Great news to read that the House of Lords is to back the ban on trophy hunting imports into the UK (Saturday Mirror June 17th).
What planet is Crossbencher Lord St John of Bletso on?, who in his ignorance supports the bill, and comments “ Evidence shows properly regulated wild trophy hunting does play an important role in wildlife conservation”.
Certainly not in Zimbabwe M’Lord! – as a former Chief Inspector for the Zimbabwe National Soc. For the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ZNSPCA), I saw first hand how funding that was supposed to be given to the local communities where hunts took place, was rarely received by them.
Instead due to rampant corruption, it was the Town Councillors who were seen driving around in 4x4s and Mercedes, while the local villagers got nothing, except possibly some meat from the hunts.
In addition, some of the trophy hunters who visit Zimbabwe are also guilty of unethical practices, such as using donkeys and goats as live bait.
In addition, there are still several trophy hunters who are using packs of imported hounds to hunt Zimbabwean leopards which was illegal under Zimbabwe’s Wild Life Act.
I know because I was responsible for getting an Amendment to the Act making it illegal for hunters to use packs of dogs - only for the USA’s notorious Safari Club International to swiftly “persuade” the Zimbabwean Govt to make hunting with dogs “legal” again.
This practice is disliked by many professional hunters, who say that “the leopard does not stand a chance”, one Zimbabwean hunter who did use dogs for his clients, when questioned in an interview as to whether this method was ethical? - replied “it may be cruel”
Pro Trophy Hunting activists should be aware that several hunting safaris in Zimbabwe still offer this practice to their rich overseas clients, who pay extra if packs of dogs are used.
However, if a local Zimbabwean living in the rural areas, is caught hunting with his own indigenous dogs to catch rabbits and small animals to feed his family – the Zimbabwean Government’s Police shoot his dogs, he is arrested, taken to court and fined, with the possibility of being jailed if he has no money for the fine, which is more often the case............talk about double standards.
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May I suggest that Lord St John of Bletso gets his facts right – trophy hunting is not the cosy “regulated “ pastime he seems to think it is?
Meryl Harrison
Available for 24 hours!
All those who are interested in the
interview, can have a free screening of the Movie “Blood Lions”, to get a
background of the events that led up to this new proposed legislation. The link
to the movie will expire in 5 days. It can be seen at:
https://vimeo.com/134817192 Password: BLF0308
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Hello Mojos
We may have been quiet over the last period, but
phew, have we been busy. MojoStreaming is growing more popular each month, with
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which can be seen at our live streaming page https://www.
bears, or lie in wait with us at an African waterhole to see what creature
ventures up for a drink.
The second area is our wildly (excuse the pun)
popular talk show, Mojo Talks. We have accumulated a host of must see talk
shows which can be seen at https://www.mojostreaming.
watching these fascinating talk shows;
Andrea Crosta who heads up, a cloak and dagger operation utilizing experienced spy and international security agency people to infiltrate the world of illegal Wildlife trade, the fourth biggest crime syndication after (and often allied to) the drug trade, human trafficking and immigrant smuggling, and the firearm trade.
One of our favorites out of a bunch of great
interviews…Interview with Ofir Drori, a very special human being, who attacks wildlife
crime at ground level. Hear the fascinating and touching story of how he became
involved in his current activities.
Another amazing human being is British Journalist Eduardo Gonsalves, who despite huge personal challenges, is at the
forefront of the battle to stop imports of Wildlife Trophies into Britain.
And a firm favorite amongst all the wonderful
stories – the interview with Chinedu Mogbo, a Nigerian who rescues and rehabilitates Wildlife and
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Wildlife.
These are just a few of the more than thirty
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The Mojo Team