Continuing subscribers know we are now heading toward a third year of paralysis over hunting concessions in Namibia. To be sure, during that time, extensive hunting has continued on private land and in conservancies. Still, significant hunting opportunity has been lost, especially dangerous game hunting for elephant and buffalo.
All along, I have been told the hold-up was pressure to indigenize the safari industry, or to incorporate more BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) into the way the industry operates. Now, I'm not so sure. Seems the real holdup may be government anxiety about previous lawsuits brought by outfitting companies over various matters. The government lost a number of cases apparently because hunting policy, and therefore hunting regulations, were not comprehensive enough. What the government wants to do is get EVERYTHING organized properly this time before the all-important hunting concessions are reopened.
Indeed, Namibia is a meticulously organized country where nothing is left to chance. The clear implication is, once the concessions do finally reopen the way could be clear for years of trouble-free hunting. Let's hope so.
Still in Namibia, anyone planning to hunt there with dogs needs to be aware that a major investigation is underway into the use of dogs to pursue game, especially cats. It's way too early to predict what will happen, but the way we read the tea leaves there is a chance that dog hunting will be curtailed, if not outlawed. Why? For one reason, preliminary investigation has turned up the fact that a surprising number of people and dogs have been injured recently on dog hunts. There is also some talk about dog hunts being so effective they rule........(continued)
