tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post2271088725147383920..comments2023-10-26T03:19:41.569-07:00Comments on Stephen Bodio's Querencia: Poorest of People Caught in Anti-Hunting CrossfireSteve Bodiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434597061701369867noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-2223527189826219832014-10-29T13:39:16.827-07:002014-10-29T13:39:16.827-07:00....and another observation--the sport/trophy hunt.......and another observation--the sport/trophy hunting in Africa, where huge tracts of wild habitat are preserved for the game animals, and how a rich foreigner can come and shoot a monster kudu and all manner of other "trophies" legally, but if a local tribesman snares a frikkin' dik-dik and gets caught, he'll be imprisoned, is hauntingly similar to past history in Europe, where the "deer parks" were reserved for royalty, and any peasant caught hunting was likely to lose some appendages, if not their life! Yet, without this brutal protection, most of Europe's wildlife and wild lands would have been completely eradicated. So, what to do? Can one be fair to everyone, AND the animals?...L.B.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-61905489234675565392014-10-29T13:29:21.667-07:002014-10-29T13:29:21.667-07:00....yes, I must/will continue to ruminate further-.......yes, I must/will continue to ruminate further--probably still to no avail(sigh)...L.B.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-39017417117741856212014-10-29T11:31:19.527-07:002014-10-29T11:31:19.527-07:00Lane,
Good to see your ruminations! I know it'...Lane,<br />Good to see your ruminations! I know it's a complicated issue, but as I indicated in the post, focusing conservation efforts on a single species tends to lead to failed policies unless we address the human dimension. Most of the places we've traveled are places where people live with large predators, and, as you indicate, they (and I) believe that large predators are a necessary component to complete ecosystems. Our failure is in making single-species plans, ignoring those other necessary components – including mankind.Cat Urbigkithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12649103651692682453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-33169654143147763482014-10-29T10:18:15.712-07:002014-10-29T10:18:15.712-07:00....and the whole trophy hunting deal--though I pe.......and the whole trophy hunting deal--though I personally loath killing any animal unless one needs it to eat, or one is protecting one's self or livelihood(and even then I am sorry it occurs!), I would not begin to refute that trophy hunting most assuredly does give wildlife value, and produce revenue(LOTS!) for some of the locals, and ironically(ironic to AR's) some level of protection for wild game and their habitats. Yet, compared with Eco-tourism, it can be rather "half-a-dozen-of-one, six-of-the-other" sort of a deal--as supporting the privilege of rich foreigners to come and shoot for sport, entails suppressing local people hunting to EAT! Local subsistence folk referred to as "poachers"! I was ever in sympathy for local hungry people killing meat to feed their families(I could NEVER rat on someone for that!), but had they been caught in sport hunting areas, they would have been punished every bit as severely as in sanctuaries. Some local people directly employed by the hunting or eco-tourism do benefit, the majority just don't. But what's the solution? I ponder this constantly, and cannot think of a reasonable solution for everyone. And unless we(or Nature) reduces/slows/stops our population growth, I don't think there will be a workable one. And in the end, we will lose the wild animals and wild places, if humans must ALWAYS take precedence. It looks like African lions are well on their way to what wild tiger status is now....L. B. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-59971023006831794402014-10-29T10:04:10.420-07:002014-10-29T10:04:10.420-07:00.....funny(sort-of) story--a 3rd generation Greek ........funny(sort-of) story--a 3rd generation Greek farmer in Tanzania I met(gawd, this fellow was chockerblock FULL of great African tales!), was THRILLED one day when I met him, as a LION had been prowling and roaring about his farm for several days--this was on the outskirts of a huge modern metropolis, the capitol city Dar Es Salaam, where lions were rarely reported anymore. He had huge problems ever harvesting any of his crops--local people would slip in and strip his fields at night--he bordered on bankruptcy continuously(though no doubt the poverty stricken people stealing his crops were in even more dire straits). And though he expected to lose some livestock to this lion(since there were zero large wild ungulates left in the area), he considered it a reasonable sacrifice for the crops he'd harvest that year, the local people terrified to go out at night with a lion prowling about! So, all kinds of complicated perspectives involved.......to be continued.....L.B.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-70685784545323535712014-10-29T09:54:42.273-07:002014-10-29T09:54:42.273-07:00....and though it seems(IS!!!) horrible that peopl.......and though it seems(IS!!!) horrible that people get nailed (and ET!) by big predators regularly in places where they live in close proximity or among humans, and though many people in such places would gladly eliminate every last dangerous predator(in cultures that DON'T have a philosophy accepting this conflict), where it occurs, there is often a rather apathetic acceptance--just as we accept and don't fret so much about the buhzillions of people killed in auto accidents daily. When I was in poor, rural Africa(Tanzania specifically), I was both surprised at the frequency people regularly got killed by lions and crocodiles specifically(even MORE get killed by vegetarians like hippos, buffalo and elephants, however! Just not EATEN by them!), and the nonchalant manner such incidents were considered by the locals--rather like we say "oh, how terrible" about a car wreck, but then go about our business! Because, well, there is no other option, really! I mean, I was bathing and fishing in the same lake where Gustav the humongo man-eating crocodile(google THAT guy!) of fame was operating at the time(as well as all his relations!), and didn't worry about it that much--though I DID keep my eyes peeled just in case, and relied on my baboon allies to help keep watch for me! Had I been taken, I personally, in no way, would want all crocodiles to have been slaughtered in retaliation. Same feeling in the areas where I was afoot with lions about. But that's just MY view, and I know it isn't shared by many....to be continued....L.B.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-57159659576021160912014-10-29T09:41:25.604-07:002014-10-29T09:41:25.604-07:00Yes, a great post indeed, Cat. And I don't thi...Yes, a great post indeed, Cat. And I don't think any of it is WRONG, but I'd like to add some different perspectives, just to ruminate on the subject. First--just WHAT a seemingly unsolvable problem this is--co-existing with large, dangerous and often destructive predators! At least if, as humans, we expect PERMANENT solutions in only OUR favor. And with burgeoning human populations, this is only going to get worse. Are we to loose the very heart and spirit of wild places--the last of the mega-predators? I feel ONLY if we humans somehow, someway, finally manage to control our numbers will this be feasible. Of course overpopulation of humans is the source of MOST of the planet's problems right now......I JUST finished reading a GREAT novel by a Chinese author about the role and perceptions of wolves by Mongol nomads in Northern China, entitled "Wolf Totem", and how--though they fought with and killed wolves regularly, the philosophy of the culture understood that, contradictory as it seemed, they NEEDED the wolves and their influence for their culture to continue, and the "Big Life" of the grasslands to survive(as opposed to the "Little Life" of us individual animals and people)--and how modern, urban Chinese came in with their more efficient wolf eradication methods, and disrupted and eventually destroyed this whole nomadic pastoralist way of life--a sad novel! And this seems to be the same everywhere where humans and large predators are in conflict--either it gets accepted and allowed by the culture, or the predators are eliminated--often with unseen consequences.....to be continued....L. B.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-86963215939209743822014-10-28T21:13:23.850-07:002014-10-28T21:13:23.850-07:00Hear hear! great post, Cat.Hear hear! great post, Cat.Steve Bodiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14434597061701369867noreply@blogger.com