DESERT LIFE

Managed hunting Reserves are the way forward!

With many wild populations of game declining, hunting without any management strategy is often unviable and unjustifiable: a simple case of "too many hunters and not enough to hunt".
Concerns regarding the future of game populations are being raised by governments and conservation bodies world-wide, so perhaps it is time to follow the models of other countries and create hunting reserves within the Middle East on commercial lines.

Whether shooting for game and wildfowl in Europe, big game hunting in Africa or falconry in the Middle East, reserves can ensure good numbers of quarry species are available for hunting on an annual basis. This can be achieved through breeding and release programmes.

Successful hunting reserves are run commercially with profits gained on a "per bird hunted" basis and on a trophy scale for big game. When based on sound management principles, reserves can generate income from land, which from an agricultural aspect may have no other value.

Hunting reserves require suitable areas to be protected and managed, ranging from a few hundred hectares to many thousand. The land can be acquired by private ownership or leased from governments. Techniques are now established for breeding many species in captivity, including houbara. This knowledge can be used in a farming and release programme, offering a long-term future for hunting and profit for those taking this innovative step. It also removes the reliance on natural populations or governmental permission to hunt wild areas.

It is easy to imagine the interest and excitement of falconers and hunters if reserves within their own country were stocked annually with sufficient numbers and variety of species to practice their chosen sport.

Wildlife Management Services can provide you with all the knowledge and experience necessary to create and run a commercial and viable HUNTING RESERVE.