Hunting Has History of Endangered Species Conservation
Ingram, TX -(AmmoLand.com)- Today the Exotic Wildlife Association, which represents conservation hunting ranches in the U.S., responded to a statement issued by Virgin Airlines owner Richard Branson praising airlines that refuse to transport trophies back from Africa for legal safari hunts.
EWA executive director Charly Seale made the following statement:
“EWA condemns any unlawful or unethical hunting. However, regulated hunting has a track record of conserving and rehabilitating endangered species populations. Ranches in the United States have taken three species of critically endangered African antelope and brought them back from the brink of extinction, using hunting as a tool to provide resources for rehabilitation. Virgin and other airlines are merely caving in to radical animal-rights groups that are ideologically opposed to hunting who are more concerned with publicity and fundraising than anything else.”
Managed hunting provides an incentive to conserve, support and grow the populations of these rare and endangered species and is recognized as a conservation tool by the World Wildlife Fund.
Responding to efforts to end hunting, the Namibian Environment and Tourism Minister stated, “This will be the end of conservation in Namibia … If conservancy members have no income, they will abandon their role in protecting the country’s natural resources.”
Namibia funds more than 80 wildlife conservancies, and recent figures indicate that hunting brings in about $33 million in annual revenue.
The General Manager of the Zimbabwe Bubye Valley Conservancy notes, “If there is no value on wildlife, there is no need to protect it.”
To watch a “60 Minutes” special on America’s conservation hunting ranches, visit: http://www.cbsnews.com/news.
To schedule an interview, please contact Charly Seale at 830-928-3158.
About the Exotic Wildlife Association (EWA):
The Exotic Wildlife Association (EWA) is the oldest private property rights association in the country. Our members own and raise more numbers of rare and endangered species than any other association in the world. Because zoos, across the country, no longer propagate any species, the long term solution that insures the future of all species is through private ownership free from the onerous restrictions of the Endangered Species Act. EWA’s mission is to encourage and expand the conservation of indigenous and non-indigenous hoofstock animals, and to help our Members develop and strengthen the markets for their animals.
For more information, visit: http://myewa.org.