Leon Kachelhoffer is a Botswanan trophy hunter who caused an international outcry for killing a circa 45-year-old rare and well-known 'big tusker elephant in Botswana in 2022 alongside a smaller second elephant. [1] [2] [3]
Kachelhoffer justified his killing by stating that poachers may otherwise have targeted the elephant for its ivory, had he not shot the animal himself. [3]
When asked about the case, Dr. Dilys Roe of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) speculated that paid elephant hunting could have a positive impact on wildlife, highlighting that "if nothing can be earned with wildlife, the local population would rather convert the hunting grounds into agricultural land and kill the animals themselves". [4]
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products, for recreation/taxidermy, although it may also be done for resourceful reasons such as removing predators dangerous to humans or domestic animals, to eliminate pests and nuisance animals that damage crops/livestock/poultry or spread diseases, for trade/tourism, or for ecological conservation against overpopulation and invasive species.
Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the hunting privileges of nobility and territorial rulers.
The African buffalo is a large sub-Saharan African bovine. There are five subspecies that are recognized as being valid:
Hwange National Park is the largest natural reserve in Zimbabwe. It is around 14,600 sq km in area. It lies in the northwest of the country, just off the main road between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. The nearest town is Dete. Histories of the region's pre-colonial days and its development as a game reserve and National Park are available online
A canned hunt is a trophy hunt which is not "fair chase", typically by having game animals kept in a confined area such as in a fenced ranch to prevent the animals' escape and make tracking easier for the hunter, in order to increase the likelihood of the hunter obtaining a kill. The term has been used for driven grouse shooting, in which large areas of Britain are farmed for red grouse. According to WordNet, a canned hunt is a "hunt for animals that have been raised on game ranches until they are mature enough to be killed for trophy collections."
Trophy hunting is a form of hunting for sport in which parts of the hunted wild animals are kept and displayed as trophies. The animal being targeted, known as the "game", is typically a mature male specimen from a popular species of collectable interests, usually of large sizes, holding impressive horns, antlers, furs, or manes. Most trophies consist of only select parts of the animal, which are prepared for display by a taxidermist. The parts most commonly kept vary by species but often include the head, hide, tusks, horns, or antlers.
Culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In animal breeding, it is removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on a specific trait. This is done to exaggerate desirable characteristics, or to remove undesirable characteristics by altering the genetic makeup of the population. For livestock and wildlife, culling often refers to killing removed animals based on their characteristics, such as their sex or species membership, or as a means of preventing infectious disease transmission.
A game farm is a place where game animals are raised to stock wildlife areas for hunting. The term also includes places where such animals are raised to be sold as food or for photography. Their existence has been exemplified within the South African countryside where they have become prevalent. The wildlife that is hunted is used for consumption as well for ecotourism. Local laws in South Africa during the 20th century have allowed the private ownership of wildlife, which has enabled the expansion and economic feasibility of game farms over typical livestock farming.
Environmental issues in Kenya include deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, water shortage and degraded water quality, flooding, poaching, and domestic and industrial pollution.
Safari Club International (SCI) is a US organization composed of hunters dedicated to protecting the “freedom to hunt.” SCI has more than 40,000 members and 180 local chapters. SCI members agree to abide by the organization's code of ethics, which includes making a positive contribution to wildlife and ecosystems, complying with game laws, and assisting game and fish officers.
Wildlife tourism is an element of many nations' travel industry centered around observation and interaction with local animal and plant life in their natural habitats. While it can include eco- and animal-friendly tourism, safari hunting and similar high-intervention activities also fall under the umbrella of wildlife tourism. Wildlife tourism, in its simplest sense, is interacting with wild animals in their natural habitat, either actively or passively. Wildlife tourism is an important part of the tourism industries in many countries including many African and South American countries, Australia, India, Canada, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Maldives among many. It has experienced a dramatic and rapid growth in recent years worldwide and many elements are closely aligned to eco-tourism and sustainable tourism.
Big-game hunting is the hunting of large game animals for trophies, taxidermy, meat, and commercially valuable animal by-products. The term is often associated with the hunting of Africa's "Big Five" games, and Indian rhinoceros and Bengal tigers on the Indian subcontinent.
Elephant hunting, which used to be an accepted activity in Kenya, was banned in 1973, as was the ivory trade. Kenya pioneered the destruction of ivory as a way to combat this black market.
Satao was one of Kenya's largest African elephants. He was known as a tusker because his tusks were so long that they almost touched the ground. The Tsavo Trust announced that Satao was killed by poachers using a poisoned arrow on 30 May 2014.
Elephant meat is the flesh and other edible parts of elephants. Elephants have been hunted for their meat since prehistoric times, with traditional elephant hunting being historically practiced by some modern African hunter-gatherer groups. Elephant meat is also widely illegally sold as bushmeat in parts of Africa, which has sparked concerns that the demand for bushmeat is driving poaching.
Cecil was a male African lion who lived primarily in the Hwange National Park in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. He was being studied and tracked by a research team of the University of Oxford as part of a long-term study.
Green hunting is the practice of tracking and shooting game animals with non-lethal tranquilizer guns or bows and subsequently releasing the captured animals alive. Green hunting would typically be performed when tranquilization of the animal is necessary for veterinary, monitoring or species translocation purposes.
Pedals was an American black bear that walked upright on its hind legs because of injuries on its front paws. After videos of the bear were posted on the internet, more than 300,000 people signed a petition to move the bear to a wildlife sanctuary. However, Pedals appears to have been one of hundreds of bears killed by bullets or arrows in October 2016 in New Jersey's first sanctioned bow-and-arrow hunt in four decades.
Botswana continued to address the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, including the discovery of the COVID-19 variant Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, with COVID-19 restrictions being relaxed in October. Continued disputes took place regarding the Botswana–Namibia border, though an open border was established in September. The rivalry between President Mokgweetsi Masisi and his predecessor Ian Khama escalated in 2022, accelerated by firearms charges against Khama and a warrant for his arrest. The government also saw controversy for its support of bills that would grant it additional espionage powers and regulate journalists.
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