Hunting and Its Benefits: an Overview of Hunting in Africa with Special Reference to Tanzania

Summary

This chapter presents an overview of hunting in Africa today. A comparison is given of the various hunting destinations and their comparative costs. Tanzania is the most satisfactory destination by most criteria but it is comparatively expensive, while South Africa is the cheapest, busiest (4,500 clients annually) and most accessible. Wildlife is plentiful in some country locations but is being poached mercilessly in others. Only through effective regulation will it be preserved and turned to the benefit of the countries and their communities. If local communities and landowners on whose land wildlife feeds do not benefit from wildlife, they will not conserve it. Tanzania is used as an example of the potential benefits to be gained from safari hunting because of the authors particular experience of that country. The Cullman Wildlife Project, a community based wildlife utilization scheme in Tanzania which is sponsored by donations from hunters, is described and the benefits to the communities outlined. This model can be applied elsewhere and has many of the features of the CAMPFIRE Project in Zimbabwe and the Madikwa Game Reserve in South Africa. Quotas and quota setting are critical to the maintenance of wildlife populations on government and communal lands. A case is made for lifting the hunting ban in Kenya and re-introducing safari hunting, and possible charges and potential earnings are presented.