Government has announced the resumption of this year’s hunting season after it lifted the ban on cat hunting in May 2015.
Minister of Tourism and Art Jean Kapata told parliament yesterday that Leopard hunting will resume in 2015/2016 hunting season while Lion hunting will only resume in the 2016/2017 hunting season with very cautionary quota where only two lions will be allowed in prime hunting areas and one in secondary and game ranches.
Ms. stated that the ban on cat hunting affected the consumptive tourism and safari hunting and consequently wildlife conservation and management because both the community and the private sector were pushed out of the picture in wildlife conservation.
The Minister explained that the ban on cut hunting denied surrounding communities access to the key resource of their economic livelihood whereas the safari companies could no longer sustain employees on their payroll.
Dispelling misconceptions that hunting is destructive because it involves killing, the minister said hunting significantly contributes to the conservation of the species if carefully done because the revenue is ploughed back into conservation activities thereby contributing to job creation.
She also told the House that the country has between 1,500 to 2,500 lions and about 4,000 leopards in all the three clusters namely Luangwa valley, Kafue and Lower Zambezi ecological systems.
She said Zambia is ranked highly in terms of its big cat population in the sub-region after Tanzania, South African and Botswana.
She said based on the current Lion population estimates, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has listed Zambia’s Lion population in Appendix II which means from the global perspective, Zambia’s lions population could be hunted and trophies derived from the hunts can be exported to other CITES member states.
Government effected the ban on cat hunting and suspended the Safari hunting in the 19 hunting blocks on 10th January 2013 due to weak regulatory mechanisms which led to declining population of lions but on 10th May this year the ban was lifted.
Contributing to debate on the lifting of the ban on hunting Mafinga MP Catherin Namugala expressed worry that lions and other species would deplete following the lifting of the ban because of illegal harvesting of lion.
And Chongwe MP Silvia Masebo also shared Mafinga MP’s sentiments and argues that the country has about 400 lions and not between 1,500 to 2,500 lions as reported by the Minister of Tourism.
Meanwhile the Minister of Tourism has disclosed that the Zambia Wild Life Authority (ZAWA) needs at least 3,500 wildlife police officers in order to effectively manage the wildlife estates at optimal levels.
Ms. Kapata told parliament that ZAWA currently has 1,250 wildlife police officers who manage wildlife estates in the country.
Do you realize how retarded you sound?
Jean Kapata is advocating for Edgar’e 3rd term. 8 weeks ago she said we 4000 Lions, now she says 1500 t0 2500. This clearly shows that she has no idea of what she is talking about. She represents a Cimbwi no plan PF (Power Failure )govt. Anyway, the boss, Edgar said, “I have no vision”. God have mercy on us!
The woman is a mere empty tin….one has to look at her background…truly laughable that such can lead civil servants in the tourism ministry and promote our country…truly laughable indeed.
How much is a kill? With the numbers of presummed kills per season, how much are we talking about?? Is the said revenue enough to sustain these so called communities…and pay workers?? Give us figures and let us be the judges of this!
so annoying ugly woman who looks like a chimpanzee,what wildlife do we have in zambia?that is so retarded,you should talking of eliminating poachers not big cats,we dont have a big number of them,so pathetic,disgusting hule iwe,what will our children going to inherit as in wildlife.kapata ugly i hate you with,i hate you musula wobe mwana mbwaa,you are so retarded.your big head like a man,i wonder why zambians dont match their education and their deeds its opposite of the unlearned people who think and do things with dignity,fakses.
Disgusting decision. Shallow thinking. Even the reported debate in Parley is shallow. What the heck is wrong with us? We can all see a wrong decision being made and we stand aloof in beer halls sipping on whatever pretending all is well. Folks; this is a wrong move which will only benefit her pathetic self! PF: You just lost a sympathiser. Why this arrogance? Did you create the lions and leopards in your sinking boat? Pathetic!
chipuba ici ci minister mwe.There are no lions in Zambia.I was in luangwa valley last week.The game rangers said the cats are too small to be hunted and we have only a few cats in this country.What a mother who doesn’t care about the future generation.These are chaps who are making our PF unpopular coz of lack of education.Let her visit the game packs to asses the situation.She is very very dull minister .Infact i was very dissappointed when i toured luangwa valley.I only saw 8 lions n 1 leopard.I doubt if Zambia has more than 200 lions.please Ba Lungu don’t disappoint us.we have faith in u but the route u’re taking is wrong.We love PF ba sata left with us and we can’t make such u-s-less decision.Think about the future not about money coz u gonna die soon.Who gonna eat yo money?
Kapata is not Ministerial material.
We need clear statistics here. The range being given is wide and you cant work like this. I am annoyed.
My question as always. What do the opposition MPs in parliament and national assembly do?
There is not much that opposition MPs can do in the face of this arrogance by the PF government. Also remember that a good number of opposition MPs are on government payroll as ministers and deputy ministers. These MPs are impotent as they always vote or side with PF in parliament. There is no opposition to write home about in the Zambian parliament.
What a dull silly ******* woman…I couldn’t even finsh reading that article as my skin was cringing with rage …surely how can you justify hunting animals for sport as a bantu or Afrikan? You are telling me you would rather make $50,000 from killing two lions than $Xmillion over 10 years from tourists coming in and photographing these animals & spending money at the same time. How can you surely justify hunting animals for sport by rich westerns…how? how? Do you need that money…..I simply hate dull people.
This is why I call Edgar Lungu a very lazy visionless donkey and his ministers empty tins as they are unable to brainstorm simple issues & do a cost benefit analysis .
Countries like Chile have completely banned hunting cats for sport that announcement in itself attracts…
Dull minister really.