Okonjima video borders on blackmail - ministry
ELLANIE SMIT
WINDHOEK
The tourism ministry has condemned a video being circulated by the Okonjima Nature Reserve seeking to raise funds for rhino conservation.
The ministry called the video unethical, reckless and bordering on blackmail.
Okonjima in the meantime has apologised for any misunderstanding that the video may have caused.
This follows shortly after the Namibia Professional Hunting Association (Napha) condemned the video and called it tasteless.
“According to the video the current owner is in financial difficulty and may need to sell these rhinos for possible trophy hunting if no donation is received,” said ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda.
“This is tantamount to emotional blackmail and unethical conduct on the part of Okonjima Reserve.”
The video depicts a white rhino, with a narrator introducing him as a gay rhino named Ryan and telling how he lost his “trophy husband” to hunters.
“I know some hunters have their eye on me too,” Ryan the rhino says, adding that he needs a sugar daddy to can stay at Okonjima, safe from hunters and poachers.
Defending trophy hunting
Muyunda said the video creates the impression that Namibia’s trophy hunting industry is not sustainable.
“It must be noted that trophy hunting is a wildlife management practice which is done to enhance the protection of wildlife species rather eliminating them.”
Muyunda said the government would not permit an entire population of rhinos on a property to be hunted as that went against the country’s conservation principles.
“The video is also reckless as it has now exposed the rhinos as a security risk for being targeted by poachers by broadcasting their location on social media.”
He stressed that the ministry was not against private property owners raising funds to conserve wildlife on their properties, but that should be done in accordance with laws and policies.
Apology
Okonjima on Friday posted another video on its Facebook page in which the co-founder and owner of Okonjima, Wayne Hanssen, said he wanted to resolve some of the misunderstandings that have ensued.
“Our video was meant to be a different approach - a light-hearted, sassy approach, and purely seen from the Okonjima rhinos' perspective,” he said.
He said the campaign was aimed at saving a group of young rhino bulls that have been in Okonjima’s care since 2015.
“In essence, Okonjima has been the custodian of these rhino for several years, on behalf of their legal owner. The legal owner has now gotten permits for them to be hunted by trophy hunters.
“To prevent this, Okonjima/AfriCat negotiated with him that, should we be able to match the price per rhino offered by the trophy hunters, he would be willing for us to buy them from him rather than having them hunted as his source of income. Hence the campaign to raise these funds,” Hanssen explained.
WINDHOEK
The tourism ministry has condemned a video being circulated by the Okonjima Nature Reserve seeking to raise funds for rhino conservation.
The ministry called the video unethical, reckless and bordering on blackmail.
Okonjima in the meantime has apologised for any misunderstanding that the video may have caused.
This follows shortly after the Namibia Professional Hunting Association (Napha) condemned the video and called it tasteless.
“According to the video the current owner is in financial difficulty and may need to sell these rhinos for possible trophy hunting if no donation is received,” said ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda.
“This is tantamount to emotional blackmail and unethical conduct on the part of Okonjima Reserve.”
The video depicts a white rhino, with a narrator introducing him as a gay rhino named Ryan and telling how he lost his “trophy husband” to hunters.
“I know some hunters have their eye on me too,” Ryan the rhino says, adding that he needs a sugar daddy to can stay at Okonjima, safe from hunters and poachers.
Defending trophy hunting
Muyunda said the video creates the impression that Namibia’s trophy hunting industry is not sustainable.
“It must be noted that trophy hunting is a wildlife management practice which is done to enhance the protection of wildlife species rather eliminating them.”
Muyunda said the government would not permit an entire population of rhinos on a property to be hunted as that went against the country’s conservation principles.
“The video is also reckless as it has now exposed the rhinos as a security risk for being targeted by poachers by broadcasting their location on social media.”
He stressed that the ministry was not against private property owners raising funds to conserve wildlife on their properties, but that should be done in accordance with laws and policies.
Apology
Okonjima on Friday posted another video on its Facebook page in which the co-founder and owner of Okonjima, Wayne Hanssen, said he wanted to resolve some of the misunderstandings that have ensued.
“Our video was meant to be a different approach - a light-hearted, sassy approach, and purely seen from the Okonjima rhinos' perspective,” he said.
He said the campaign was aimed at saving a group of young rhino bulls that have been in Okonjima’s care since 2015.
“In essence, Okonjima has been the custodian of these rhino for several years, on behalf of their legal owner. The legal owner has now gotten permits for them to be hunted by trophy hunters.
“To prevent this, Okonjima/AfriCat negotiated with him that, should we be able to match the price per rhino offered by the trophy hunters, he would be willing for us to buy them from him rather than having them hunted as his source of income. Hence the campaign to raise these funds,” Hanssen explained.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article