News from Wildlife Systems, Inc.

   In regards to the recent editorial on Mr. Robert Mayer's African Safari in Zimbabwe, and the ensuing letters to the editor, from individuals expressing their concern over Mr. Mayer's behavior, or most specifically, his hunting and killing of these majestic animals, I would like to express my delight that our society is so keenly interested in the well-being of wild things and wild places. Yes, it is apparent, that we do have a degree of polarity in people's opinions on how humans interact with animals, both domestic and wild. Anti-hunters, and hunters, will likely never come together as a whole, in terms of agreeing on the humanity of hunting, whether hunting be for the intent of putting food on the table, recreation, cultural innateness, or whatever the personal motive may seem to be. I am a hunter, wildlife biologist, and concerned steward of our natural resources here in Texas, Africa, and all other places on this globe where wild things call home. I'll admit, I have a difficult time appreciating acts of those people that try to disqualify the merit of hunting's vital function in wildlife conservation around the world, but, at the same time, it is those people's concern for wildlife that is the common thread between both parties here.
   Lets please be reminded that when you take a look at the operating budgets of all of our states' natural resource agencies, such as Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, approximately 88% of their funds come directly from hunters' and fishermen's dollars, primarily through hunting/fishing license revenues, as well as the 11% federal excise tax that we pay on sporting arms and ammunition. These fees pay for salaries of wildlife biologists and game wardens, maintenance and upkeep of state parks, wildlife research, habitat management for gameAND non-game wildlife, and education of adults and youth on natural resource related topics. These hunters' dollars pay the way for wildlife. Here in Texas, where 96% of our landscape is privately owned, our most diverse and rich wildlife lands are principally those that are either enrolled under a fee based hunting program, or is land that has been purchased primarily for private recreational use by the owner, with hunting often being the central interest from these owners.
   I grew up a modest upbringing, but I have been privileged to travel to Africa on 5 hunting safaris, including Zambia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. While in Zambia, I hunted a very primitive region of the Luangwa Valley, where villagers live in communal areas, much like they did 100 years ago, with the biggest difference in their lifestyle being the "intrusion" of non-indigenous people coming into their area on safari. While there, I had the unique opportunity of sitting in on a lengthy meeting between the safari proprietor and a group of 4 men from a local village who served on the Community Resource Board. The discussion centered on the allocated use of a percentage of the safari revenues. The requested consideration included anti-poaching, medical, education, and soccer jerseys for their kids, and in that EXACT order of priority. Their soccer field was a spot where the brush was cleared, with two mopane tree sticks stuck in the ground to serve as the "goal," with the field littered with buffalo and elephant tracks. Their medical provisions in their village, by our standards, were nonexistent, other than what we would refer to as a witch doctor, with their primary modern medication being hydrogen peroxide and calamine lotion. Education consisted of one trained teacher servicing the entire community, in a mud-walled dwelling with no chairs. And the anti-poaching request, number one on their priority list....well, lets' just say that these uneducated, primitive people were insightful enough to recognize that without serious, armed defense of hunting of wildlife from their own people, that game populations would be depleted to the extent that these khaki clad foreigners would have no reason to return to their land and provide the primary revenue source for their hope at having meager forms of medical, education, and soccer jerseys! Here is the equation of this symbiotic relationship: Healthy game populations = hunting revenues = basic humanitarian needs, with the cycle recreating itself, unless you take hunting revenues out of the equation, and then the cycle defaults to excessive wildlife harvest from indigenous people, followed by continued poverty, with little or no hope for relief. This is Community Based Wildlife Management in its' most pure and effective form. In Zimbabwe, it is internationally recognized as the CAMPFIRE program, and other third world areas have CBWM programs based on the same fundamental concept.
   So, in my book, Mr. Mayer is a hero; not a villain, not a blood thirsty killer, or anything that remotely resembles a few of the names he was called by some of the contributing authors of those letters. Monies he spent on that one safari, that will ultimately be channeled back into the wildlife resources, far exceed the total revenues that any of those folks have likely ever contributed to the conservation and management of the wildlife in Zimbabwe. And I wonder how many of them have made cash pledges to humanitarian efforts for the indigenous people of that region. But why keep score? As the great South African leader, Nelson Mandela claims, having compassion for your adversaries is the first real step toward reconciliation, and if we all truly want our children, and their children ,to continue to enjoy wild things and wild places, we need a reconciled effort from all concerned individuals, hunters and non-hunters.End