Nothing could be further from the truth ...

Many American hunters are extremely well informed of the conservation success story of the whitetail deer in America. Regulated sport hunting of deer has led to nationwide population explosions. Many non hunters are also aware of the whitetail deer’s resurgence, and have become quite accepting of deer hunting. It is such a success story that in many states in the US one can legally take many deer in one season. However many hunters are unaware that there is a similar success story to report regarding the African elephant.

I have noticed an interesting opinion that seems to be held by a number of folks within the hunting community, it seems to also be prevalent among those who do not hunt. It is an aversion to the hunting of elephants. When I tell people what I do for a living I frequently get the same question asked a number of different ways for example:''it's not legal to hunt elephants is it?'' When I explain that yes it is quite legal to hunt elephants in certain African countries, I often met with surprise.''you don't support elephant hunting do you'' and when my response is in the affirmative I am again met with surprise.

Why is that?

In my opinion there is absolutely nothing morally or ethically wrong with the regulated sport hunting of elephants. Further it is revenues from this type of hunting that has saved elephants from extinction.

Another misconception is that elephant hunting is simple and not a challenge. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you ask experienced elephant hunters they will all tell you that the elephant is one of the most difficult species to hunt. They are intelligent, wary and potentially dangerous. They can run and /or walk for many miles without rest. They also must survive many years to grow into a significant trophy.

In terms of conservation, science shows that if elephant populations are not thinned from time to time they can cause massive destruction to their own habitat which is becoming increasingly limited due to the encroachment of humans. They can also do massive damage to crops and other things native people depend on for survival.

There is a common misconception that it is totally illegal to posses elephant ivory in the United States. It is LEGAL to posses elephant ivory in the United States as long as it was LEGALLY sport hunted in a country that complies with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) treaty. For some countries like Tanzania a permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is required. Currently no USFWS permit is required for elephants taken in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa or Zimbabwe. One of the requirements of the USFSW is that ''the import of sport hunted trophy will enhance the survival of the specie'' in other words money from the taking of an elephant must be determined to be used for conservation of the species. The USFWS has determined this to be the case in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

It is only illegal to import elephant ivory to the US for commercial trade. Personally sport hunted trophies are exempt from this restriction.

In general when game animals in Africa are killed you can bet almost nothing is ever wasted. Millions of pounds of meat is given to locals every single year in Africa. When an elephant is killed it is like a holiday for the local community. They may take days to cut it up for meat. An elephant can feed hundreds of people for many weeks and sometimes months.

Hunter's dollars go to many things to benefit local communities. One example is the anti poaching efforts funded by hunters. This is the free market at work. When you place a high dollar value on an animal like an elephant ($25,000 - $50,000 USD) you make those animals worth protecting by the local community. Instead of poaching for meat or ivory the locals protect the animals so a few mature old bulls can be hunted each year. These bulls have generally left the heard after having bred with the females for years. Many of these old bulls would otherwise die of starvation because their teeth are extremely worn. So instead of dropping dead of hunger they benefit the community.

In the mid 1970's Kenya banned sport hunting of elephants. The elephant population has plummeted from 140,000 elephants in the 1970's to 23,000 today, all due to poaching and a lack of conservation programs. Conversely in Tanzania (which allows regulated sport hunting of elephants) populations have exploded.
See this 2007 study data:

http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/afesg/aed/pdfs/aesr2007e.pdf

The World Wildlife Fund (which is not a hunting organization) is the primary organization overseeing regulated sport hunting in Namibia look at their website:

http://worldwildlife.org/action/conflict/namibia.cfm

The regulated sport hunting of game species based on the American model of wildlife conservation is the key to the survival of many species throughout the world. We need only look at the whitetails in our own backyards to remind us of this.

Good hunting.

- TJR