Just saw this in the news today...

http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/2016/02/23/zimbabwe-park-to-cull-200-lions-cites-lack-of-hunters/

Blondie Leathem, who manages the Bubye Valley Conservancy, cites a lack of hunters as the reason for the population explosion. I have to wonder how much of this lack of hunters is due to the hype over the poaching scandal involving Cecil=the-Friendly-Lion and the Minnesota dentist, and how much involves the Bubye's high prices?

Either way, it's a problem that I've seen first-hand... the lion numbers there are very high, and it's impacting the trophy horned game... the lions have been selectively targeting trophy species rather than their usual zebra-wildebeest prey, and evidence from the wildlife biologists points to a too-high lion population as a significant part of the problem. As of last September, there were over 500 lions in the park.

It's a combination of the mess with Cecil. Obama's meddling with USFWS and the Bubye's high prices. Not just lions, but even Buffalo quotas there and elsewhere went unfilled. The market is reacting to inflated prices as set by various African governments in their quest for more lucre..

$50k to bag a lion in most place once you add it all up. I miss the good old days.

Our mutual acquaintance paid close to 100 Large. Then again he went with TGT in Tanzania. Nice Stars all the way.

If I had it, I'd be there every season!

I would bet that it is substantially the latter. I can't imagine the lion numbers surging in just the year or so since Cecil/Obama.

200 is a lot of cats

200 is a lot of cats.

I wonder how much hunters give a crap about the Cecil thing and kind of believe that it is cash not Cecil causing the problem?

Sure could be wrong about that though.

Are they lookin' for volunteers?

As I read the information about the Lion ban ,to the US. The Bubye Valley Conservancy,has to prove hunting is a conservation of lions to let them in USA. The USFWS has said no,hunting is not. Some think the ploy ,of the Bubye, is to try to sway the USFWS allow lions back into the US, by going public about having to cull 200 lions.

I agree.

We were there in August, and saw plenty of lions. I wish I could go back every year for it is truly the most incredible place I have ever seen. But, because of the price, it isnt going to be in the cards. Zim is going to have to get their pricing in line with everyone else or they are going to continue to have problems like this.

I was there last summer, and we saw a lot of lions.

One morning in some really thick stuff we bumped a lioness with cubs at about 10 meters. We couldn't see her or her cubs, but when She did this growl/gunt/roar sort of noise, it really got our attention. She backed off and we backed off, so it was pretty uneventful except for some dirty underwear.

interesting theory and would make sense, otherwise why woudln't they offer a $5,000 lion as an add on to every hunt and make a bit of $$ off of the excessive number of lions? I would be willing to bet that for a reasonably priced lion many hunters would be up for the experience even if it was something they couldn't export.

When you are talking cull.

They are usually talking about killing entire prides: cub's, female's and male's.

I do believe that when Zimbabwe culled elephants they killed entire family groups, young to old.

This will probably be done at night with spotlight, that is how other cull operations have been accomplished. I have watched film clips on how professional hunters provide this service on game farms.

I am sure someone from Zimbabwe will chime in on how this will be done.

Someone tell trump about this.

http://voices.nationalgeographic.co...erve-a-hard-truth-for-lion-conservation/
That is false information.

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