Just in off the wire:

Botswana Indefinitely Suspends Hunting Activities Starting Jan. 1, 2014: "As was confirmed by His Excellency the President in his recent State of the Nation Address, Government has decided to indefinitely suspend commercial hunting of wildlife in public or Controlled Hunting Areas as from the 1st of January 2014. This comes as a realization that the shooting of wild game purely for sport and trophies is no longer seen to be compatible with either our national commitment to conserve and preserve local fauna or the long term growth of the local tourism industry." SCI received this official statement from Botswana's Embassy in Washington, D.C. SCI will continue to work with the Botswana government and other non-government organizations to reverse this policy, and return Botswana to sustainable-use wildlife management and rural economic development. To read the full press release, with contact information for the Botswana Minister of Environment, Wildlife And Tourism, please visit http://wp.me/s2C4PF-303

That is going to start some MAJOR poaching operations.

I don't think it will affect poaching much at all. Maybe even reduce it, as it enforcement will be much easier - anyone with a gun will be picked up.

What it is likely to do, however, it increase bookings for surrounding countries areas. The thousands of hunters that normally go, or are planning to go, to Botswana, will now book to CAR, RSA, Nambia, etc. The top outfitters will book faster, and it might be harder to get on with your favorite PHs. Prices are likely to go up too across the board.

I agree with John and the prices will for sure go up which in turn will make our prices go up to keep thing balanced like it is now or people will just kill all there african game here which is a plus in my eyes. Id rather our $$$ stay in our country.

This is old news. They knew they were gonna do this a while ago. The elephants will just get devalued and they will all die out. Then when there are about 5 elephants left in the country, the politicians will swallow their pride and say they were wrong and start charging 500 grand for a tag.

My uncles primary consession is in Botswana so this was so bad news. He hasnt even been given his Elephant quota for 2013 yet either.

Botswana was going to be my next trip over

BAD DECISION.. Most outfitters will state they do not give enough permits for elephant now, They will destroy the habitat faster than they are at this point. With the population increase and habitat destruction they will end up starving.

BINGO!! It's hard to get the PETA Poopers to understand that...and even if they do understand, they simply do not care...and argue that it's "nature's way".

My understanding that the closing is for COMMERCIAL hunting - basically get paid for hunts, either directly or indirectly. It still allows the harvesting of animals due to safety or destruction, and/or cases where the animals are causing "difficulty" for the natives.

However, this is aimed at eliminating the hunting for sport, trophies, or financial gain.

Understand, from my experience, that the vast majority of the natives don't give a hoot about the animals one way or another. The ranchers, outfitters and hunters care WAY more about the animals that anyone in the general population or government.

But these countries are all about the money. The politicians get little or no money from hunting - but when big outside organizations like PETA, FFA, WWO, etc come in and say "We'll donate millions and millions to your country - with the appropriate kickbacks - if you only curtail hunting", the politicians are all over it like flies on a buff carcass.

There are enough "bambi's" in the country that always make it seem like this is a good idea - even in our country.

Now now I am not an expert for all these areas, but my PERCEPTION is that the hunting industry is way more prevelant in countries like RSA and Namibia, than it is in places like Botswana and CAR - more outfitters I mean. And the outfitters are better organized. In fact, most of the outfitters that I have spoken with that operate in Botswana - don't live there full time, and have other concessions than just Botswana - but my perception may be skewed and incorrect.

The greatest danger, IMHO, is other countries in the area following suit. I can easily see CAR, Congo, etc. jumping on the bandwagon and holding their hands out for money from the enviros. This could effectivelly eliminate hunting for species like Bongo or Lord Derby, whose geographic availability is very limited.

From talking to folks over there, there are whole lot of safari hunters that pay ridiculous sums of money for safaris that last a month or more. These guys drop easily 150,000-250,000 for a safari. A rise in price isn't going to affect them much, they are going to pay.

However, a rise in prices in RSA, for example, could mean that a lot of marginal hunters - like me - who have to watch their pennies and budget their trips, will change their focus on animals and limit their hunting.

For example, I cannot see me making a trip to RSA and putting Gemsbok or Sable on my hit list - I can get one right here in Texas for just about the same cost, maybe a little more. So I will focus my attention to animals that I cannot get here in Texas, or are ridiculously priced here - like Kudu.

Probably Texas exotic outfitters will see this as an opportunity to raise prices here too - which I hope doesn't happen. But if they continue to price based upon their costs, they could really reap a bonanza because Texans will look in Texas first.

Really, I think (IMHO) the exotic industry here in Texas cannot really be compared or aligned with Africa hunting. There's a BIG difference in operating costs between supporting/raising animals in their native habitat and here in Texas, even though the habitat may be condusive and similar.

I think exotic species in Texas will continue to focus on animals that do well in Texas and provide an economic base that makes sense - axis, blackbuck, fallow, etc. I don't know squat about raising Impala, let's say, but I imagine that even though the habit is condusive here, they are probably more suceptable to diseases, cold, special feed, or have a lower reproductive rate or higher risk of predation - otherwise I am guessing we would see more ranchers pick those as an option - but I could be wrong.

No, the greatest danger to TEXAS exotic hunting from this closure is the domino effect on other countries and the easy (but false) justification that if they aren't hunted in their native habitat, then they shouldn't be hunted here. And however bizarre that sounds, I think it is real possibility.

Preserving hunting in these areas in Africa is, IMHO, a key objective to preserve exotic hunting here in Texas. And, at the risk of sounding like a lobbist or salesman, this is a reason why I am going to send a generous check to SCI this year.

Great post John....I think you are spot on.

Huge loss for the hunting community. Hopefully they realize the error in their judgement before their game goes the way of Kenya. These governments are way underfunded and I would be amazed if poaching doesn't see a sharp increase - govt police doesn't control poaching in these countries - private hunters protecting their concession interests do.

Don't believe this one will domino - Botswana has a huge tourist industry and believes that can float the costs of management better than hunters, not many others can come close to this statement, particularly in central africa. Will be curious if this doesn't spur a growth in some other countries like Malawi, Uganda, or the DRC as PH's and clients look for new areas. Certainly it's going to have a huge effect on the demand for the Caprivi concessions.

Huh... apparently Botswana didnt pay attention to what happened in Kenya when it closed hunting.

The difference in RSA ,Namibia and the other areas like Botswana and CAR etc is the in RSA and Namibia the land owners own the animals, all other areas the animals are goverment owned and the PH or company bid on the concession After the Gov sets the harvest quota's
This tells Me the "SAVE THE WHALE" folks have given these Gov more money and finacial gain TO individuals under the table .

Just so everyone knows, the title to this thread is incorrect. ALL hunting in Botswana will not be closed to hunting. Private ranches (fenced) will still hunt-able and some of those are 100k+ acres. Its still a stupid move, but I just want to make sure the facts are corrected.

You are correct, my bad. Not ALL hunting, but hunting on all public lands or private lands under "controlled hunting policies" - which means some private concessions could still be available for hunting. More details are forthcoming from my contacts in the area.

You are correct!

If it pays, it stays, otherwise it goes away. In the long run, this will destroy the economic incentive to preserve viable wildlife populations. Also, the most active and interested monitor of poaching, the professional hunter, will be removed as a check and balance. The local game will be greatly reduced by a combination of enforcement apathy and low level bribery.

Look at countries like Kenya as an example. Despite the soaring rhetoric, this will predictably end in failure.

Problem is if other African nations follow suit.

Does anyone have an update they could share as it pertains to private lands in Bots? Mr Humbert, I see that you have some contacts in the area, so maybe you have the latest information. The news is scattered at best.

In speaking with my booking agent last weekend at the DSC convention, it seems there was supposed to be a meeting of some sort on Wednesday (he's on R&R right now before the SCI show, so I'm not going to bother him).

As an aside, he has negotiated a great plains game package that I'm going to book for 2014 if private land hunting is still available. I would go this year, but my 2013 is filled up already.

I talked with several outfitters at the SCI show here in Dallas last week. Even the locals are sketchy on the details, but they BELIEVE that private lands that are not under government programs will still be allowed to hunt, although permits for some species like elephants may be in question.

They also told me that, from their understand, only the commerical sale of hunts/animals is going to be stopped. The hunting of the animals by locals for meat won't be affected.

However, every outfitter believes this will be a disaster for Botswana animals in general. From what THESE folks say, is that, by and large, enforcement of game regulations and the efforts towards poaching is largely done by the private outfitters - the government doesn't spend much time or take many proactive measures. They said that poaching is likely to skyrocket, as the locals only see the animals as a source of meat, they have no other value to them. So, without commercial/professional hunters or outfitters out there, the locals will end up shooting indiscriminately.

That's what tell me at least.

The RSA and Namibia outfitters at the show expect to see a rise in their bookings, and in their pricing.

Thanks John, I appreciate the insight. I didn't speak at length with my agent on the subject of Bots since we had much to discuss on other matters (going to Zim in July w/ his outfit). In hindsight, I would have spent some time discussing the Bots regs changes with a few other outfitters while I was at the show.

It seems like the only chance I'll have to go will be in the next couple of years, so it may be worth hunting elephant in addition to plains game.

Agree with your last point, Namibia is going nowhere but up....

Botswana and Zambia in one year, quite a time for communist.