Argentina, 7th largest exporter of “hunting trophies”

Environmental and conservation organizations have launched a petition to ban cougar sport hunting, an activity that annually attracts dozens of foreign hunters and displaces tens of thousands of dollars to obtain the “hunting trophy”.

But in addition, puma conservationists warn that it is necessary to stop the slaughter of these animals because it is a species that functions as alert on ecological imbalances.

The launch of the petition on Change.org brought together more than 36,000 signatures in just ten days. Behind the initiative are the Pumakawa shelters in Cordoba, the Cullunche Foundation in Mendoza, the Argentine Network against Wildlife Trafficking (RACTES) and the Humane Society International.

Environmentalist Kai Pasha, from his Pumakawa refuge, located at Villa Rumipal in the Calamuchita valley, recounts the purpose of the petition. “We want to change the law that allows cougar hunting. He is a law of dictatorship that allows the hunting trophy, its export and import, ”he explains. This is the National Law No. 22421 on the conservation of wildlife, which had a regulatory decree during the government of Carlos Menem in 1997.

“This law is very old. The paradigm has changed in the world, we have evolved and the relationship with the environment has changed. There are countries which prohibit sport hunting and instead of targeting a few businesses, hunters, they are converting to tourist activity “, explains Pacha, dedicated to the preservation of the puma on the side of provincial road 5, in the region. Cordoba mountain range.

Argentina is the seventhglobal exporter of hunting trophies. “We have to get out of this place,” Pasha said.

August 30 of each year is the International Cougar Day. And its conservationists have set themselves the goal of advancing the protection of the species.

“The cougar is pretty badly treated. It is believed to be harmful and that it is considered harmful, when the reverse is true: is the key to preserving the ecosystem», Asegura Kai Pasha.

In Costa Rica, since 2012, sport hunting is prohibited. “Even South Africa has banned the breeding of lions for hunting,” Pasha exclaims. The lion population has dropped 98% over the past two centuries, according to conservation organization Four Paws.

In La Pampa, during the 2019 season, 253 foreign hunters arrived. They are the ones who bought the authorization to hunt cougars, deer, buffalo and other species. Most of the United States (171) and Canada (24) were also from Europe (Sweden, 9; Germany, 8; Switzerland, 1; Luxembourg, 2; England, 1; Hungary, 1; Holland, 1; Denmark , 7; Romania, 1), other South American countries (Brazil, 7; Austria, 8; Uruguay, 3; Paraguay, 1 and Peru, 3). Hunters have also arrived from Mexico (2), Australia (1) and Namibia (1).

During this season, the Pampas Undersecretary for Natural Resources reported that 17 cougars were hunted in established hunting and hatchery areas. In 2020 the hunting season was banned by the pandemic and in 2021 it was reduced to a few weeks, due to the closure before the second wave of Covid which started in May.

Puma sport hunting is practiced in addition to La Pampa, in the hunting reserves of Buenos Aires, Río Negro and Neuquén. The puma is present in Chubut, Santa Cruz, Cordoba, Mendoza, San Luis, La Rioja, San Juan and Mesopotamia.

In the National Congress, a bill prohibits the export and import of hunting trophies. The aim is to discourage sport hunting activity. This is how the sport hunting of the puma ends.

In addition, the initiative of the protectionist organizations involves the airlines. By letter, they asked Aerolineas Argentinas to join in the ban on the transport of hunting trophies.

“This is in sync with what happened to ‘Cecil’ the lion was captured in Zimbabwe“Pasha said. He was referring to the case of the lion, which was this country’s most beloved and which was taken out of a national park to be captured by an American hunter, dentist Walter Palmar. He paid 55,000. $ for this hunt After this scandal, 40 airlines banned the transport of hunting trophies.

During the pandemic, border closures revealed that a part of the hunting activity is illegal. In a field near Balcarce, on national road 226, in January 300 specimens of wildlife were found, including tigers, pumas and deer. “This is a sample. There are 10 cougars that can come to our reserve. This must stop ”, proclaims Kai Pasha because the reserves are full of pumas detected in the hands of illegal reserves.

Kai Pasha has pumas in his refuge at Villa Rumipal who were injured by agricultural machinery while harvesting corn.

“This reveals the adaptability of the cougar. And it is superior to that of the jaguar, ”explains the ecologist. “When the cougar leaves its environment, it means that it has no wild animals to hunt. And that’s an ecological fact, ”he notes.

“Cougars damage livestock when they run out of wildlife. It is an environmental fuse. For 50 years the cougar has been killed and it doesn’t work. It kills the fever, the symptom, ”explains the Cordoba environmentalist.

He refers to the fact that in Chubut the government pays up to 5,000 pesos for a head and puma hide. The Silvestre Argentina Foundation has already asked Governor Mariano Arcioni to repeal this rule, Law XVII-N ° 52.

The protectionist Kay Pasha calls for other strategies vis-à-vis the cougar, which replace the slaughter used as “hunting control”. “There are a lot of strategies to be had with the cougar. Guard dogs, llamas, flashing lights, donkeys. When the cougar hurts, why is there an environmental problem, ”he insists.

La Pampa. Corresponding

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