Quote:
Originally Posted by IronNoggin
Fair enough.
The version of Africa you wish for disappeared one hell of a long time ago unfortunately.
Now, almost the entire continent is overpopulated. Poverty RULES. Most cannot afford to eck out even a substandard living. Wildlife exists now simply because it brings in extremely required coin, and jobs. Without that incentive, it is simply food to be taken at will, or competition when attempting to grow & harvest crops. Anti-poaching activities commonly lose ground (rapidly so) when those incentives are removed.
Unfortunate situation, but nothing you nor I can do will influence what is at all.
More hunt than you might imagine.
While the "trophy" hunts are generally sold off to the elites that can afford it, meat and cull hunts also occur frequently. Those are typically engaged in by locals (who I hunted with extensively while there).
It is an entirely different game over there, and cannot be compared directly with what occurs in NA. Given that these hunts are pretty much the sole reason the wildlife still exist. yes, I am OK with that.
What you describe is the exception to the rule in most cases.
Yes, that does occur, but it is limited in scope.
Most are born behind a fence that encompasses a HUGE range, and never see a "cage" as you suggest. Most operate under the free range aspect the majority of their lives.
Given the state of almost all African Countries today, it is entirely unlikely there will ever be a program of wildlife management in any of them that comes close to the NA model, or for which you wish for. So many other matters take precedence, that wildlife is not even on the back burner. The only reason there is any interest at all is based almost entirely on the coin hunting operations bring in.
So, I do see your point regarding what makes it "sad".
But I also recognize that without the types of programs now being employed there, we could kiss a great many wildlife species away.
Unfortunate perhaps, but a very large component of Just The Way It Is...
Cheers,
Nog
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All good Nog. The last people I'm condemning are the foreign hunters. If they all stopped coming there would be NO animals left in Africa. They would pay the price for the poverty, overpopulation, and culture you speak of. The antis don't get that. They only see rich, privileged types doing it with no clue what would happen if the natives were left to their own devices.
I would make references to the possibilities of it happening here as well but I'm not here to create the firestorm that would bring on.
And yes I should have said "fenced" rather than "caged". My error. Still they aint exactly free ranging was my point. (I could tell you a good story about a friend that is there often. Books hunts. Those "fenced" animals aren't exactly tame is all I'll say)
Africa is a beautiful place. Where we all come from so they say. It's too bad it's gone the way it has, thanks mostly to corruption.