By Zander Liebenberg

What a year 2020 has been thus far. The only positive thing about everything that has happened this year is that we got the opportunity to have more personal time to ourselves and with family. During this time, I have followed a lot of news stories and realized the one prevalent thing throughout is that the majority of the people agree with the most popular opinion and the one driven by mainstream media. Most of them don’t even know the story behind the story and don’t have all the facts.

This made me realize that we need to get back to basics, back to honest conversation and understanding that every individual has an opinion and we need to respect that. I’m not saying that everyone’s opinion is correct, but we need to listen and then debate any subject to find middle ground or come to the realization that we, or anyone may be wrong.

This is when I connected with some of Safari Club International’s (SCI) members on Linkedin and eventually had the privilege to have an in-depth discussion with Dr. Chris Comer, the Director of Conservation as well as Mr. Chip Hunnicutt, the Director of Communications and Marketing of SCI . These two gentleman shared some of their insights into the world of Conservation and Hunting, but we also got a chance to get real personal and share some of their own stories on how hunting and a love for the outdoors started for them (continued in part 2).

Zander: “We need to be able to sit down and have a face to face discussion on one of the most important topics out there at the moment. If there is not going to be any debate, then I don’t know how we are going to move forward with this.”

Dr. Comer: “It is an interesting phenomenon. The posts that you see on hunting, there is not a lot of in the middle, it is either totally anti-hunting and hunting is the worst thing that could happen, or it’s hunting is the life blood of conservation. There is not a lot of discussion about it.”

“I know you guys have a lot of projects all over the world. How does SCI as a company advocate for hunters, what is the role that you guys play in America and Globally in that sense protecting the rights of guys that want to hunt and fish and do what we all love to do?”

“We also are behind the conservation aspect of it, it really is what drives it.”

Chip: “SCI is a member organization and it came about in 1971 so we are approaching 50 years. We are unique in that we are not species-specific meaning we don’t defend hunting just related to African species or North American species. If someone wants to hunt it, it’s our mission to defend their freedom to do that, but we also are behind the conservation aspect of it, it really is what drives it.”

SCI is a global organization and has 150 chapters around the world that raise funds locally in order to apply the global mission to their local areas. SCI is unique as only 30% of the funds raised locally go to National and 70% gets applied by the local chapters within their region.

The organization actively advocates for hunter’s rights and their conservation programmes. Dr. Comer explained that on the one side there are great people working on policy and keeping up with the latest things on that front and on the other side, there is a team of attorneys that handle the various court cases, and both these aspects are vitally important.

“The SCI Foundation is responsible for the conservation mission and also for educating youth about the outdoors and hunting”

Dr. Comer works for the SCI Foundation, which is the sister organization of SCI. The foundation is responsible for the conservation mission and also for educating youth about the outdoors. The biggest event for the Foundation, and most impactful according to Dr. Comer, is the African Wildlife Consultative Forum. This forum has been hosted by SCI Foundation for the past 18 years and it is an annual meeting held on the African Continent every November. The forum is attended by Government officials from all the countries involved in the hunting industry.

Professional Hunters and Outfitters and other associations that SCI work with also send representatives along with Local Community representatives. The local representatives are important as each community has some sort of agency that assists with coordinating local communities and their role in Eco-tourism and having the natural resources benefit local communities.

The forum is a week long meeting paid for by SCI to create the platform for the people to have the discussions that are vital to the hunting industry, but more importantly to conservation efforts on the continent.

“One of the most important, impactful events we host is the African Wildlife Consultative Forum, which is a meeting held on the Continent every year in November”. It is a week long meeting where people from different backgrounds get to voice whatever is important to them and SCI provides the place to have these discussions.”

The foundation is also active in supporting research and management projects such as the Lion survey project in Tanzania that started in 2010 and is aimed at research for methods on determining lion numbers. The foundation has researchers working with the local agencies.

Zander: “That is what people don’t know, where the hunter’s money actually goes. Without the funds raised through hunting and these other fund raisers held by the chapters, there would not be money to do any of these great projects.” “Then, on a more personal view on hunting on a global scale for conservation purposes, what is the actual importance thereof?”

Dr. Comer: “Well this is new to me personally; I have not hunted much Internationally myself and I have been at SCI Foundation a couple of years now and have gotten a lot more exposure to that. It’s really interesting how apparent the direct connection of hunting and the prosperity it brings to a community is, especially in Africa.”

As Dr. Comer explained, Anti-poaching efforts are really important and SCI supports these, but although they are a massive organization, what they can do is a drop in the bucket on a continental scale. The most vital role is played by the outfitters and farmers that own or lease these areas and protect them as it is part of their investment. Their contribution to the Rangers that are part of the anti-poaching teams and the other money they put into protecting these habitats and the wildlife are much bigger than what any NGO can contribute. Again, if they don’t have the economic incentive then they can’t do it.

The biggest factor in Africa is that you have these vast areas that need to be maintained in a natural state or at least close to natural state and if hunting was stopped, many of these would revert to agriculture or grazing. In the Us, the Government handles conservation and conserve lands, and hunters support it through taxes and various other things.

“So the average American doesn’t understand how closely tied these are and what would happen if there were not hunting at all, it would be a matter of fewer than 10 years for these areas for these animals to disappear.

We have seen that in Tanzania and some other countries where hunting is stopped and the area is no longer economically viable, there are no longer game lands and within 10 years the wildlife is gone. It has happened.”

Chip: “I will agree with that. When you put a value on something then the folks are going to take care of it, and it is that simple and it is everywhere you go. If you put a value on an animal, people are going to make sure that animal flourishes and they continue to have that asset down the road. Hunters, they kind of get a bad rap, many may think they’re coming into a spot and shooting anything that’s furry and in season, and the fact of the matter is that they are looking for animals that are no longer contributors or supporters of the herd so they are quite selective. That message just doesn’t get across and it falls, frankly, on ears that don’t want to hear it. The bottom line is when that value is removed, when hunting is banned, and the animals no longer have value then they will move those animals out and make room for something that does have value. Whether it is farming, building condos or whatever it may be. But it is everywhere, it’s not unique to any location. The animals must have value, hunters give them value and hunters are selective in the animals they take from the population.”

Dr. Comer: “Anti-hunting groups will give the impression that photographic tourism and hunting are diametrically opposed and can’t co-exist, which is absurd when you think about it. They both have giving value to wildlife but in some areas, it’s hunting that generates significantly more value. This does not mean we are advocating that the Serengeti National Park be changed into a hunting area, because it is very economically viable from a non-consumptive perspective. It is a wonderful place, but it is also surrounded by game reserves that would not exist if there were no hunting taking place and by virtue of their existence the integrity of the Serengeti is preserved. It is all inter-related.”.

That is an important point that everyone should take into account. For example, most lands in South Africa are privately owned and hundreds of them are game farms. If those farmers don’t have a value for their animals to be hunted, then they are going to sell those animals, because they can’t generate an income to feed them during the dry winter months and generate an income to feed their family and pay their workers. They are going to plant crops or utilize the farm for cattle or sheep farming. If hunting stops, it is not going to protect the animals, that is what people have to understand.

Yes people pay a lot of money to go to the Kruger National Park and the Serengeti or one the other popular tourist destinations, but they won’t pay to go to those hostile, inhospitable places where most of the game actually are, to go take some photographs and have a relaxing weekend.

As Chip put it, hunters are climbing to the top of mountains to chase sheep. They will pay anywhere from 50 to a couple of hundred thousand, to chase a single old animal, that is no longer reproducing. That will take a lot of eco-tourists to match that.

“but I understand the emotional charge of these folks who have counter arguments to SCI, but the fact of the matter is it is a simple math problem and hunters consistently have been the solution to that math problem.”

The biggest thing about hunting is that it is protecting the natural habitats. Without these natural areas being protected and habitats remaining in their natural state, then you won’t have the abundance of animals anymore. If you stop hunting, those areas will be utilized for some other economic activity. The second thing that many people don’t know or overlook sometime, is the fact that these game farms and concessions not only hold the animals that are being hunted, these natural areas provide habitat to hundreds of other species. It is easy to forget about the insects, birds, snakes and all the other species that call these areas home.

The main message that people need to hear is that hunting not only supplies vital income to conservation programmes, but also to the thousands of people that are employed within the industry. These are the people that do most of the valuable work with regards to protecting these natural habitats. Hunting is a viable economic activity that helps to protect natural habitats and the species within these habitats. Most importantly, it helps to protect all the species living within these areas, not just the antelope and larger species.

Hunting in Africa also helps the local communities to receive resources and income. Many projects in rural Africa are funded by revenue generated from hunting and other related activities.

Hunting remains a vital economic activity and even more important conservation tool in my opinion and as stated within a previous article, these articles are written with aim to spark debate and get an honest conversation going in order for everyone to get to an agreement and preserve these natural habitats and animals that call them home.