Erongo, lions and the future of wildlife

HEIKO DENKER WRITES:Much debate has been going on about the four (4) lions that were translocated into the Erongo Mountains by MET.First of all, thumbs up to MET for acting swiftly when there was a big problem. MET mostly gets negative press on social media for apparently not acting. Well, now they acted, still the bad press continues.So what do people want, MET to act on matters or not? Or is the negative press just a case of being negative no matter what?Wildlife has a problem; it is running out of habitat to be “wild” in. We humans have taken over most of the land and the trend is continuing. It is so bad that, according to some studies, lions have 13% or even only 8% of their traditional habitat available to roam in.Lack of space leads to Human Lion Conflict (HLC), this leads to cries for moving the apex predator away and the questions is where to move them too (instead of just eradicating them – the other, hopefully non preferred option).Our national parks are already overpopulated, so the only real option is private land as the HLC mostly occurs on communal land. Unfortunately, even if suitable land (as deemed by MET) is made available, there are always some people kicking up resistance.SHARING RISKS AND BENEFITSIf I look at some of the opposition that has been voiced in the Erongo case:MET just made the problems someone else's problemIn this case one can't really say that because after two months in the Erongo area, the lions have not been involved in any confirmed HLC incident. So, actually the problem has been solved. Never the less, realistically it is clear that the move means there is possible conflict in the future.The question is: Is it not fair to share the problem or possible problem? Is it not time that not only the communal areas, but also some of the commercial areas share in the possible HLC? Is it fair in our free Namibia, that commercial farms cry out and have the power to get a potential problem shifted, while communal farmers struggle for a long time after an actual incident, to get the same results?Is the only option left that lions are restricted to national parks? Fenced off and no free roaming lions anywhere else – what a sad prospect, but what is a right for the commercial farmer should most certainly also be the right for the communal farmer.So, if you voice your opposition to relocation to suitable private land, be sure you understand the final consequences of your opposition.HUNTING AND ANIMAL RIGHTSAnother argument is that the Erongo Mountains area includes a lot of hunting farms and they only want to lions to hunt them.Hunting and in particular trophy hunting has become a popular target of Animal Rights Organizations. They pursue the subject with religious zeal, succeeding in convincing a larger population that hunting is an unnecessary remnant of times long gone by, having no place in the modern world. Famous movie stars jump onto the trendy bandwagon.Popular conservationists like Jane Goodall get asked to throw their two cents into the ring when she answered the question: “Give me one animal that went extinct while farmers were breeding it and making money out of it.” in an interview on CNN advertised as: “Jane Goodall speaks on trophy hunting debate”. Her answer: “Well, I can't answer that, I don't believe that one animal has gone extinct, but what I find so totally abhorrent is the idea of keeping animals alive and on this planet, simply in order to make money out of their horns or hide or whatever it is.”It is difficult to ascertain the ultimate intentions of both CNN and Jane Goodall from this interview, but it is clear that both do not understand the ultimate goal of true hunters. Namely, to make sure that large, fully intact natural systems are preserved.As this is already something that hardly exists the next step is to re-establish such natural systems. For such a natural system to be complete it requires the apex predator, lion in it, as long as the lion historically roamed that area.SUCCESS WITH THE IMPALALarge national parks are one option but private land should also be part of this. The Erongo Mountains are ideal for that and “The Erongo Mountain Rhino Sanctuary Trust” (EMRST) is an initiative to re-establish a fully intact natural system.A simple example clarifies it even further. The black-faced impala traditionally inhabited the Erongo Mountains but had gone extinct.In 1998 one land owner (and hunter) on the southern side of the Erongo mountains, reintroduced a heard of seven (7) females and one (1) male into the area. Over the next few years 20 females and six (6) males were added.The same was done by another land owner (and hunter) on the northern side.Today over 500 black-faced impala roam the Erongo Mountains. They live a natural life, some are taken by leopard, when young once are thrown a number fall prey to jackals and yes, a handful might be hunted if the numbers are right.A FUTURE AT STAKETo reconnect to the CNN interview. Firstly, the example of the impala is not a case of “farmers breeding it” but a case of land owners giving the Impala a chance to re-establish itself in its traditional area. Secondly, it is not a case of “keeping animals alive and on this planet, simply in order to make money out of their horns or hide or whatever it is”, but a case of attempting to ensure the survival of the impala and in a limited way engaging in one of man's natural activity, hunting, without threatening the survival of the species.The same would apply to the lion.If that is so, then as argued above, the sentences in Conny and Oliver Kayser's letter "Lions at Omaruru are a serious problem" (The Namibian, 5 January 2018) should actually read: "We at Farm Eileen, Erongo Plateau Camp, the communal and commercial farmers and many others in and around Omaruru, nationally and internationally, stand for the preservation and protection of lions as long as it is not in our area. [….] We are for the protection of lions and demand that these abandoned lions are captured again and taken to a safe place, namely fenced national or Private Park."Bottom line: According to the quoted letter, lions should only be allowed to live in (national) parks because, what applies to one (communal and commercial farmer) applies to all (if they so wish) as well. I suggest that a lot more people speak out on this, because it might happen that one farmer forces a precedent in Namibian conservation (and the future of wildlife), that cannot be reversed (if that has not already happened)!At stake is wildlife and its survival in Namibia, Africa and the world. . .

Erongo, lions and the future of wildlife

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Republikein 2025-04-18

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Erongo, lions and the future of wildlife

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