By JUDITH NAMUTOWE? –

THE Tourism Council of Zambia (TCZ) has urged the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) to release the result of the animal census conducted during the suspension on safari hunting to its stakeholders and the public.
TCZ chairperson Felix Mulenga said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that there was need for ZAWA to release the results of the animal census to safari hunters.
Mr Mulenga said during the ban, ZAWA was supposed to have carried out an animal census and TCZ believed that the authority did conduct that exercise, hence the need to make the results known to stakeholders in the country.
“We know that, we will be assisted by knowing which animals are overstocked and which ones are depleted as they go hunting. Lifting the ban and letting safari hunters hunt openly will lead to loss of the rare species being killed,” he said.
Last month, Government lifted the suspension on safari hunting which was slapped last year due to flaws in the tender process.
Tourism and Arts Minister Jean Kapata said the Government had decided to lift the ban in order to avoid erosion of the sense of ownership of animals and reduction of vigilance which could result in a worsened poaching situation.
Ms Kapata said hunting in the 19 blocs was suspended last year in January due to the inability to select outfitters in these blocs, arising from flawed in the tender process.
Further, hunting of lions and other cats was banned on the understanding that their population was depleted to such low levels that was not sustainable to hunt them anymore.
Mr Mulenga said while he appreciated the fact that Government had lifted suspension on safari hunting, the council expressed concern over ZAWA’s failure to release results of animal census to various stakeholders in the industry.