Kenya 'won't abolish hunting ban'

2005-08-20 18:54

Nairobi - Kenya will not drop an 18-year-old hunting ban despite calls for it to be lifted to cull high numbers of wildlife and reduce damage to farms, President Mwai Kibaki said Saturday.

Kibaki, who last year vetoed changes to the 1977 ban to allow sport hunting and ranchers to kill stray wildlife on their land, said new "innovative" ideas were needed to cut down on growing human-animal conflict in the country.

"Although currently the numbers of Kenyas wildlife is high, the government (will) not lift the ban on hunting but step up its conservation efforts," Kibaki said, according to a statement from his office.

"Conservationists in Kenya must seek innovative ways of dealing with the excessive number of wildlife to avoid serious human-wildlife conflict," he said, adding that Nairobi would "continue to protect the natural heritage".

Kibaki's comments, in a speech to potential investors in Hong Kong at the end of a five-day state visit to China, come as hunting advocates - mainly ranchers and big-game trophy seekers - try to revive the vetoed legislation.

Lawmakers amended the 1977 Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, which banned poaching and reckless killing of wild animals, to ease the proscription in early December 2004, but Kibaki vetoed the bill on New Year's Eve.

At the time, Kibaki said he agreed with provisions to boost compensation payments for livestock killed by wild animals but would not allow the "relegation of wildlife management to a few interest groups."

Kenya, home to some of the world's largest populations of exotic game, depends heavily on wildlife tourism and the country has won plaudits for its staunch opposition to lifting the international ban on the ivory trade.

- AFP