Tanzania - Conservation going horribly wrong. Whats your thoughts on this? We value everyones opinions from all walks of life. Hunters, animal rights activists, conservationists, ministers, farmers and the local communities within Tanzania. International Animal Rescue Foundation Africa can clearly see the problem which we are not going to take sides with either. We will state now though, if these land grabs continue animals will become extinct faster than you have ever imagined. One cannot continue to burn the candle at both ends nor treating the symptoms. While activists and conservationists are promoting a no-hunting-safari-tour scene peoples lands are being invaded and they are powerless to act. This problem is not about human over-population. Its about greed and unprofessional conservation programs. Picture 1 (Pastoralists Kill Six Rare Lions Near Tarangire National Park after the lions invaded their farms killing their animals). Angry villagers in Tanzania forced a large group of elephants of a cliff some fifty meters high. When the dust settled, six of the herd lay dead, the jubilant ecstatic Tanzanians took selfies of themselves with the dead elephants cheering all the way home. This was the result of a violent climax back in 2009 that unfortunately sees many farmers lose their crops as the elephants are protected. Boiling point came on the summers evening of 2009 when the inhabitants of West Kilimanjaro could take no more. These incidents are not isolated, people regularly risk injury and prosecution to attack protected wildlife. Tigers and leopards have been beaten to death in Africa and India, wolves are illegally hunted and sadly birds fall prey to poisons to name just a few. On the surface the motives seem simple enough to many people: Protecting people and their property. Scratch a little deeper though and it becomes clear that the animals are often just convenient scapegoats. The REAL hatred is RESERVED for conservationists and government ministers. Researchers arrived in West Kilimanjaro in the aftermath of the elephant killings to find a disfranchised and disillusioned village. Conservation policies had restricted access to ancestral lands, reducing the settlement to an island in a sea of game reserves. Locals watched powerlessly as private safari operators and government officials became rich from the booming tourist trade, while their crops were regularly destroyed. Local communities feel that wild animals are valued more than people by the authorities. Interviews with those involved in the slaughter now published, reveal that killing the elephants was as much about rebelling against this state of affairs as protecting crops and livelihoods. Similar motivations appear to drive violence in Bangladeshi villages plagued by tiger attacks. So whats the solution? Picture 2 (Dead elephant remains from the 2009 massacre in Tanzania) Some have stated that governments should stop imposing conservation rules on communities and instead involve them in discussions, giving them power over how wildlife protection is carried out on their lands states Human Wildlife Conflict Collaboration. Offering local people a social or financial stake in conservation seems to have worked in East Africa. Here lion-killing Masai warriors have swapped spears and are now among the species most dedicated conservation guardians (that statement we do not though totally believe). Picture 3 (Leopard shot dead by gang of villagers after the specie had invaded farmland in search of food).. In Sundarbans regions of Bangladesh a charity called Wild Team is training villagers how to deal with tiger incursions - and tiger killings are now down as a result of this. Locals no longer feel powerless and so are less likely to take out their frustrations on a rather unlucky big cat. If one doesnt understand these deeper levels of conflict, its just like putting a plaster on it without getting to the root of the problem. PLEASE think carefully before commenting. This is not just about animals its also humans too that have lived side by side with animals way before tour-operations began taking off in India and Africa. Please do not leave derogatory language and be mindful of other subscribers opinions. Everyone is entitled to their opinion however well remove any racist, threatening or other derogatory language. AROUND THE GLOBE - saynotodogmeatevents.info/2015/01/14/mark-your-calendars-join-the-global-demonstrations/
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 02:55:06 +0000