Overpopulation and Wildlife Coservation
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I asserted that the biggest threat to Wildlife was human population growth rather than the usually accepted or more highly publicised “whipping boys”, poaching, hunting and the trade in animal parts in some far-eastern countries
Whilst some people may not wish to accept this, others are as concerned as I am.
The Royal Society is only one year away from concluding its report into this very subject
http://royalsociety.org/Does-population-matter/
There are many interesting threads on the internet relating to this subject, but the best and simplest summary can be found here
http://www.populationmedia.org/2011/...h-on-wildlife/
Let’s face it human “population” is not the only problem although it is the biggest, there has been a preponderance of negative publicity both in the press and on this forum recently in particular in regard to Rhinos and Elephants.
Rhinos
The plethora of attacks on South Africa relating to the dramatic increase in Rhino poaching is totally biased and sensational. The truth is that without South Africa, Project Rhino and Kwa-Zulu Parks there would be few if any Rhinos in Southern Africa, virtually every country in which you see a Rhino in Southern Africa it has had the animal provided by South Africa.
South Africa has by far the highest population of both Black and White Rhino, if you were a poacher where would you go to get horn?
By the way the population of Rhino in South Africa is increasing by around 2% a year.
The suggestions that the Chinese need “education” to stop using Rhino Horn are quite frankly both disgusting and racially biased.
Constantly referring to Rhino horn as being a Viagra substitute is not only misleading but totally false it is used in traditional Chinese medicine for reducing fever. The popularity for this “medicine” is still there and always will be. The attempts to ban and/or criminalise its use will be as successful as the battle against the use of ”narcotics”
There is a very simple solution to this problem, that is for CITES to legalise trade in this substance. South Africa is more than capable of providing sufficient horn to satisfy world demand for this substance, by the terribly simple method of de-horning farmed Rhino. For those who believe that this is cruel and indefensible, I can only ask why so many people approve of de-horning Rhinos in the wild as an acceptable method of conservation.
The Chinese have already established a Rhino farm and have secured approximately 300 Rhino for this very purpose, this is allowed as there is no international trade involved in this process CITES is after all the “Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora”
By continuing to ban this trade CITES is effectively removing the possibility of sustainable income for poor African countries, this cannot be correct.
Elephants
The situation relating to poaching of Elephants is probably even more badly handled, in particular by the Western Press and the many NGO’s whose sole purpose seems to be spreading malicious gossip.
There are plenty of Elephants in Southern Africa, they are not endangered, I have just returned from Zimbabwe, where to be frank they are reaching plague like populations, the same is true for Botswana and Kruger National Park.
A good friend of mine John Frederick Walker the eminent naturalist and author, has published probably the most detailed (and readable) book on this subject “Ivory’s Ghosts”
His position is the same as mine and is simply summarised in a way I could never manage, in the following article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...101602729.html
Of course nothing has happened since and Tanzania was not allowed to sell its stock of Ivory, because they had no proof of the origins following a fire in the storage warehouse, just how short sighted is this.
The ban was effectively kept in place by a coalition of other African countries lead by Kenya, most of these (excluding Kenya) countries have no Elephants at all, having failed to manage or protect their populations.
A few more links
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0816.htm
http://www.alleycat.org/Page.aspx?pid=325
I must apologise for the length of this but it is after all a major influence on our ability as Wildlife Photographers to get “that shot”, and there is so much smear and innuendo taking place.
I would be most interested to see what others think on this prickly subject,