Fortunately, that rigorous interpretation of the order has been dismissed. According to US Treasury officials who have a mandate to enforce the order, dealing with a banned individual is illegal only if one does it knowingly and/or takes some kind of action to seek to mask one's dealing with a banned individual. The bottom line is, most booked hunters can proceed with their hunts as planned. The only caveat is, we believe it is a good idea to at least ask your professional hunter, safari operator or agent if he is dealing with a banned individual, as Treasury Department officials told us they reserve the right to expand the list of people it is illegal to deal with in Zimbabwe. The people most likely to go on the list are people who are known to be operating on behalf of banned individuals.
The entire text of the White House Executive Order has now been posted on our website (www.huntingreport.com. Click on "World Hunting Update"), including the list of banned individuals. Suffice it to say, most of the individuals on the list are high-level government officials, such as the Minister of Defense, who do not appear likely to be involved in hunting. Our advice is to be careful, however. Hunting is one of the few remaining activities that earn foreign exchange in Zimbabwe, and banned individuals have indeed insinuated themselves into the business. To ensure........(continued)
