Thursday, March 28, 2024

150,000 Kwacha to kill Hippos in Luangwa Valley

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Umlilo Safaris advertisement for Hippo Hunting
Umlilo Safaris advertisement for Hippo Hunting

A South Africa trophy hunting company is charging around K150, 000 to kill Hippos in the Luangwa Valley.

Umlilo Safaris, a South African trophy hunting company has begun offering customers a five-day “hippo management hunt” in the Luangwa Valley for £10,500 each. 
On its Facebook page, the company says hunters can shoot five hippos per trip and keep the animals’ tusks.

The company also confirmed that it does allow its customers to export the tusks.

Trophy Hunters have now been allowed to kill more than a thousand hippos over the next five years in Zambia. 

The cull, in the Luangwa River region, is a bid to control numbers and stop the spread of anthrax, the country’s government insists.

Government has confirmed that it plans to allow 250 hippos a year to be killed, with one Safari Company already offering tourists the chance to kill up to five of the animals each.

The Department of National Parks has argued the cull will help prevent anthrax outbreaks in an area overpopulated with hippos.
In a statement, Zambia’s Ministry of Tourism said the culling was to maintain a “suitable habitat for aquatic species and wildlife in general”, noting that similar culls had taken place before.

“The hippos are causing considerable damage to the riverbanks and continue to threaten the sustainability of the river system,” the statement read.
Anthrax is a potentially deadly disease caused by bacteria living in the soil.

Hippos are susceptible to the infection, and can pass it to humans who eat infected meat.

Zambia initially suspended a planned cull in 2016 following pressure from activists, but Born Free has accused the government of “secretly” overturning the decision and “promoting the cull to trophy hunters”. 

Will Travers, chief executive of the charity Born Free said government has failed to provide enough evidence showing an overpopulation of hippos in the Luangwa River, or to make public any data that justifies the cull.

“They are, apparently, using the same flawed rationale for the slaughter as last time – a preventative measure to avoid a future outbreak of anthrax, combined with an assertion that low rainfall will exacerbate the situation,” he said.

“They also appear not to have informed key stakeholders in the Luangwa Valley… The negative consequences for thousands of hippo and Zambia’s reputation as a wildlife tourism destination cannot be underestimated.”

Richard Kock, professor of wildlife health at the Royal Veterinary College, told The Independent the government needed to provide data to justify the cull. 

“There’s no doubt that hippos can build up numbers until there really are probably too many for the ecosystem,” he said. “And so I think the anthrax may well be a factor in controlling their populations, and it may benefit the environment because they will consume large quantities of herbage, and obviously that will affect other species. 

“I’m also very sensitive to the fact people use these things as excuses for nefarious behaviour. So I would say you need good data and you need good evidence and it should be the scientific authorities who should back up any sort of criteria on culling. And it should be justified.”

22 COMMENTS

  1. Perhaps we must also cull corrupt politicians and visionless selfish leaders, they are a disease to Africa’s development. #save our hippos.

    • There is everything wrong with this. This is not a culling exercise, but a money making one.

      Do you know who is profiting from this? Can the money be accounted for?

      And you wonder why Lungu is always smiling and dancing. It is projects like this that are funding the buying of mansions in Swaziland, Congo and Uganda.

      God help Zambia.

    • It would be wiser and cheaper for government to harvest hippo meat and suppy people to hospitals, prison, boarding schools.
      Open a canning department at Zambee f to export meet to china.
      Unfortunately OF don’t how to think.

    • @Its Political:
      You do not get paid for killing Hippos in this culling exercise; but you PAY to kill a Hippo.
      Poachers do not have K150,000 to PAY for killing hippos – That is why they are called Poachers – They like free illegal things.
      Even now people are free to kill animals from Game Reserves as long as you pay to Zambia Wildlife. I was in South Luangwa in August last year and they told me I would kill an elephant at K40,000. I did not do it because I was not prepared with transport to bring the carcass to Copperbelt and sell off the meat.

  2. @ C General

    He will pay k150k and sale meet and Trophies and make $200k

    Zawa can do the job my brother

    • @Its Political:
      I WAS RESPONDING TO YOUR FIRST STATEMENT WHERE YOU WROTE “Engage poachers. They will do it for free”.
      AND I MEAN THAT POACHERS CAN’T DO IT FOR FREE. THEY STILL HAVE TO PAY THE K150k

  3. Three weeks ago, Green Party President Peter Sinkamba said there are more civilized ways for sustainable management wildlife than culling. Mr. Sinkamba said culling of wildlife is not an option but a primitive conservation strategy. Reacting to the disclosure that the Zambian authorities plan to proceed with the aborted 2016 programme intended to cull up to 2,000 hippos in the Luangwa Valley, allegedly for overpopulation, Mr. Sinkamba said Zambia needs to learn from other countries such as Kenya and Tanzania what to do to wildlife when confronted with overpopulation and drought conditions. “Culling of wildlife is not an option. It is a primitive wildlife conservation strategy. There are more sustainable measures out there. Relocation of entrapped animals is one such modern conservation…

  4. ….Relocation of entrapped animals is one such modern conservation tool. “In any case, Luangwa Valley is not the only Game Park in Zambia. We have about 20 National Game Parks and over 30 game reserves. In fact, most, if not all the parks require restocking. A serious environmentally-conscious government would have opted for relocation than culling. We must take a leaf from the Republics of Kenya and Tanzania that relocate their animals when conditions dictate,” Mr. Sinkamba said.

  5. Food is also becoming scarce due to over population of people. Why is man heartless like this? When will the cull of human beings stop for you to understand? Africans are very dull people that is why originators of such type of thinking can convince us to kill our hippos. Wake up the reasons are not very convincing. They need life the way we do. why are we being unreasonable? One thing you need to know money can never buy life enough is enough.

  6. Mr. Sinkamba said Kenya and Tanzania, do, year-in-year out, relocate wildlife from drought stricken areas to other conservation areas across the country.“Mind you, hippos are not exclusively for Luangwa. They can live anywhere in the country. So, they can easily be relocated to other parts of the country. He said if Government says it has no resources do so, the Greens can move in and help marshal the resources. He said he have done it before for the Copperbelt Environment Project and Zambia Environmental Restoration Project. “We cannot fail to do so to save the hippos,” Mr. Sinkamba added.

  7. “This government needs to read the ball game. Mining has run its race. It is proving to be unsustainable and no longer as beneficial to the nation as it used to be. The next most viable sectors are high-value agriculture and eco-tourism. So, how do you promote eco-tourism when you cull the very animals that tourists are expected to come and watch? The culling policy is motivated by pure greed,” he added. He added that if government goes with this programme, he will lobby eco-friendly tourists from around the world to shun Zambia as a tourist destination. I support him on this one 100%.

  8. Controlling population by culling of any species is a proven scientific method of managing species populations for many years, so this is not news. If scientifically there is need to do this, then it must be done to protect the eco-system. I was in South Luangwa in Dec.2018 and it is true; hippos and elephants are taking over. What troubles me is the how, when and who will benefit. Does it mean that there are no Zambian companies that can provide this culling service? What about the local people who year in year out lose crop due to wildlife. How are the hunting concessions being determined? If done properly and scientifically, the local people, the eco-system and Zambia can benefit.

    • That’s a more sober reaction than the myopia being displayed elsewhere. Culling is absolutely necessary. Relocation to other countries with the already established scare of the Zoonotic endemic disease Anthrax is a non-starter, what with the cost of quarantine before they are moved to wherever. Mind you the other countries also have similar issues. The arguments against are hollow….. Prof from some university wants proof if the scare from Anthrax, that was all over National Geographic and NatGeo Wild….real empirical and visible data. Can we stop politicking for once and save our environment.

  9. This is disgusting. Once again South Africa has shown itself for what it is, a violent, money making country that has no soul. Why is murder a spectator sport. you want to hunt, level the playing field and put the cowardly white man in the jungle and let the best animal win. These people have more money than sense. if he wants to show that he has balls, let the hunter be dropped in the jungle and let him fight his way out, survivor style. then we will know he is a man. paying to kill a helpless animal is just morally outrageous and cowardly.

  10. Culling the hippos is not a problem but aren’t these animals owned by Zambia? Don’t they swim in our waters? You’d think any ‘adventure’ experienced in Zambia will benefit the local community but no, some Boer in pata patas is profiteering off OUR resources. Such a joke of a country.

  11. Zambia’s Home Guard (if they are still around, I know the son of a polygamist tribal father cum tribal hooligan and bully of the tribal organization does not know who these are/were), can crop the animals and sell the meat. The profits will be ploughed back on their pay than letting this guys do it. After cropping the animals the Home Guard must then crop HH.

  12. Where is mushota? I was really anticipating to a lot from her over the chilanga by_election. Say something my lady.

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