Anyone else see this on 60 minutes 6/10?

[Zach]

Curious about thoughts on this from a conservationist point and the DIY point?

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7396832n

 

[tarheel]

I wouldn't hunt them under any conditions, but the simple fact that they would be extinct otherwise is enough justification to continue to ranch them and continue to transplant them back to their native habitats which hasn't exactly been kind to them. The droughts, famine and social unrest in those countries has most likely been the most influential factor in their disappearance there, and until that is remedied their future is still bleak. The anti who is spending so much money and energy to have it stopped is typical of her ilk; acutely narrow focus, not interested in any compromise at the expense of the animals. She, like so many of her type are conspicuous by their level of ignorance and preponderance of emotion, thinking that if they were all shipped back to Africa and dumped back on the plains or wherever they were found previously that everything would level itself out and the world would be right again. She probably believes in leveling of income too, as I'm sure she is a straight party ticket voting Democrat.

 

[1_pointer]

I think more laws/rules like this will pass. I also think it will be bad for any species that is labeled by the same. There is ver little incentive for a landowner in the US to raise these animals if they can't be hunted for profit without alot of hoop jumping. If the system in place is working, which appears to be the case since there are more in Texas than in their native lands, why change it?

Thomas McIntyre had a piece in Sports Afield looking at a similar issue with the tiger in China and India. IMO, hunting would be a boon for that species. Can you imagine the $$ those countries could generate for tiger conservation through hunting. Kinda like elephants in Africa. It's my understanding that the countries with the healthiest elephant populations are those that allow hunting of them.

 

[DreaminofMT6X6s]

Saw the episode last night. Hunt the hell out of the exoctic/otherwise extinct species. The rancher mentions that these animals will be at 50% of their current population (most likely an exageration) in roughly 5/10 yrs because simply put almost NO ONE is going to jump through hoops for the Federal permit that's now required as of April. As such no money will be brought in to help conserve the species and give them the habitat they need or motivate that rancher to help them. Only 10% are harvested. Where that woman on the episode and others out there get the idea that this process barbaric or doesn't work (not her words, but she was insinuating it) is ridiculous and only pisses a guy off.

Anyway, it's the job of guys like us who take an educated approach to issues like this to stop this from happening. It's an uphill battle and there will always be opposition, but any chance I get to support something like this I'll take it.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

Politics vs Animals = No Winners. John

 

[Topgun 30-06]

That aired earlier in their broadcast season and was a repeat. Overall, IMO it was a very fair expose' of the situation and gave very little time or creedence to that lady fruitcake! She is an outright nut when she would rather see the animals go extinct than have hunting them to some extent keep them thriving, as has been the case for quite a while now down there. The Feds had basically been closing their eyes and letting these Texas ranchers do their thing for a long time and that may be because of the money being spent and the boon to the economy. That nut pushed the matter through the courts that ended up ruling in her favor and the Feds had no choice than to reinstute the permit system that I believe already existed in the statute. IMO there is way too much money in it for the largest percentage of those ranchers to not buy the permit to keep hunting them. I can't remember the cost of the permit, but the money they would make off one animal from a hunter would more than offset the cost. One guy that raises them was posting his views on a website about it and said the paperwork is not that bad or expensive. The big debate/discussion and what has them all pissed off is that these animals are all under high fence and are considered to be just like cattle that are owned by the ranchers, rather than by the public like a native animal that is not restrained in an enclosure of any size. That's the reason these Texans are so upset when the Liberal Courts ruled against them and the Feds are now telling them what they have to have and do to keep their own property that's a money making source which, in turn, is propagating a number of those species that are extinct in their native lands. It's just another case of the Courts and our Federal Government running our lives and it is going to get a lot worse when ones like BO get elected, appoint liberal Justices, etc.