It is a supreme irony that trophy hunting of lions can actually help to conserve the species! By preserving the habitat for the threatened species, it would benefit the lions, say scientists. After all, lions require to survive in large areas, which are phenomenally expensive to manage in the long run.
By permitting land to come under long-term management for trophy hunting, scientists can help to conserve the species, according to researchers at the University of Kent in the UK.
"Companies who have secured long-term use rights to natural resources are more likely to manage them sustainably," said Dr Henry Brink from the University of Kent, the study's first author. "This is an important lesson for lion conservation, as loss of habitat means this species is increasingly restricted to protected areas." Thus, hunting can actually work, if the companies are given over the long-term management rights.
The study was undertaken by Henry Brink and Bob Smith from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) at Kent, and Professor Nigel Leader-Williams from the University of Cambridge.
Lion populations were examined in Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve.
They found that some blocks of protected areas were given over to various companies. Those that were included in short-term management were "over-hunted." It tended to prove counter-effective in the conservation attempts.
However, hunting levels were more sustainable in blocks owned by a company for a decade or more, which would help to conserve the species.
Companies that got long-term use rights may even be able to oversee them better, discover the scientists.
Hence, Tanzania's fee system can actually prove to be useful. "At present, the government sells hunting block fees cheaply, and raises more by setting high quotas and high fees for each trophy animal shot, which encourages those who are only allocated blocks over the short-term to shoot more lions, at the expense of long-term sustainability and profits," said Professor Nigel Leader-Williams from Cambridge's Department of Geography, the study's senior author.
"Increasing block fees, reducing trophy fees and reducing the hunting quota could bring in the same tax revenue, while reducing the temptation of hunters to kill more lions," he added.
