This month the news that has the hunting community on edge is an effort to raise trophy fees in Ethiopia by as much as 300 percent. I first received news of this in late February from Fred Duckworth of Duckworth Safaris (international33@kpnplanet.nl), based in the Netherlands. He told me that mountain nyala was going from $5,000 to $15,000 and Menelick’s bushbuck was raised from $2,000 to $6,000. Jason Roussos of Nassos Roussos’ Ethiopian Rift Valley Safaris (251-111-552128; www.ethiopian riftvalleysafaris.com) was in Addis Ababa and confirmed that in mid-February the Ethiopian Parliament had passed new legislation on the conservation and utilization of wildlife without consulting or informing the Ethiopian sporthunting industry. The news and increases were reminiscent of what happened in Tanzania just two years ago.
License fees for endemic species, such as mountain nyala, Menelick’s bushbuck and gelada baboon, were tripled, while all others were doubled. The fees were to take effect immediately. The raw news appeared almost instantaneously on the popular online forum Accurate Reloading, igniting a string of angry comments burning through the ether of cyber space. Outfitters feared a rush of cancellations, and the Ethiopian Professional Hunters’ Association jumped into action, securing a meeting with the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA) to discuss the situation......
