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If Indian wildlife adminstration is so capable of managing controlled hunting, then how come every single one of about 30 tigers has been wiped out of Sariska sanctuary in the last 7 years? If we can not control an endangered species in a popular sanctuary with high levels of funding, what hope is there for other species in remote areas with little resorce or funding.

India is a huge sub-continent & you do get small pockets of "private paradise" which are the personal fifedom of the very wealthy & influential who are in an even older time warp. I wonder how many new members get into these eletist shooting clubs & get access to imported ammunition. For those of us who are commited to the values of a modern egalitarian society, beat shooting is not affordable if a fair wage is to be paid to the beaters. I wonder what kind of footware or clothing those beaters wear. "Safe hunting by trained hunters" is an oxymoron in that environment. There are no records kept of hunting accidents, how many poachers shoot each other, etc. Covering up political murders is the norm. So what's the big deal about covering up the accidental death of a poor villager shot by the "not so brown Saheb" in a beat shoot! This environment is not today's free trade India or even socialist India in a 20 year time warp. This is feudal India in an older time warp going back a 100 years where a very very few powerful & wealthy people enjoyed hunting exclusively.

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Covering up political murders is the norm.

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very very few powerful & wealthy people enjoyed hunting exclusively.

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Again that is the past. A sensible approach would be to combine high priced safaris with a lottery or ballot type system for local hunters. The rich domestic hunters and foreign clients can earn big dollars for local conservation efforts and establish a foreign exchange earning service industry with lots of employment for locals. The ballot system would allow less well off residents to access some hunting.

The main cause of loss of wildlife has been the massive growth in the population only the last fifty years, and also loss of wildlife habitat as a result.

A successful sport safari industry provides wildlife with economic value, and as a result economically makes them more viable for conservation efforts. Plus provides poachers with jobs and income from protecting them, not poaching them.


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John aka NitroX

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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"

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