rotten elephant apart to capture all the meat- and we could smell it from a half mile away! So where there is legal safari hunting nothing goes to waste; the elephants then have a real monetary value to the locals, plus the poaching patrols protect the herds, and the locals have no reason to want to eliminate them. If run properly, the Safari system works to protect and enhance conservation efforts.

So it is clear that poaching is one of the biggest problems, but the really big problem in Africa is birth control. Many of the women will have 4 to 8 children, children they depend on in their old ages to feed, clothe and look after them as they age. They need those big families. The rate of human expansion in Africa is off the chart. Elephant habitat is disappearing fast- and it multiplies upon itself. Here is a quote from the Dec 12, 2015 Economist (www.economist.com): “Alarmingly, population growth in Africa is not slowing as quickly as demographers had expected. In 2004 the UN predicted that the continent’s population would grow from a little over 900 million at the time, to about 2.3 billion in 2100. At the same time it put the world’s total population in 2100 at 9.1 billion, up from 7.3 billion today. But the UN’s latest estimates, published earlier this year, have global population in 2100 at 11.2 billion—and Africa is where almost all the newly added people will be. The UN now thinks that by 2100 the continent will be home to 4.4 billion people, an increase of more than 2 billion compared with its previous estimate. If the new projections are right, geopolitics will be turned upside-down. By the end of this century, Africa will be home to 39% of the world’s population, almost as much as Asia, and four times the share of North America and Europe put together.”

Zambia                42 births. These birth rates may ultimately cost Africa much of its wildlife by loss of habitat, and that includes elephants who require vast open lands to roam and feed in. Sport hunting cannot help with that massive population problem- and no solution exists at this time except to try and educate the local inhabitants. But as long as they need those big families to support them in their elder years- the growth will continue, and all the game will ultimately lose out.

But for the time being, the Safari company anti-poaching patrols and payments to the local communes do help; however we desperately need to figure out how to stop the huge population explosion and resultant loss of habitat. Meantime, we know that the safari system benefits elephants by furnishing protection from poaching. And of course, local populations are monitored closely and concessions can be closed if elephant populations decline drastically. Safari companies know that and it spurs on the anti-poaching patrols.

Also know that certain areas in Africa have far too many elephants for their limited habitat. Elephants knock over and kill trees to feed, often meaning the literally eat away their protection. So they are forced to move into native areas and conflicts ensue, and elephants will ultimately lose. It requires intensive management to balance herd reduction with human encroachment. Not a happy situation, but for the time being the safari companies are the elephants best friend. Stopping the legal hunting of elephants means stopping the anti-poaching patrols- and elephants and other game loses.

I hope this attempt to explain the situation is helpful. Best wishes.