SA Government to Grant Trophy Hunters 170 Leopards, Rhinos and Elephants, Locals Slam Move: "Horrible"

• The South African government revealed plans to grant trophy hunters access to 170 wild animals throughout 2022
• The pool will comprise 150 elephants and 10 leopards and black rhinos apiece to help drive economic incentives
• Announcing the plans, minister Barbara Creecy said the move would also work to remove excess males from the population
• South Africans had a different viewpoint on trophy hunting, with many arguing the practice went against wildlife conversation

JOHANNESBURG - The South African government is preparing to allocate a total of 170 wild animals to trophy hunters this year. This was the revelation made by Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs Barbara Creecy.

Announcing her department's plans on Friday, Creecy said 10 leopards, 10 black rhinos and 150 elephants have been reserved as trophy hunting was in part responsible for driving economic incentives that are key to promoting conservation.

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The former anti-apartheid activist said the move by the government would also ensure the removal of excess males from the wildlife population. Another factor was revenue, which she said would be generated to cover the costs of conservation efforts.

"Hunting will only be authorised in areas where leopard populations are steady or advancing. Additionally, only male leopards aged seven years or older will be permitted for trophy hunting to lessen the chance of overharvesting," said Creecy.

Change to anti-poaching stance

Discussing the rhino population, it's understood solely adult male black rhinos will be hunted and exclusively in protected environments. This is in line with a set of stringent measures to ensure that demographic conservation, among others, is improved.

TimesLIVE reported that since the number of elephants was on the rise nationally, the allocation of 150 was satisfactory in keeping with the sustainability of the largest existing land mammal. Creecy said SA's approach ensures that trophy hunting does not impact the wild populations of these species negatively.

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Meanwhile, IOL reported that Creecy's department previously restated its commitment towards doing away with rhino poaching by working closely with the private sector and non-governmental organisations.

About 450 rhinos were poached across the country last year, of which 327 were within government-owned reserves. The remaining 124 were all poached on privately-owned reserves.

Locals share their two cents

Netizens slammed Creecy's plans to grants trophy hunters as many animals, citing the apparent hypocrisy of allowing poachers access to animals long considered an endangered species.

@Cecil Doloff Ndlanzi wrote:

"Then why tf do you even bother protecting rhinos from poachers if you're gonna turn around and hand them over to hunters? It's 2022 people need to find a better thing to do not this, or better yet these hunters must be drafted to go and hunt for people who cross the borders illegally since they're itching to shoot."

@Joshua Mokoena said:

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"I pray to the gods of the wild animals to please give strength and power to these animals so that they can kill and eat those trophy hunters."

@Liez Louw added:

"Elephants I can understand our reserves don't have the capacity they over populated. [As for] the other two, I really don't understand the logic."

Lions contract 'severe' Covid-19 from zookeepers

Elsewhere, Briefly News previously reported that a group of Lions and pumas have been infected with Covid-19 at a zoo in Tshwane after the virus was passed onto the animals by zookeepers who weren't displaying any symptoms.

Studies carried out by a local tertiary institution indicated the emergence of possible new Covid-19 variants from animal sanctuaries. According to a TimesLIVE report, a 2020 research article showed that the droppings from a pair of pumas that had diarrhoea and anorexia, among other things, showed the animals had Covid-19.

However, according to the University of Pretoria, the cougars made a full recovery after nearly one month. Since then, amid the country's third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic driven by the delta variant, three lions tested positive for the coronavirus.

Source: Briefly News