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Argali sheep Ovis ammon trophy hunting in Mongolia

DOI:10.3989/pirineos.2002.v157.67
Authors:
Sukhiin Amgalanbaatar at "Argali Wildlife Research Center" NGO, Mongolia
Sukhiin Amgalanbaatar
  • "Argali Wildlife Research Center" NGO, Mongolia
Richard P. Reading at Butterfly Pavilion
Richard P. Reading
  • Butterfly Pavilion
Lkhagvasuren Badamjav at Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Lkhagvasuren Badamjav
  • Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences
N. Batsukh
N. Batsukh
N. Batsukh
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
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Abstract

[fr] L’argali Ovis ammon de Mongolie est un trophée très apprécié par les chasseurs étrangers du fait de ses grandes cornes spiralées. La gestion de la chasse, si on la veut soutenable, doit être bien planifiée et doit faire participer les populations locales. Le nombre d'argalis en Mongolie a beaucoup baissé ces dernières années surtout du fait du braconnage et de la compétition avec les animaux domestiques, ces derniers ayant augmenté au cours de la dernière décade. Nous étudions les lois, les réglementations et les revenus associés à la chasse en Mongolie. Cette chasse au trophée se montre lucrative et le nombre de licences et d'associations de chasseurs a augmenté significativement ees dernières années. Cependant, le -programme a soulevé une controverse. D'abord, l'opposition locale a augmenté, puis les média ont parlé de corruption. Pour sortir de cette situation, nous suggérons la réforme de cette gestion de la chasse-trophée d'argali en Mongolie, de façon a conserver l'animal et a obtenir un appui public de longue durée. Cette réforme doit être basée sur les point suivants: 1) ouverture et transparence; 2) révision externe et surveillance; 3) autorité mixte de haut en bas et de bas en haut avec l'accord local, et 4) conservation active et adaptative de l'argali, en utilisant pour la gestion les fonds générés par la chasse au trophée. [es] En Mongolia el argali (Ovis ammon) es un trofeo altamente cotizado por cazadores extranjeros debido a su impresionante tamaño y a sus largos cuernos espirales. Para que este recurso sea sostenible los planes de caza deben estar bien dirigidos y contar con el apoyo de la población local. Su número en Mongolia parece declinar rápidamente debido principalmente al furtivismo y a la competencia con el ganado, que ha aumentado durante la pasada década. Se describen las leyes, regulaciones y las ganancias obtenidas asociadas a la caza del argali en Mongolia. La caza del argali es lucrativa y el número de licencias de caza y organizaciones de cazadores se ha incrementado durante la pasada década. La controversia que rodea el plan de caza se ha manifestado en una creciente oposición local y en acusaciones de corrupción por parte de los medios de comunicación. Como salida a esta situación, se propone el replanteamiento de la gestión de la caza de trofeo del argali en Mongolia, de forma que mejore su conservación y que, al mismo tiempo, disfrute de un apoyo popular duradero. El plan de caza de trofeo resultante debe estar caracterizado por: 1) accesibilidad y transparencia, 2) revisión y supervisión externa, 3) una autoridad representativa de los sectores implicados que cuente con el apoyo local y 4) uso de fondos generados por la caza de trofeo que financien una gestión y conservación dinámica del argali.
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... The implementation of CBNRM through trophy hunting of argali led to a population increase from 200 to 1500 between (IUCN 2016), yet trophy hunting here has been fraught with more problems than has been the case for other sheep-hunting countries. Very high trophy fees and a lack of transparency in how the government issues licenses has led to widespread allegations of government corruption and of no money going towards conservation, a lack of argali surveys has led to management in the dark, and trophy hunting companies and their staff being based in Mongolia's capital of Ulaanbaatar has prevented trophy hunting benefits from reaching local communities in argali range country (Reading and Amgalanbaatar 2016). ...
The Morality of Trophy Hunting
Chapter
  • Apr 2023
The most basic moral dilemma in sport hunting is the dispute between deontologists, arguing that animals have inalienable rights to life, and consequentialists, arguing that hunting can lead to less total suffering and the conservation of species and habitats. This dilemma has already been presented in the historical chapter, mainly in Chapters 2.9 and 2.10.What we will attempt to demonstrate in Chapter 8 is that deontology vs. consequentialism is not the only important conflict between paradigms of normative ethics in the trophy hunting discourse. What seems to be unique about the conflict over trophy hunting compared to the conflict over sport hunting is that there is less emphasis on the death of animals per se and more emphasis on the persons who cause said deaths. The emphasis is on the character, motivations, behaviour, and attributes of the hunter.Our claim, following from this observation, is that in order to understand the moral conflicts underlying the trophy hunting discourse, it is no longer enough to understand the obvious incompatibilities between deontology and consequentialism. We must also be open to the possibility of incompatibilities between virtue ethics (i.e. the character of hunters) and consequentialism.To illustrate this, we present in Chapter 8.1 and 8.2 our observations from Twitter, where comments to trophy photos were categorized as pertaining to either the character of hunters or animals/the death of animals. A far greater number of comments about the character of hunters were found, supporting the notion that virtue ethics play an important role in antihunting sentiments.
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... The implementation of CBNRM through trophy hunting of argali led to a population increase from 200 to 1500 between (IUCN 2016), yet trophy hunting here has been fraught with more problems than has been the case for other sheep-hunting countries. Very high trophy fees and a lack of transparency in how the government issues licenses has led to widespread allegations of government corruption and of no money going towards conservation, a lack of argali surveys has led to management in the dark, and trophy hunting companies and their staff being based in Mongolia's capital of Ulaanbaatar has prevented trophy hunting benefits from reaching local communities in argali range country (Reading and Amgalanbaatar 2016). ...
Fair Chase and Sport Hunting
Chapter
  • Apr 2023
“Sport Hunting” is highly contentious and confusing, because it can have two meanings. One meaning of sport hunting is to hunt in a sporting way and give the animal a sporting chance. This is equivalent to the ideal of fair chase. The other meaning is to hunt for sport. It portrays hunting as competition and fun.In Chapter 6, we summarize the history of these terms – also discussed in Chapter 2 already – and discuss the meaning of sport hunting. We then discuss how fair chase is sought achieved by decreasing the power gap between hunter and prey through technological handicaps (like using a bow instead of a rifle – Chapter 6.1) and behavioural handicaps (like not shooting a deer on ice or in water or deep snow – Chapter 6.2).We then cover in Chapter 6.3 what we suggest could be an inverse relationship between fair chase and animal welfare. Bowhunting is one such example where, by making the hunt more difficult and therefore “fair,” evidence suggests that wounding rates and thereby animal suffering may increase.Finally, canned hunting is the practice of hunting animals that are fenced in, thus limiting their chance of escape. We discuss the very controversial issue of canned hunting in Chapter 6.4, as it is generally held up as an example of the opposite of fair chase. Plenty of hunting ranches in America, notably Texas, offer canned hunting, and captive-bred lions in South Africa for lion-petting tourism and canned hunting has until now been a big industry but seems to be shutting down. We cover all of this in 6.4.
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... The implementation of CBNRM through trophy hunting of argali led to a population increase from 200 to 1500 between (IUCN 2016), yet trophy hunting here has been fraught with more problems than has been the case for other sheep-hunting countries. Very high trophy fees and a lack of transparency in how the government issues licenses has led to widespread allegations of government corruption and of no money going towards conservation, a lack of argali surveys has led to management in the dark, and trophy hunting companies and their staff being based in Mongolia's capital of Ulaanbaatar has prevented trophy hunting benefits from reaching local communities in argali range country (Reading and Amgalanbaatar 2016). ...
Trophy Hunting and Conservation
Chapter
  • Apr 2023
This chapter investigates conservation claims and issues as they pertain to hunting. After a description of the major regulations governing trophy hunting imports and exports (5.1 Trophy Hunting Regulations), this chapter examines the conservation situation in two geographically different sections.The first section (5.2 Hunting and Conservation in Africa) concerns the stereotypical perception of trophy hunting. The trophy hunting situation and conservation issues are completely different in Africa than in Europe and USA and the problems are more diverse and complex. African hunting is more controversial because the species involved (lions, elephants, giraffes, etc.) are iconic, highly anthropomorphized, and sometimes endangered. Both species extinction and species overpopulation are issues in Africa. Corruption, poverty, poaching, and the West imposing their wildlife ideals on Africa are also important factors that we cover here.The second section (5.3 Hunting and Conservation in Eurasia and the Americas) concerns trophy hunting mostly in Europe and USA, where they have few natural predators of deer, so hunting is broadly considered the most feasible way of keeping deer populations from outgrowing carrying capacities of habitats. There are issues, however, with keeping populations down, because hunters favour bucks (because of trophy-fixations and ingrained fair chase ideals), and shooting bucks does little to keep populations in check. Also, shooting the wrong bucks or shooting them too early leads to genetic problems in the populations. These are the primary conservation issues that we discuss in a European- and US context.Other conservation-related matters discussed in this chapter are hunting and genetics, management alternatives to hunting, photography, and poaching.
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... The implementation of CBNRM through trophy hunting of argali led to a population increase from 200 to 1500 between (IUCN 2016), yet trophy hunting here has been fraught with more problems than has been the case for other sheep-hunting countries. Very high trophy fees and a lack of transparency in how the government issues licenses has led to widespread allegations of government corruption and of no money going towards conservation, a lack of argali surveys has led to management in the dark, and trophy hunting companies and their staff being based in Mongolia's capital of Ulaanbaatar has prevented trophy hunting benefits from reaching local communities in argali range country (Reading and Amgalanbaatar 2016). ...
Trophy Hunting Now
Chapter
  • Apr 2023
In this final chapter, we present the challenges that recent years and especially 2020–21 have presented in the context of trophy hunting.In Chapter 9.1, we cover Covid-19 and how it has affected hunting and conservation differently in Africa, Europe, and the US. African countries and communities have suffered greatly economically from a lack of tourism, which has led to increased poaching and habitat loss; British venison could not be offhanded as it is largely supplied to restaurants, which have been closed because of Covid; and rural hunting and self-sufficiency mentality has increased in the US.In Chapter 9.2, we deal with the increasingly prominent issues of misinformation and disinformation in science communication and communication about trophy hunting especially, and with how social media amplifies misinformation. We describe a couple of the major trophy hunting disinformation campaigns on both sides of the fence and note how both celebrities and certain celebrity scientists seem to use anti trophy hunting campaigning as a popularity booster.
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... The implementation of CBNRM through trophy hunting of argali led to a population increase from 200 to 1500 between (IUCN 2016), yet trophy hunting here has been fraught with more problems than has been the case for other sheep-hunting countries. Very high trophy fees and a lack of transparency in how the government issues licenses has led to widespread allegations of government corruption and of no money going towards conservation, a lack of argali surveys has led to management in the dark, and trophy hunting companies and their staff being based in Mongolia's capital of Ulaanbaatar has prevented trophy hunting benefits from reaching local communities in argali range country (Reading and Amgalanbaatar 2016). ...
View
... The implementation of CBNRM through trophy hunting of argali led to a population increase from 200 to 1500 between (IUCN 2016), yet trophy hunting here has been fraught with more problems than has been the case for other sheep-hunting countries. Very high trophy fees and a lack of transparency in how the government issues licenses has led to widespread allegations of government corruption and of no money going towards conservation, a lack of argali surveys has led to management in the dark, and trophy hunting companies and their staff being based in Mongolia's capital of Ulaanbaatar has prevented trophy hunting benefits from reaching local communities in argali range country (Reading and Amgalanbaatar 2016). ...
Hunters and Antihunters
Chapter
  • Apr 2023
We have three goals in Chapter 4.The first goal is to describe who hunters are (and to a lesser extent antihunters). Demographical information about hunters is much better for USA than for Europe, and trophy hunting is ten times the scale in USA as in the rest of the world combined, so we focus on a portrayal of American hunters. We use mainly the United States Fish and Wildlife Service statistics and the Virginia based Responsive Management survey research firm combined with demographical information about members of the Boone and Crockett Club and Safari Club International. Education, income, gender, ages, race, hunting efforts, and prey species of American hunters is laid out in Chapter 4.1, and we discuss common backgrounds of antihunters in Chapter 4.4.Our second goal (in Chapter 4.2 Hunting, Privilege, and Social Schisms) is to present and defend the hypothesis that hunter-antihunter conflicts are not just about hunting, but about many other social and sociocultural differences and conflicts. The trophy hunter stereotype (based on the demographics described in Chapter 4.1) is a male, white, conservative, protestant, wealthy, pro-gun, business owner. The antihunter (Chapter 4.4) is typically a female, non-white, liberal, anti-gun student. Hunting is just one representation of a mutual dislike that stems from many underlying societal tensions.Our third goal (in Chapters 4.3 and 4.5) is to explore why hunters hunt. We take our departure in the works of Stephen R. Kellert, and supplement with scholars like Jan E. Dizard, Simon Bronner, and Allen Morris Jones to discuss the three different archetypes of hunters (the nature hunter, the meat hunter, and the sport hunter), their reasons for hunting, and what hunting means to them. In Chapter 4.5, we discuss hunting motivations outside or not fully covered by Kellert’s framework and motivations that pertain specifically to trophies.
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... The implementation of CBNRM through trophy hunting of argali led to a population increase from 200 to 1500 between (IUCN 2016), yet trophy hunting here has been fraught with more problems than has been the case for other sheep-hunting countries. Very high trophy fees and a lack of transparency in how the government issues licenses has led to widespread allegations of government corruption and of no money going towards conservation, a lack of argali surveys has led to management in the dark, and trophy hunting companies and their staff being based in Mongolia's capital of Ulaanbaatar has prevented trophy hunting benefits from reaching local communities in argali range country (Reading and Amgalanbaatar 2016). ...
Anthropomorphism and “Viralability”
Chapter
  • Apr 2023
Anthropomorphism – assigning human characteristics to nonhuman entities – plays an important role in trophy hunting, because the animals that are hunted for trophies are generally some of the most anthropomorphised animals with prominent and often highly anthropomorphized representation in movies. Deer are Bambis, lions are Simbas, elephants are Dumbos, etc. We argue that anthropomorphism is an important reason that trophy hunting is so disdained.We introduce this subject in 7.1 by way of an examination of a giraffe called Marius, who was killed in Copenhagen Zoo in 2014. We use Marius to introduce a discussion of what makes some animals anthropomorphised and loved while others are hated. The various features of animals that research has shown elicit human empathy are covered and the strategies of zoos in using those features for their benefit are explored. We also consider what makes some stories about animals more likely to go viral than others, such as animal names.We discuss what this all means and how it matters in a trophy hunting context in 7.2 and demonstrate that trophy hunted animals have many of the relevant features.
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... The implementation of CBNRM through trophy hunting of argali led to a population increase from 200 to 1500 between (IUCN 2016), yet trophy hunting here has been fraught with more problems than has been the case for other sheep-hunting countries. Very high trophy fees and a lack of transparency in how the government issues licenses has led to widespread allegations of government corruption and of no money going towards conservation, a lack of argali surveys has led to management in the dark, and trophy hunting companies and their staff being based in Mongolia's capital of Ulaanbaatar has prevented trophy hunting benefits from reaching local communities in argali range country (Reading and Amgalanbaatar 2016). ...
A History of Hunting and Hunting Perceptions
Chapter
  • Apr 2023
The purposes of our second chapter are to provide a summary of hunting’s historical role and show how attitudes toward hunting have evolved. Our goal with this book is to foster a comprehensive understanding of trophy hunting, but to understand any hunting today, we must understand its history. Hunting’s association with privilege today stems from Medieval Europe, where hunting was the prerogative of nobility. The perception of hunting as courageous challenge and test of manhood comes from Antiquity in Greece and China. Conservation arguments in favour of hunting rely on the conservation experiences of late nineteenth century American sport hunters like Theodore Roosevelt and their confrontation with market hunters. Animal rights arguments against hunting today are mostly identical to those of Henry Stephens Salt in 1892. The impression of hunters as indiscriminate exterminators of wildlife comes from market hunters’ decimation of bison- and passenger pigeon populations in colonial America and Great White Hunter stereotypes and their autobiographies from colonial Africa. Etc. This chapter also serves as a chronological literature review of hunting-as-conservation and antihunting arguments. We do not dwell on general explanations of e.g. animal rights, transcendentalism, or ecofeminist theory, as this is covered in other literature. We examine specifically the attitudes of these positions to hunting.
View
... The implementation of CBNRM through trophy hunting of argali led to a population increase from 200 to 1500 between (IUCN 2016), yet trophy hunting here has been fraught with more problems than has been the case for other sheep-hunting countries. Very high trophy fees and a lack of transparency in how the government issues licenses has led to widespread allegations of government corruption and of no money going towards conservation, a lack of argali surveys has led to management in the dark, and trophy hunting companies and their staff being based in Mongolia's capital of Ulaanbaatar has prevented trophy hunting benefits from reaching local communities in argali range country (Reading and Amgalanbaatar 2016). ...
Hunting Trophies
Chapter
  • Apr 2023
The third chapter is about the namesake of trophy hunters: The trophy. We have roughly four goals in this chapter:We start this chapter by explaining how we define a Hunting Trophy in this book. Next, we provide a thorough technical description of hunting trophies in two categories. First category (3.1 Taxidermy) is taxidermy. We summarize the history of taxidermy, dating back to the use of animal skins in the Palaeolithic, the much later embalming practices of Ancient Egypt, and its modern professional history. We detail how a mounted trophy is made, how the techniques have evolved, and what the attitudes toward taxidermy are and have been over time. In the second category (3.2 Skulls, Antlers, Skins, and Other Trophies) we describe everything that can be considered a hunting trophy but isn’t taxidermy. Most famous of these is the half-skull mount (euromount). We also make note of various related subjects, such as the freeze drying of dead pets, Gunther von Hagen’s plastination, mock trophies, etc.Second goal (in 3.3 Trophies and Record Books) is to make clear the connection between hunting trophies, trophy scoring, and trophy record keeping. We explain the history of trophy evaluation methodology and scoring methods/award systems and histories of six hunting organisations that are responsible for six established scoring methods for hunting trophies in chapters 3.3.1 to 3.3.6. In Chapter 3.4 we discuss the consequences of trophy scoring for hunting ethics.Our third goal is to discuss the meanings of trophies (3.5 The Meanings of Hunting Trophies). The two sides to this discussion are what trophies symbolize and mean to hunters and to nonhunters/antihunters.Last goal (in 3.6) is to provide an analysis of trophy photos. Trophy photos are important because they are all the public sees from trophy hunting, so they come to represent the activity in general, and the hunters in them come to shape the trophy hunter stereotype.
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... However, there are cases when locals receive few or no benefits from trophy hunting for various reasons, including in places where there might be good legislation which does not necessarily translate into practice. This is often due to poor legislation, inadequate legislation for benefit sharing, disputed ownership rights or corruption (Amgalanbaatar et al., 2002;Harris & Pletscher, 2002;Michel et al., 2015;Nordbø et al., 2017). Nevertheless, it is important to note that alongside the monetary benefits derived from trophy hunting it is also crucial to understand and uphold the rights, particularly of local communities, to manage the wildlife and their habitats themselves. ...
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Article
Full-text available
The continuing debates about trophy hunting should be underpinned by an understanding of at least the basic characteristics of the practice (e.g. species, quotas, areas, prices). Whilst many countries in Asia have established trophy hunting programmes of considerable importance to conservation and local livelihoods, there remains some ambiguity over the extent of trophy hunting in Asia as its basic characteristics in each country have not been compiled. In this study, we compile information on various ecological and socioeconomic characteristics of trophy hunting of mammals for countries across Asia by reviewing published and unpublished literature, analysing trade data, and obtaining contributions from in-country contacts. Across Asia, established trophy hunting programmes exist in at least 11 countries and target at least 30 species and one hybrid (incl., five Vulnerable and one Endangered species). Trophy hunting in these countries varies markedly in areas (e.g. >1 million km2 in Kazakhstan, 37% of country, vs. 1325 km2 in Nepal, <1% of country) and annual offtakes (e.g. Kazakhstan: 4500 individuals from 4 of 5 trophy species; Pakistan: 229 from 4 of 7; Mongolia: 155 from 6 of 9; Tajikistan: 126 from 3 of 6; Nepal: 22 from 3 of the 4 that are trophy hunted in practice). Permit prices also vary across species and countries, with domestic and international hunters sometimes charged different rates. Hunters from the USA appear overwhelmingly prominent among international clients. National legislations typically mandate a proportion of trophy hunting revenue to accrue locally (range: 40–100%). We provide five key recommendations for research to inform trophy hunting policy in Asia: (1) Ecological impact assessments; (2) Socioeconomic impact assessments; (3) Evaluations of the contributions of trophy hunting to conservation spending; (4) Evaluations of the contributions of trophy hunting to the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework; (5) Further examinations of perceptions of trophy hunting.
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Incentives toward conservation of argali Ovis ammon: A case study of trophy hunting in Western China
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Full-text available
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Article
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