05/04/2024
Super Tusker! We have a Swahili saying; "Hata Mbuyu ulianza k**a Mchicha." (Even a baobab started like spinach.) So, what's the point? This will be a long one!
There can be endless debate on this issue... some may prefer spinach, others baobab & at varying stages of maturity, due to texture, taste, nutritional value, etc. Nevertheless, what draws tourism is not spinach! It is the mighty baobab. Which undeniably means nurturing seedlings until they grow mighty.
Some tourists are drawn for images, others for souvenirs, and both make memories... Both can be disruptive and destructive, as well as orderly and constructive... to our core cause/purpose of community based wildlife conservation. The choice is ours.
The debate can be endless when we forget the fundamentals of our functions and the honor of our heritage as custodians of our natural world. Hunters and hunting, in the true sense of its traditions and values, is an honorable heritage. We protect, provide, serve, and sustain. We ensure everything natural (habitat & wildlife) has a chance to reach its mighty potential and continue this cycle of healthy ecosystems (sustainability)
We give it value. To me, it is priceless. We do not sell animals as commodities or market species as if they are products. Doing so makes you a business/salesman, not hunter or custodian. Hunters manage landscapes, live the lifestyle and give their lives to pursuing passion for wild, natural, thriving habitats of natural resources. They provide for families, communities and in commercial context, global economies.
People talk of legality and justify their acts with lots of lip service and write-ups, but all that's needed is a mirror, reflection of truth and moral compass based on Hunters Honor. We've all got to live with ourselves.
Sadly, man-made schemes have allowed evil to not only live in sin, but thrive with it. Money, power, politics can be used for good and bad. Over the years, I've seen a lot less good and a hell of a lot of bad. We fight on.
If you're gonna do something that impacts innocent people, with consequence to an entire way of life... You know what needs doing. But will you?
