Trophy Hunting in Ethiopia: a Choice Experiment

Trophy hunting in Ethiopia: Your preferences

This study aims to identify the factors that attract foreign hunters to Ethiopia, and those factors they might view as negative. Insight into these factors will help us to improve conditions for hunting tourism in Ethiopia. This will ultimately benefit not only the national economy, but also wildlife populations in Ethiopia, as trophy hunting can provide an incentive to protect nature and wildlife for the future. Currently, not many foreign hunters come to Ethiopia – about 40 per year. Summary results from this study will be passed on to the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority – that is, the governmental organisation that provides the legal framework and sets hunting quotas – relevant regional government agencies, and the Professional Hunters’ Association. Please rest assured that all information you provide us with will be treated confidentially and will be anonymised and summarised.

The Federal Republic of Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa, neighbouring Kenya to the south, Somalia and Djibouti to the east, Sudan to the west and Eritrea to the north. It is a very safe

country for travellers. 1 Hunting Areas in Ethiopia

Large parts of the country are at an altitude above 2000 m, and the highest peaks are more than 4000 m above sea level. These highland areas, such as the Simien and Bale mountains, are vast and rugged with a relatively cool climate. They harbour unique species such as the mountain nyala, Ethiopian wolf, walia ibex and gelada baboons. Other areas, for example, the south, are typical lowlands with acacia shrub lands and plains game such as lesser kudu, found mainly in National Parks and Controlled Hunting Areas. In the western part of the country, on the border Warthog Duiker Klipspringer

Bush pig with Sudan, large swamps can be found. Hunting in Ethiopia takes places in open, unfenced areas,

and is usually conducted on foot or on horseback. Imagine you are planning a hunting trip to Africa. You come across several hunting packages on offer in Ethiopia. You find them potentially attractive and investigate them further. These hunting packages are described by means of six characteristics: 1. Bag mix 2. Experience of the hunting area 3. Share of the hunting revenue for local communities 4. Share of the hunting revenue for government 5. Length of the trip 6. Overall license fees Below you will face eight choice cards with four different hunting packages offered on each card. Each hunting packages offers a different combination of the levels of the characteristics mentioned above. These different levels will be described in detail below. Please note that the options we describe do not necessarily reflect the current situation in Ethiopia – our aim is to explore hunters’ interest in possible options so that hunting policies and offers can be adapted. For this reason, we also include options that might not exist at present, but that are being discussed as possibilities for the future.1 For each choice card, you should choose the hunting package that you like the most. Before looking at the cards, please take some time to read carefully through the description of each characteristic and the different levels they will take.

1. Bag mix Ethiopia offers a wide range of different game and hunting experiences. For example, hunting can take place in the rugged highlands. One possible target species here is the mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni), a species that can only be found in some mountain ranges east of the Ethiopian rift valley, for example, the Bale mountains. The mountain nyala is a large spiral-horned antelope that is Mountain nyala regarded as difficult to hunt. Adult males can weigh up to 350 kg, and the horns can reach a length of 115 cm. The highlands of Ethiopia are also home to a range of other possible target species, such as Menelik’s bushbuck, giant forest hog, warthog, Colobus monkey, Bohor reedbuck and others. 1 But you can also go hunting for plains game in the lowlands of Ethiopia. Possible species include greater and lesser kudu, gerenuk, tiang, Soemmering’s gazelle, warthog, Beisa oryx, Grants gazelle and others. Finally, in the western part of the country, the government plans to allow hunting of Nile White-eared kob Nile lechwe lechwe and white-eared kob. Both antelope species exist only in Western Ethiopia and Menelik’s bushbuck Eastern Sudan. White-eared kobs migrate in large herds in search of good grazing areas. The

Nile lechwe lives in swamps and is thus challenging to hunt. 1

Imagine that you go on one of the following hunting trips in Ethiopia: 1 i. Mountain nyala and other highland game - You shoot one Mountain nyala, and six other animals of the Ethiopian highlands; the exact species will depend on the available quota and cannot be selected beforehand, but your bag will include at least one of the following species: Bush pig, Bohor reedbuck or giant forest hog, and likely also Menelik’s bushbuck; ii. Mountain nyala and lowland game – You shoot one Mountain nyala in the highlands, and then move on to the lowlands and shoot eight lowland animals; the exact species will depend on the available quota and cannot be selected beforehand, but your bag will include at least two of the following species: Beisa oryx, Soemmering’s gazelle, gerenuk, greater or lesser kudu; iii. Mountain nyala only - You shoot one Mountain nyala in the highlands; iv. Nile lechwe and white-eared kob - You travel to the western part of the country and shoot one

individual each of white-eared kob and Nile lechwe. 1

2. Your experience of the hunting site Many hunters enjoy not only the actual hunt, but also the environment around them. Some of the hunting areas in Ethiopia are home to a great variety of wildlife in addition to the target game. For example, when stalking mountain nyala in the Bale mountains, you can also observe Bohor White-eared kob reedbuck, Menelik’s bushbuck, warthogs and, with some luck, also serval. When hunting plains game in the lowlands, you might also be able to see antelopes other than your game species. Some hunting areas are used by the local population for grazing, so you will also see the local breeds of cattle, sheep and goats while on your hunting trip. While in some places both wildlife and livestock can be observed, in others livestock but hardly any wildlife apart from your game species can be

seen. Each hunting package will offer one of the following levels for this characteristic: 1 i. The hunting area is devoid of any wildlife other than your game , and there is hardly any livestock, either (labelled in the choice card “no wildlife, no livestock”); ii. You see a lot of livestock in the hunting area, but hardly any other wildlife than your game (“a lot of livestock, no wildlife”); iii. You see some livestock and some wildlife; iv. You see a lot of wildlife while hunting, but hardly any livestock (“a lot of wildlife, no livestock”).

3. Share of the hunting revenue for local communities This characteristic and the next reflect the degree to which the income from a hunting trip is shared between the hunting company, local communities and the Ethiopian government. For some visiting hunters, it is important that communities neighbouring the hunting areas receive benefits from hunting tourism; to others, this is not an important aspect of their hunting experience. In some areas income from hunting is shared with adjacent communities, usually channelled through the regional

government. The exact shares vary across areas. 1 In the scheme assumed here, the money would be collected by the government and distributed to the local village administration, who would then decide how to use the funds. We refer here to a percentage of the total income received from hunting tourism, including fees and outfitter services. This percentage varies across the packages we describe in the choice cards below: i. Adjacent communities receive nothing; ii. Adjacent communities receive 10%; iii. Adjacent communities receive 20%; iv. Adjacent communities receive 30%. Warthog Duiker Klipspringer

Bush pig 4. Share of the hunting revenue for government Similarly, some of the income generated through hunting tourism is currently taken by regional and federal governments. For example, license fees are split between regional and federal government, and hunting companies have to pay concession fees for their hunting areas to their governments. The government can use such income from hunting for the official monitoring of game populations, quota setting, and other game management infrastructure. Over and above these fees, hunting companies also pay income tax; however, this is not considered here as these taxes are not directly used for wildlife management. 1 Again, we refer here to a percentage of the total income received from hunting tourism, including fees and outfitter services. This percentage varies across the packages we describe in the choice cards below:1 i. Governments receive 10%; ii. Governments receive 20%; iii. Governments receive 30%; iv. Governments receive 40%

5. Length of the trip Currently, the minimum length of a hunting trip is determined by the Ethiopian government and depends on the type of game. For example, the minimum stay for big game such as mountain nyala is 21 days. In many other African countries, the trip length is set by the outfitter who offers the package. We assume here that in the future, trip length could be determined more freely, and would like to find out what your preferences in terms of the duration of a hunting trip are. Each day will cost you on average 1500 United States Dollars (USD) – this is for the services provided by the outfitter. The duration of your trip could vary from one to four weeks.1

6. License fees For each of the species hunted, you would, pay a non-refundable license fee. The overall fees of the packages suggested here can range from 5,000 to 40,000 USD and include all the animals in your bag mix as described above. In addition, you will also have to pay an average of 1500 USD per day (as described in ‘the length of your trip), the usual conservation fee of 100 USD/day and a rifle import fee of 100 USD.

Below are 8 choice cards. Each choice card offers 3 different hunting packages plus an additional option to not go hunting in Ethiopia. Imagine you face these choice sets – which option would you choose? Pick one from each choice card and mark it with ‘X’. 1

Please mark your preferred options (only one from each choice card).

Choice card 1 A B C D Nile lechwe and Mountain nyala and Mountain nyala and Bag mix white-eared kob other highland game lowland game Experience of hunting Some livestock and A lot of wildlife, A lot of wildlife, site some wildlife no livestock no livestock No trip to Share to community % 0 20 30 Ethiopia Share to government % 40 30 10 Length of trip 1 week 4 weeks 2 weeks License fees 10,000 USD 40,000 USD 20,000 USD

Your choice? Choice card 2 A B C D Mountain nyala and Mountain nyala and Bag mix Mountain nyala only other highland game lowland game Experience of hunting No livestock, Some livestock and A lot of livestock, no site no wildlife some wildlife wildlife No trip to Share to community % 10 0 20 Ethiopia Share to government % 40 20 20 Length of trip 3 weeks 3 weeks 4 weeks License fees 30,000 USD 30,000 USD 10,000 USD

Your choice? Choice card 3 A B C D Mountain nyala and Mountain nyala and Bag mix Mountain nyala only other highland game lowland game Experience of hunting A lot of livestock, No livestock, Some livestock and site no wildlife no wildlife some wildlife No trip to Share to community % 20 0 20 Ethiopia Share to government % 10 20 40 Length of trip 2 weeks 1 week 4 weeks License fees 40,000 USD 5,000 USD 25,000 USD

Your choice?

Choice card 4 A B C D Mountain nyala and Mountain nyala and No trip to Bag mix Mountain nyala only other highland game lowland game Ethiopia Experience of hunting A lot of livestock, No livestock, A lot of wildlife, no site no wildlife no wildlife livestock Share to community % 10 10 10 Share to government % 20 40 10 Length of trip 3 weeks 3 weeks 2 weeks Warthog Duiker Klipspringer

Bush pig License fees 35,000 USD 10,000 USD 40,000 USD

Your choice?

Choice card 5 A B C D Mountain nyala and Nile lechwe and Bag mix Mountain nyala only lowland game white-eared kob Experience of hunting Some livestock and A lot of livestock, A lot of wildlife, site some wildlife no wildlife no livestock No trip to Share to community % 20 20 10 Ethiopia Share to government % 40 10 30 Length of trip 4 weeks 2 weeks 3 weeks License fees 15,000 USD 10,000 USD 20,000 USD

Your choice? Choice card 6 A B C D Mountain nyala and Mountain nyala and Mountain nyala and Bag mix other highland game lowland game lowland game Experience of hunting Some livestock and No livestock, A lot of livestock, no site some wildlife no wildlife wildlife No trip to Share to community % 0 30 30 Ethiopia Share to government % 20 20 20 Length of trip 4 weeks 2 weeks 1 week License fees 15,000 USD 40,000 USD 35,000 USD

Your choice?

Choice card 7 A B C D Mountain nyala and Mountain nyala and Bag mix Mountain nyala only lowland game other highland game Experience of hunting No livestock, Some livestock and No livestock, site no wildlife some wildlife no wildlife No trip to Share to community % 10 30 0 Ethiopia Share to government % 20 40 30 Length of trip 4 weeks 1 week 1 week License fees 40,000 USD 10,000 USD 15,000 USD

Your choice?

Choice card 8 A B C D Bag mix Mountain nyala and Mountain nyala and Mountain nyala and No trip to other highland game other highland game lowland game Ethiopia

Experience of hunting A lot of wildlife, A lot of wildlife, Some livestock and site no livestock no livestock some wildlife Share to community % 10 20 20 Share to government % 10 40 20 Length of trip 1 week 3 weeks 3 weeks License fees 20,000 USD 25,000 USD 30,000 USD

Your choice?

I. Hunting: Your views and experiences

Here, we would like to ask you a few additional questions on your personal views and experiences. This will help us to better understand hunters’ preferences for trips to Ethiopia. 1. Have you been on hunting trips to African countries before? Please note down the number of trips (enter 0 if you have not hunted in Africa before; please enter your response in the grey box):

2. If you have hunted in Africa before, which countries did you visit? Please list them here.

3. Have you been on hunting trips to Ethiopia before? Please note down the number of trips (enter 0 if you haven’t been in Ethiopia before):

4. What comes to mind when you think of hunting in Ethiopia? Please write down a few words or sentences.

5. How many years have you been hunting?

6. In which countries (including your own) have you mainly been hunting in recent years?

7. Which game species have you been particularly interested in thus far?

8. Which approach to hunting have you been particularly interested in thus far? (e.g. collecting species, interest in dangerous game, interest in exotic species, mountain hunting) Warthog Duiker Klipspringer

Bush pig

9. If you were to hunt in Africa in the future, which countries would you find most attractive for hunting? Please order them by their attractiveness, with the most attractive country listed first.

a. b. c. 10. If you were to hunt in the near future (not necessarily in Africa), which species would you most like to hunt? Please note down up to five species, with the species most interesting to you listed first.

a. b. c. d. e.

11.What are your spontaneous thoughts on Ethiopia? For each of the statements, please tick the box that corresponds best to your view. strongly slightly neither slightly strongly disagree disagree disagree agree agree nor agree 1 2 3 4 5 I am familiar with Ethiopia as a country. I am familiar with Ethiopia’s wildlife. I believe hunting in Ethiopia might lack in comfort. I believe I would enjoy hunting in Ethiopia. I believe Ethiopia is politically unstable at the moment. I believe the standard of service offered by Ethiopian hunting companies might be lower than in other African countries. I believe a trip to Ethiopia would culturally be very interesting. I am not sure if Ethiopia’s government can be trusted to deal with revenue from hunting in a responsible way.

12. In terms of your hunting and outdoor interests, how would you describe yourself? not at all not really to a limited to a certain definitely

I would call myself… degree degree 1 2 3 4 5 A trophy hunter A person interested in conservation A nature-loving person A recreational hunter A person widely interested in the outdoors An environmentalist

not at all not really to a limited to a certain definitely I prefer… degree degree 1 2 3 4 5 Stalking game on foot Stalking game as far as possible by vehicle Waiting for the game in a hide or stand Using bait to attract the game

II. Your views on nature conservation Some people would say that “too much fuss” is being made about nature conservation. What do you think? For each of the statements, please tick the response that comes closest to your view. strongly somewhat in- somewhat strongly disagree disagree different agree agree 1 2 3 4 5 It seems to me that most conservationists exaggerate and are very pessimistic.

Most nature conservation projects are too expensive and don't work.

Too much emphasis has been placed on nature conservation.

III. About yourself 1. Your gender: Male: Female:

2. Your year of birth: 3. Your country of residence: 4. Your nationality: Employed full-time Self employed full-time Warthog Duiker Klipspringer

Bush pig 5. Your occupational status: Employed or self-employed part-time Retired Other

School to age 16 6. Your last (highest) School beyond 16 years educational attainment University for up to 4 years University for 4 years or more.

Thank you very much for your participation in this survey!

Your responses will be very helpful in informing Ethiopian hunting policies.

If you have got any comments, please write them down here:

Contact: Yitbarek Tibebe, Frankfurt Zoological Society, PO Box 100003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Email: [email protected]