Zambia’s quest for more trophy hunters

The time this all flared up
Was about two years ago
The country wants a reason
To increase the hunter flow
And Hippo’s have tusk ivory
Great teeth and trophy fair
And are a draw I understand
Though some are unaware

That there is a need to
Kill them
To offer bounties for
Their slaughter in the water
Perhaps unlike before
The target some 2000 souls
In the next 5 years
At a cost per hunter
Of 12500 dollars
It appears

Each can take 5 Hippo’s
And the reason given they
Are over populating
In a crazy way
The figures though
Are dubious
Reality states they
Have dwindled down to
20 per cent
In 20 years
So to say
An over population
Is pushing it a bit
These animals have ivory
Thats about where it does sit

Another reason is anthrax
A bacillus thats found
In the soil
And theres conflict
That these ungulates
Abound
And have started consuming animals
Cannibalism too
So it seems they get a double dose
And apparently that is true

People are eating bush meat
And infected meat can be
A Means of catching anthrax
And handling it too, we see
Contact with the animal hides
Hair or bone or wool
But thats hardly the Hippo’s fault
Typical cock and bull

Stories thus suggesting a hunt
Now needs to be
Carried out by importing
The killers which to me
Is a very short sighted policy
Based on arrogant greed
There may be 25000 souls
But to me its a bitter seed

Its conflating two broad issues
And blaming the Hippo’s
And they
Are seeing a dropping in numbers
The government wants to be
Raising its trophy killings
Its money in the pot
The wrong kind of tourism
When a glut there just is not

Cutaneous Anthrax it affects
Wild animals and they
Digging in the soil
Where the bacillus lies
Means that they pay
A High price
And its possible due to
Shortages of food
Ungulates or ruminants
Are not following their brood

They are acting as carnivores
Putting stress upon their gut
The bacteria is more to do
With fermentation thus
Digestion may be compromised
And could be a reason why
They are contracting anthrax
And why some ofcourse die

They are eating carrion
And eating infected souls
Coupled with their infected grasses
So their nightly patrols
At hunting and sustaining
Themselves appears to me
To be increasing their risk
Of infection
which is extraordinary.

They are on the red list
Vulnerable they be
There may be a concentration
On the Luangwa river
We
Often may see high density
But to extrapolate
That this means
There are too many
Is open to debate

Wild animals created
By the great almighty they
Are generally much more in tune
With their surroundings I will say
Man for other reasons
May be excited at the thought
Of killing a few animals
And earning which is wrought
With possibly other issues
Lobbying and much more
Corruption one must
Always consider
And think of natural Law

So the hunters they start coming
Killing all the way
Taking home their trophiez
Putting them on display
Opening a market
For teeth and Ivory
Which already is bloody expanding
Without killing unconsciously

Countries gifted animals
Should respect the point of law
Creation is Miraculous
Murdering shows a flaw
In the a countries argument
And proves at least to me
That killing is not the answer
And it should never be

Its a sampling of a new trade
And poaching then may be
Coming in the future
Take this tip from me