Malawi Reopens Sport Hunting for Crocodiles

There is a new opportunity to hunt crocodiles in Malawi, a sliver of a country located between Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. You may recall the disastrous attempt to re-open sporthunting in Malawi in the late 1980s. (See Article ID 234.) In 2009, I told you about an operator who was authorized to conduct some nyala hunts on a game farm there. That operation seems to have disappeared, as the web site is gone and e-mails bounce back. But now authorities in Malawi have agreed to allow a new operation called Cluny Hunting Safaris to offer a limited number of crocodile hunts there. I contacted operator Derek Macpherson (clunyafarica@ gmail.com; http://clunyafrica.blog spot.com) to learn more and here's what he had to say: "A moratorium on tourist hunting in Malawi was imposed in the mid 1980s following allegations of corruption on the part of the outfitter concerned and certain officials. Since that time a very strong anti-hunting lobby has developed in the country. To make matters worse, human advance and habitat destruction have been stunning.

"I have been lobbying for tourist hunting in Malawi unsuccessfully since 1993. Since 2000 or 2001 I have been involved in the hunting of crocodiles in this country for the skin trade. I requested a small quota of crocodiles to trial safari or tourist hunting. This was approved in July 2010, after which I sold eight out of a quota of 10 animals to four clients (bag of two crocs per trip). Two of these safaris have run and two remain. While our kill rate has been poor for various reasons, clients have had opportunities for reasonable-sized crocodiles. I have hunted in two areas so far - one on central Lake Malawi and one on the lower reaches of the Shire River. The safaris have featured a fly camp supplying basic accommodations and reasonable food. The product has been designed to be inexpensive ($3,700 US, plus $300 trophy fee), focusing on hunting rather than fancy camps. Hunting has been conducted with the use of a boat. The current concession allows me to hunt wild crocodiles in any area in the country outside........(continued)