Hippo slaughter: Conservationists fear mass killings by trophy hunters
TROPHY hunters are being welcomed to carry out a mass cull of hippos in one of the planet’s great wildernesses.
Rich hunters are being invited by the Zambian authorities to shoot hundreds of the huge “river horses” in a drive to combat anthrax.
Angry wildlife campaigners are condemning the plans to kill 400 hippos a year over the next five years, saying the strategy leaves many unanswered questions.
Leading wildlife charity Born Free International is highlighting some of the worrying reports coming out of Zambia that suggest a five-year contract has been reportedly awarded to a safari company which is being marketed by a South African hunting company.
Born Free says it has received reports that the cull, which has already started, was sanctioned by the Zambian Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) as a "wildlife management tool" to prevent the future spread of anthrax among wild animals along a 150-mile stretch of riverine forest between Chikwa in North Luangwa and Lusangazi in South Luangwa.
The cull comes at a time when hippo numbers are declining and the species has been classified as “vulnerable” on Red List published by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Recent hippo population estimates suggest numbers have gone down between seven and 20 per cent over the past decade.
For Born Free president and co-founder Will Travers OBE, the decision to allow this “abhorrent activity” raises questions that need urgent answers.
Among the issues he wants answering are:
• Is it a cull or is it trophy hunting?
• What is the scientific rationale for killing up to 2,000 hippo when there are perhaps as few as 80,000 hippo in all of Southern Africa?
• Is culling an effective way of addressing the possible spread of anthrax?
• Where will the money from the cull really end up?
• Is there truly an over-population issue with hippo in the Luangwa area?
Mr Travers added: “At a time when wildlife populations of multiple species are under extreme pressure across much of Africa, many, including Born Free and our supporters around the world, fundamentally question the logic of killing thousands of hippo, and turning the flood plains of the Luangwa River Valley into ‘killing fields’.
“I am sure the hippo cull, along with Zambia’s decision to re-instate trophy hunting of lions, will cause many to question whether Zambia is the right wildlife safari destination for them. I urge the authorities to call a halt to the killing with immediate effect.”