Conservation efforts under fire

Namibia is being ridiculed on social media following an agreement that was signed with Dallas Safari Club - an internationally renowned organisation for hunters. It began after Dallas Safari Club posted a photo of a memorandum of understanding being signed with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. The photo quickly circulated onto the Facebook pages of anti-hunting lobby groups which accused Namibia of being a murderous country. On one such group “Expose Trophy Hunting” the comments were flying around about how Namibia could negotiate with “a group of killers”. One post said that, “Has Namibia gone nuts? There is hardly any wildlife left in the country. Only in Etosha and on game farms. The communal lands are empty! The few cats which survive have nothing to eat, so what remains for them is livestock after which they are shot mercilessly in retaliation for a stupid goat.”Another post read, “I have never seen a minister who was more blasé on wildlife and conservation than him. He even dared to make a joke out of poaching and saying that there is no poaching in Namibia, he even insulted Prince Harry for his fight for elephants and rhinos.”A third person wrote, “What fascinates me is how a wrinkly little group of killers in Dallas has a mandate to negotiate 'working agreements' with a foreign power? Expose this fraud too, they are not early settlers operating in 1648. This is 2017. They have no mandate to negotiate the extermination of our wildlife with Namibia.”Meanwhile the spokesperson of the ministry, Romeo Muyunda explained that the purpose of this MoU is to enhance cooperation in the field of wildlife conservation within the framework of the existing legislation of the parties.The agreement was signed between Namibia represented by the ministry; the Dallas Safari Club and the Dallas Safari Club Foundation from the United States.According to him, the parties agreed to promote Namibia's conservation hunting programme. The agreement will also seek to promote anti-poaching activities in national parks and other state land in Namibia, including fundraising for anti-poaching activities. Furthermore, the agreement will encourage, assist and interchange for research and teaching purposes as well as assist in the exchange of non-proprietary information. It will also seek to promote collaboration with continuing education and other training programmes to promote conservation and wildlife. The Dallas Safari Club and the Dallas Safari Club Foundation will assist the ministry to raise funds for wildlife protection.The club made headlines in Namibia a few years ago when a black rhino hunt in Namibia was auctioned to a Texas hunter. When Corey Knowlton was revealed as the winner of the controversial auction, he received so many death threats that local law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had to step in to keep him safe. Knowlton's bid at that time was N$3.7 million (US$350 000) for the permit auctioned by the Dallas Safari Club. ELLANIE SMIT

Conservation efforts under fire

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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Conservation efforts under fire

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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