Big Five game - WikiHQ

thumb|300px|The Big FiveIn Africa, the Big Five game animals are the lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and African buffalo. The term was coined by big-game hunters to refer to the five most difficult animals to hunt on foot. The Big Five has a long hunting history that started at the end of the 19th century during colonial times. Today, they are still hunted but are more often targets of ecotourists and safari tour operators. The hunting of Big Five game species can be lucrative for game preserves, presenting opportunities for conservation, however, there are limitations. All Big Five species are examples of charismatic megafauna, featuring prominently in popular culture, and are among the most famous of Africa's large animals.

Big Five species

Elephant

thumb|Bull African bush elephant in the [[Maasai Mara national reserve, Kenya.]]

The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the largest extant land animal currently found in 24 African countries and a variety of habitats. Sometimes called the African savannah elephant, the species is listed as endangered by the IUCN.

Rhino

thumb|Black rhinoceros in [[Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania.]]

Two species of African rhinoceros are considered part of the Big Five, the white (Ceratotherium simum) and black (Diceros bicornis), each have several subspecies. Both currently exist in several south and eastern African countries in savanna or grassland habitats. The white rhinoceros is listed as near threatened by the IUCN, The IUCN lists the species as near threatened with a decreasing population. The IUCN lists the species as vulnerable with a decreasing population. Being large carnivores, hunting leopards is desirable due to the perceived danger associated with the species. The IUCN lists the species as threatened. As a large and charismatic apex predator with cultural significance, lions are among the most popular species to view on safari tours, and desirable for hunters given the perceived danger. In the late 1890s, hunters conducted raids in countries like Namibia that caused dramatic decreases to the large elephant populations seen at the time. Locals involved in the industry at this time often traded the tusks for other supplies like food. The rise of more modern guns and hunting methods meant more efficient elephant hunting, leading to it becoming popular continent-wide. thumb|Hunters displaying their collection after a hunting trip in [[Uganda]]

Rhinoceros

The rhinoceros was once very abundant across the African continent, with populations of around 500 000 animals in the early twentieth century. During expeditions to Southern Africa in the 1830s, large numbers of black rhinoceros were reported, though those expeditions often included hunting the animals as game.thumb|247x247px|Black rhinoceros killed by the [[Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg during an expedition in Central Africa.]]Beyond trophy hunting, rhinoceros have been targeted by poachers due to the high value placed on their horn. The market price has risen from $550 per kilogram in 1979 to $60,000 per kilogram today.

African buffalo

thumb|[[Taxidermy|Taxidermied shoulder mount of an African buffalo head.]]

Throughout history, buffalo were highly valuable game typically hunted by Indigenous communities for food. In the early 1800s, hunting of important game like buffalo in many African countries was tightly controlled by the Indigenous tribes in the area, and these groups imposed strict regulations on visitors in their territory. Leaders and ruling families of these groups were responsible for hunting management and ensuring conservation of commonly hunted animals to prevent population collapse. With the creation of colonies in Africa, foreign countries took over conservation and hunting management, and settlers began to hunt buffalo more aggressively. A Rinderpest outbreak in the 1880s in Africa decimated buffalo populations, and it was thought that the disease was brought to the continent through imported cattle from Europe. It now houses the biggest population of African buffalo in the world.

thumb|[[Kermit Roosevelt after hunting and killing a leopard]]

The big cats have also been killed due to their infrequent attacks on people and livestock. During the colonial era they were hunted by professional hunters such as Jim Corbett and Kenneth Anderson in India. This history of conflict has influenced the hunting of the species and many leopards have been killed due to the assumed threat they pose to villages and livestock. Between, 1920-1922, 133 leopards were culled in South Africa, and more recently, 120 leopard trophies were exported from South Africa per year between 2004 and 2006. The effects of trophy hunting on leopard populations is still uncertain, leopards currently make up about 8-20% of trophy hunting revenue in eastern and southern Africa. Hunting of coexisting lions have resulted in a mesopredator release, where the lions are the apex predators and the leopards are the mesopredators, which has likely masked the detrimental effects of trophy hunting. This range reduction is well above average for large carnivores worldwide (63-75% loss compared to an average of about 53% for other predators) and is in part due to hunting, as well as environmental effects like habitat loss. 12 African countries are still allowed to export leopard skins with quotas set by the Convention for the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). Tanzania is currently the most popular country for leopard sport hunting and has one of the highest quotas for exporting leopard trophies, they export an average of 303 per year.

Lions

thumb|[[Ernest Hemingway after killing a lion in 1934]]

Historically, lions have been a target of the colonial era big-game hunting in Africa; dating back to the late 19th century and continuing into the early 20th century. However, this behaviour is considered rare.

thumb|[[Diorama/Situational Exhibit of Lion hunting by local populations at Milwaukee Public Museum]]

Lion hunting is still practiced today in various parts of Africa under regulated trophy hunting practices. In many countries, this includes regulated hunting quotas to monitor the number of lions harvested. However, there has been much debate on whether lion hunting can be sustainable in many areas of Africa, particularly where little or no data exists regarding lion populations and management. Research suggests that poor regulation of lion hunting may result in population decline at the local level, particularly if male lions of reproductive age are being hunted in large numbers.

Trophy hunting occurs across 23 sub-saharan African countries and constitutes a significant part of the economic activity, with direct gross revenues of at least US $201 million per year.

In the last few decades, the hunting of the Big Five species has been controlled through permit systems, hunting quotas, and protected areas in many countries within Africa. Permits and quotas are established to regulate and limit how many animals are to be hunted each year while still generating revenue for wildlife management and/or conservation programs. They have been observed avoiding areas where they have a greater chance of being hunted.

Regulated hunting remains a contentious issue especially involving species such as lions. Most of the countries that allow regulated hunting programs claim to be balancing the need to protect the species with the economic gain from hunting. Restrictions can include age limits on the animals targeted and harvest quotas. The Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania consider elephants to be similar to humans in some ways, recognizing them as Arkanjowe, beings who are big or powerful.

The rhinoceros held cultural significance among the Bantu speakers of Southern Africa, where it served as an emblem of leadership. The Golden Rhinoceros of Mapungubwe figurine (1220-1300) was widely interpreted as a symbol of sacred royal power in southern Africa' earliest known state. The honorific title "rhinoceros horn" was used to address Venda chiefs in royal court speech. They were often used as a part of ceremonial regalia in several countries, originally only worn by royalty but leopard and lion skin garments have become more common in recent decades for people, mostly men, of all classes to be worn during religious gatherings. With nature-based tourism rising in popularity in recent decades, the Big Five animals constitute a major tourist attraction in African countries. Kruger National Park, South Africa's first and most popular national park, sees more than one million visitors every year and supports up to 600,000 people living near it. Research suggests that seeing these five species is a significant reason why tourists choose to visit this park. Other critics have acknowledged that the practice can generate funding for conservation, but highlight its negative effects on species and communities through trophic cascades, and changes in natural selection due to the targeting of individuals with impressive "trophies".

On the other hand, experts have argued that trophy hunting confers benefits to conservation because it preserves core habitat, and produces fewer carbon emissions than ecotourism. Furthermore, it has been proposed that the shortcomings of trophy hunting come from corruption in the institutes around it. Allowing trophy hunting has also increased the overall tolerance for large predators like leopards and lions near villages and farms, therefore less predators are killed for their perceived threat.

References

External links

20 Incredible African Safari Animals & Where to See Them
Weight, diet, life span and other lifestyle details of the Big Five