Minister Of Tourism and Arts Jean Kapata has lifted the ban on hunting in the 19 hunting blocks with immediate effect. Ms Kapata made the announcement at a press briefing held at the Ministry of Tourism head office in Lusaka this morning.
She however said that the hunting will be conducted under laid down conditions and strict supervision from ZAWA. But that the ban on big Cats still stands. Hunting in the said blocks was suspended in 2013 due to inability to select outfitters in these blocks arising from a flawed process in the tender.
Hunting of Lions and other cats was banned on understanding that their populations were depleted to such low levels that it was not sustainable to hunt them.
She has also appealed to everyone to assist government and ZAWA in the conservation of the wildlife and its habitat in Zambia. She said that Zambia prides itself in having arguably the richest bio-diversity on the continent, which we all should guard against depletion..
Article by: The Zambia Wildlife Authority
Please note that we are not the Zambia Tourism Board and don’t make these policy decisions. We are a private organization dedicated to providing information about travel and tourism in Zambia.
UPDATE: Here is ZAWA’s response to this press release: https://www.zambiatourism.com/zawa-explains-hunting-ban-lift
Please stop that slaughter !!!
I think the hunting of this ignorant, stupid and cruel bitch should now also be allowed! Dirty Africa selling our limited world treasures. Sickening bastards
If Zambia has lifted the ban on elephant hunting, I am appalled and disgusted with whoever made this murderous decision. Elephants are magnificent, thinking, caring, emotional beings. Killing them is certain to damage Zambia’s tourist industry, and Zambia’s reputation as a country that has looked after these wonderful animals. Please do all you can to bring the ban on killing elephants back.
Andy Taylor.
You should be ashamed selling Africa’s wonderful wildlife for a quick buck! When the trophy hunters and poachers have wiped out all Africa’s animals you will be left with a barren land for children to inherit! Hope you enjoy your money will life suffers at your feet!
Are you serious?? Can you please explain to me why you have made this decision? How on earth is it acceptable to allow your elephants (or any other animal) to be senselessly slaughtered for some moron’s “pleasure”? This decision is disgraceful and you should be ashamed….maybe when the last elephant is dead you will wake up and realize it’s too late.
Shame on you.
Dear Sir, Elephants must be free and protected, no one should hunt these beautiful creatures. There aren\’t many left in the wild…don\’t let these gentle giants become extinct:. Please reconsider your lift on the hunting ban. If you kill all the animals, any tourists interested in seeing the wildlife will have nothing to see. They will not come to look at people!Yours sincerely
Why have you lifted the ban that was in place to protect the elephants ? What kind of planet will it be once they\’re gone? You are the custodians we all depend on to protect them. You must realize how ever closer they\’re coming to extinction. Your legacy is being written with every decision you make. These sentient creatures are an emblem of peace and majesty and beauty. Why would you want to …be known as the people who destroyed that beauty ?People all over the world are depending on you. The elephants are one of our planets most important treasures. There are people all over the world begging you on there knees to do the right thing. A few hunters amount to nothing but loss. Don\’t make the mistake so many other nations have made. Prove to the world that you know what\’s really important.Save these wonderful beings who have been on the planet long before we could reason. This is your opportunity to teach the world. Your opportunity to guide humanity in a very special way. Stop thinking of these other sentient beings as creatures with no culture. They are a nation of beings onto themselves suffering genocide as we speak. Look to your higher selves. We humans have grown beyond the capacity of the natural world, and we must stop, step back and give back. Please be part of that. These creatures are your national treasure. Don\’t you see that? A crowning jewel of life hanging on a thread. Preserve them.
I am shocked and disappointed at the lifting of the hunting ban. Killing animals for sport or pleasure is morally wrong. Allowing the hunting of animals, especially for monetary gain, is totally wrong and unethical and I am sad that Zambia has descended to these depths.
The only way to conserve the animals that you say your country values so highly is not to kill them!!!
Someone in your government needs to give their head a shake…oh, I understand it’s all about money isn’t it??
You don’t really care about your wildlife.
Outrageous! I cannot imagine what you could be thinking in allowing animals to be killed. While you cater to sport hunters, the rest of us look at you for the fools you are. Poachers and sport hunters are the same breed of scum. When all of the wild animals there are killed off there will be no other reason to ever come to your country. You effectively killed your tourism along with the senseless deaths of all the animals with this decision.
Please reinstate the hunting ban. Tourism doesn\’t need to have hunting of the incredibly diverse wildlife that exists in Zambia. Your country should promote the preservation of your wildlife not its destruction.Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
This barbarism has no place in modern society. As St. Francis of Assissi said, “If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow-men.” There are no innocents in cruelty to creatures. There are only different degrees of responsibility. Masculinity concepts are involved. If being a man is purely a matter of social construction (that is, we create and make up gender roles) then being a man in group X simply involves meeting the standards of being a man in group X. If that involves being impervious to the suffering of animals, then one must affect that to be a man. If it involves sipping lattes, talking about Proust and scrumptious steaks, then one must do that. So, to be a man, one must pick a group, sort out the standards and then meet them as best one can. In many ways, this is comparable to being good: if being good is merely a social construct, then to be good you just meet the moral standards of the group in question. But being a man may be more than just meeting socially-constructed gender standards. Every creature in distress has the same right to be protected. Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission – to be of service to them wherever they require it.
Well Zambia has now been removed from my itenery for my upcoming trip to Africa. What a stupid, shortsighted decision. Shame on you all. Allowing the killing of Africa’s magnificant animals for sport is primative, cruel and so backward thinking. You will never get my family’s tourist dollar. Shame on you minister.
Bringing hunting back will kill your tourism as well as your country`s reputation for conservation. Think again, extinction is forever.
How can Zambia justify lifting a hunting ban on a species that is already on the brink of extinction due to the ivory trade? Surely elephants are worth more in tourism dollars in the long run than being hunted to extinction. How dare Zambia do this to these beautiful creatures. So angry and sad for the poor elephants that their lives are worth nothing but dollars and cents!!!
The world is watching Zambia and the world says No Hunting!!! I will not go to Zambia again while you allow hunting. People from overseas go to Zambia to see the wildlife, where will your tourism dollars come from when there are no elephants left?
How very sad that you boast about being blessed with a fantastic Wildlife. Yet you lift your Hunting Ban to let people come and KILL off your Fantastic Wildlife. It is not a blessing that you KILL off all of the Wildlife in your Country. I will BOYCOTT Zambia until you stop the Killing of your Fantastic Wildlife. All of Africa needs to Wake up and realize your killing off all the Wildlife for MONEY and GREED. STOP. NO TROPHY HUNTING, NO CANNED HUNTING, NO HUNTING.
Dear sir,Every one with the gun can take a life of beautiful animals, but the hero is the one who save their lives. Please be a hero.Regards,Fereidoon G. Tary
I am shocked that you have lifted the ban on hunting. You say you are blessed with fantastic wildlife, so why not keep it that way? We have recently learned that 100,000 Elephants have been killed in the last 3 years. Given how few Elephants, Lions, Rhinaos and other large mammals remain on this Erarh, you are blessed to be the GUARDIANS of these animals. I am afraid that if you decide to do otherwise, all Spirits will curse you and God will Himself curse you, that your children and relatives and friends will themselves suffer great evil because nature itself will not longer protect you. It may happen as an accident in a car or a terrible disease, but the reckoning will come. So why not choose the good and righteous thing to do and protect the few remaining great animals that live in your land? Thousands of us are praying that you make the right decision and reverse your decision. Remember the power of our prayers so that you do the right thing. If not we may direct our prayers to your downfall.
This is very bad news it puts a terrible stain on your country, why would people go to see wildlife knowing they are hunted at the same time. In the long term tourism will suffer badly.