Hunting Angola The Long Awaited Reopening Announced

[James.Grage]

Tim thank you for the up date.

 

[tigris115]

How's it going now?

 

[tim416]

Good timing on the question Tigris11. I have just returned from Zimbabwe last week. I travelled extensively throughout the country
during this period of time and had opportunities to catch up with many old friends made over the past eighteen years.

I did have a brief conversation regarding hunting in Angola along with photo safari opportunities as well with a well known safari operator in Zimbabwe. The conversation was brief simply because there has been no activity in either department that is substantial. Angola's infrastructure, i.e.. road systems and access to fuel along the often long routes of travel to and from national parks and proposed hunting areas, is almost non-existent. I was told, third hand, that there are rumors that Angola is purchasing game from neighboring countries, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia into their national parks in an effort to re-populate the areas. Again, this is third hand info so I cannot substantiate it.

The following statement is simply my opinion and I welcome any feedback. My fear is that the speed at which progress is being made in Angola regarding tourism in general will play well into the hands of the groups that are putting pressure on African countries to stop trophy hunting completely. By the time Angola has re-built its infrastructure and brought back the game numbers in its national parks it will have been with done with assistance from many of the international organizations that oppose trophy hunting. Once support has been accepted from these organizations the obligation to adhere to there agendas will be the rule of law.
In short, based on the recent events regarding Botswana's closing of hunting along with the pressure of international groups to end it completely in other countries, I am not optimistic in regards to seeing trophy hunting in Angola anytime in the near future.

As I stated earlier, much of this is simply my opinion and I try to think of myself as a realist opposed to an optimist. With this being said, I welcome any feedback and would love to hear opinions that would swing my thoughts to a more optimistic view.

 

[BRICKBURN]

TIm, I think the only difference that might play into a more favourable outcome for hunting in Angola might be the difference in standard of living (GDP).
Botswana has a lot of money that is not related to tourism.
We'll have to wait and see.

 

[tim416]

I agree economics may play into the equation. My fear is the emotional arguments tend to override the logical side of things. We are seeing this in Maine with an upcoming vote on bear hunting. We have the largest population of bear in the northeast at over 25,000. Virtually all bear harvested each year, (approx. 1%) are taken over bait, by trapping or with hounds. The referendum will outlaw all of these practices making the harvesting bear of nearly impossible. This referendum is obviously aimed at eliminating the act of harvesting bear and is based on emotion rather than any logic. We are going of the topic of this thread but having a discussion that is very warranted and timely in my opinion.

 

[enysse]

We will see how these photo safari places do after an ebola scare. All I can say is most people that don't have adventure in their bones, just got the sh*t scared out of them by this latest outbreak. Irrational fears and emotions are getting the best of them....sounds like anti hunter...lol

 

[James.Grage]

On the Photography safaris:

Tanzania has put out that money generated from Hunting safaris is used to keep the Green/photo safari camps open. Because the Photo tourism, is not paying it way.

Tanzania, also has rampant poaching in the Green/Photo safari concessions, due to lack of poaching patrols.

 

[tim416]

I know for a fact that photo safaris do not provide the revenue that hunters do. The issue at hand is that logic does not prevail. The anti-hunting crowd bases its motives on pure emotion, which cannot be argued. If emotion was taken out of the equation then the quota for elephant hunted in Africa would increase from one per cent to four or five depending on the number determined by wildlife biologists. The fact is that the decision to halt trophy hunting is not based on biologists recommendations but rather the unarguable emotion of the antis who cannot tolerate what they feel is indiscriminate slaughter of game regardless of the facts behind their agenda.
I feel we have hi-jacked this thread and would love to continue this discussion in under a new heading. Perhaps the moderator can suggest a new thread?

 

[Wheels]

Good timing on the question Tigris11. I have just returned from Zimbabwe last week. I travelled extensively throughout the country
during this period of time and had opportunities to catch up with many old friends made over the past eighteen years.

I did have a brief conversation regarding hunting in Angola along with photo safari opportunities as well with a well known safari operator in Zimbabwe. The conversation was brief simply because there has been no activity in either department that is substantial. Angola's infrastructure, i.e.. road systems and access to fuel along the often long routes of travel to and from national parks and proposed hunting areas, is almost non-existent. I was told, third hand, that there are rumors that Angola is purchasing game from neighboring countries, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia into their national parks in an effort to re-populate the areas. Again, this is third hand info so I cannot substantiate it.

The following statement is simply my opinion and I welcome any feedback. My fear is that the speed at which progress is being made in Angola regarding tourism in general will play well into the hands of the groups that are putting pressure on African countries to stop trophy hunting completely. By the time Angola has re-built its infrastructure and brought back the game numbers in its national parks it will have been with done with assistance from many of the international organizations that oppose trophy hunting. Once support has been accepted from these organizations the obligation to adhere to there agendas will be the rule of law.
In short, based on the recent events regarding Botswana's closing of hunting along with the pressure of international groups to end it completely in other countries, I am not optimistic in regards to seeing trophy hunting in Angola anytime in the near future.

As I stated earlier, much of this is simply my opinion and I try to think of myself as a realist opposed to an optimist. With this being said, I welcome any feedback and would love to hear opinions that would swing my thoughts to a more optimistic view.

Tim,

Not what I was wanting to hear but I am not surprised.

Thanks for the update. Is Whittall still trying to get this worked out or have they given up?

All the best.

 

[sestoppelman]

We will see how these photo safari places do after an ebola scare. All I can say is most people that don't have adventure in their bones, just got the sh*t scared out of them by this latest outbreak. Irrational fears and emotions are getting the best of them....sounds like anti hunter...lol

Given what we DONT KNOW about Ebola, let me ask you this. Would you be comfortable sitting on a plane for 16 hours knowing there were people on that plane with Ebola? There is nothing irrational about being cautious when it comes to outbreaks of diseases that we really know little about and for which there is currently NO cure. We are learning everyday how this disease can be spread just a bit more easily than we were first told. If someone coughs or sneezes on you with ebola, gets just a little bit of fluid on you, you rub your eyes or nose, guess what? You may now very well have it. Some docs are saying its time to stop all flights with passengers from stricken areas to the states until this is under control. We already have it here now and they said that wouldn't happen. Well here it is!

 

[bluey]

weve got our own scare happening down here now.
with a nurse returning home from sierra leone, in isolation with a fever .
the first set of tests were negative , but they are keepping her in quarrintine for another set of test
she to drove her self to the hospital, after she had been home for several days .

 

[sestoppelman]

bluey, All of the nursing staff that took care of the ass (deceased) that lied and hopped a plane and brought it here from Liberia are now under watch since one of the nurses tested positive just today. This could spread and it pays to be cautious.

 

[bluey]

yeah ses
I only heard on the radio almost an hour ago .
10 minutes to the next bulliten
so we'll see how far the media blows it out of proportion , before we get some real facts, first.

 

[tim416]

Wheels, I did not get to the Save on this trip but spoke with Guy Whittal, Rogers son a few months ago regarding Angola. It does not appear that there is any
progress being made or sought in regards to this topic.

 

[Wheels]

Wheels, I did not get to the Save on this trip but spoke with Guy Whittal, Rogers son a few months ago regarding Angola. It does not appear that there is any
progress being made or sought in regards to this topic.

Thanks for the update.

All the best.

 

[gizmo]

Anybody know if anything came of this?

 

[spike.t]

@gizmo i bumped into someone i know at sci who gave me a brochure for their angola concession. its in cuando cubango province of angola.

i cant find a website but have mailed them to ask. they have offices in namibia and usa. if you want i can pm you the usa office no. trophy fees for most animals are i think on par with other countries govnt hunting areas. apart from the brochure and talking to him i havent heard anything else.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I worked in northern Angola for several years. The country has enormous potential. Like many other African countries, there are lots of issues with the government. And then there is the issue of land mines in Angola.

 

[cpr0312]

I often wondered about this country and had never heard anything, seems like there would be lots of game in certain areas

 

[Royal27]

I worked in northern Angola for several years. The country has enormous potential. Like many other African countries, there are lots of issues with the government. And then there is the issue of land mines in Angola.

Definitely a sign you pay attention to!

I often wondered about this country and had never heard anything, seems like there would be lots of game in certain areas

Huge bushmeat trade, plus all of the damage done during the civil war.... In talking to Bossie Mostert there is more game than you hear about in many areas, but the larger animals in particular were hammered hard.

If/when hunting really opens back up this would be a gran adventure! Bur definitely and adventure and not for the faint of heart.