By CHARITY MOONGA? –
GOVERNMENT has lifted the ban on cat hunting in Zambia as this greatly affected the wildlife resource and livelihoods of local authorities in Game Management Areas.
Cat hunting largely involves hunting of lions and leopards.

. Kapata

Tourism and Arts Minister Jean Kapata made the announcement at a Press briefing in Lusaka yesterday, saying it had been proven that safari hunting was by far the most profitable and most sustainable form for off-take of wildlife which could benefit all Zambians.
Ms Kapata lifted the ban on cat hunting on condition that the guidelines were grafted into a statutory instrument so that they become part of the wildlife law.
She said lion hunting should only resume in the 2016/2017 hunting season and not this year.??She, however, said leopard hunting could resume this year 2015/2016 hunting season but with very precautionary quotas.
Ms Kapata said the ban on cat hunting and the suspension of hunting in 19 hunting blocks greatly affected the wildlife resource and livelihoods of local authorities in Game Management Areas (GMAs).
The two-year hunting ban was also necessitated by the weak regulatory mechanisms, declining lion populations in some areas due to over-harvesting, hunting of underage lions and depletion of habitats for lion.
Other reasons were the increased lion deaths in human-lion conflicts and lack of solid statistics upon which to base quotas.
The leopard ban was effected due to lack of serious monitoring lapses by ZAWA, which had since been rectified.
Ms Kapata said with the understanding of the stated problems, Government engaged experts in the region to assess the status of cats in Zambia and advised on the way forward.