Niël Terblanché
This year’s hunting season for game and birds has commenced on 1 May and will enable members of the public to hunt certain species of the game at the invitation of a farm owner, lessee of a farm, or a registered conservancy.
Pohamba Shifeta, the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, in a statement, announced the official opening of the 2023 Hunting season and set out the rules that will regulate the activity in Namibia.
According to the statement, huntable game species can be hunted for the period 1 May to 31 August in the case of commercial farms of not less than 1000 hectares and which are enclosed with registered game-proof fences and on registered conservancies where quotas have been approved for huntable game species.
Game species can be hunted from 1 June to 31 July 2022 on commercial farms not less than 1 000 hectares in size which are enclosed with a normal livestock fence.
Large game species consist of kudu, oryx, and red hartebeest, while the small game species consist of springbok and warthog.
Huntable game birds may be hunted by written permission of the owner or lessee of a farm or piece of land that in size is not less than 1000 hectares and which is enclosed with at least an adequate fence, and within the boundaries of registered conservancies.
According to the statement, hunting permits will only be issued to farm owners or lessees, or to the conservancy committees, in the case of registered conservancies.
“If the owner of a farm wants to sell venison, he must have a shoot-and-sell permit. A completed copy of this must accompany the meat during transport,” the statement reads.
A permit fee of N$100 shall apply for each permit and hunting permits cannot be used to take trophies, out of Namibia.
No such export may take place without prior permission from the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism.
