Opinions

Getting Perspective

Just thought I would share this with you . Recently the plight of Cecil - one of the well known  lions of Hwange has been made very public - and there have been a lot of opinions voiced over how it should or shouldnt have been . Is hunting right or wrong ?- there is a place for it definitely - are Professional hunters bad  people ? No definitely not all of them .In fact some of them are the most dedicated conservationists , many with National Parks Backgrounds- people who are deeply involved in assisting in anti poaching and other conservation activities .

The real truth is that in every barrel of apples there are some bad ones - what happened was wrong -  no question , and there should be repercussions- Its time the penalties were paid for breaking the rules 

 . But when the dust has settled its important to take a balanced view of what will happen now and how we go forward -how do we learn from this incident ?Lets learn from Cecil -Personally I believe hunting Trophy animals in an ever decreasing gene pool is wrong  - it is no longer sustainable and most Hunting operators will be feeling the economic pinch anyway   - But there is no denying the link between Hunting and conservation - Perhaps most people are not aware - or perhaps they dont want to know the numbers of elephants that are being Poached daily - some of them Juveniles - often for tiny bits of ivory -what hunting is doing as regards population reduction  doesn't register compared to the poaching - so lets get it all in perspective !.

Whether you like it or not , hunting has in the past provided certainly Zim Parks big revenue , AND a presence in remote areas where poaching would have wiped out elephant - just look at the stats on the remote areas where poaching has had the most effect !

You have an opinion too - but perhaps too many opinions are just words ?we all have the ability to make a difference here -even a dollar goes a long way - the amount of money raised every year just to keep anti poaching teams paid  and other conservation activities funded is not enough - and every little we can contribute to this will make a difference - There are some seriously committed organizations out there with very dedicated people who get real results on the ground . perhaps by backing some of our opinions with a few dollars we can in the future put Zimparks in a situation whereby they are not as reliant on hunting as they are now for revenue and support .

The Outrage is good , but lets turn it positive , lets not sit in some coffee shop somewhere and make comments about all Professional hunters ,like those made about a very dedicated man recently who was tragically killed . lets rather make a real difference , learn from this , put money into the hands of those who can really make it happen on the ground .Some may ask where a good place to start is regarding funding - look up www.thetashingainitiative.org , an organization involved in all aspects of conservation