Ironically, rural Zimbabweans have recently begun laying down their spears and bows, whilst at the same time encouraging foreign hunters to hunt elephants, buffaloes, lions or other wild animals on their lands. The reason is a simple matter of economics - foreign sport hunters will pay large sums to hunt Africa's trophy animals, far more than other tourists will pay to view them. This is a small sum per individual on average, but some resource rich areas earn disproportionate amounts and even small sums of cash can create meaningful infrastructure when well invested. Many communal lands in Zimbabwe lack tourist infrastructure and are unsuitable for photographic tourism. A combination of low game population density and thick bush often means that it is hard to get good sightings of wildlife.
Trophy hunters have a much lower impact on the environment than other tourists.
All foreign sportsmen have to be accompanied by a licensed professional hunter, who acts as a guide and is trained in wildlife management and skilled at tracking and hunting with minimum disturbance to the wildlife and its habitat. A national parks game scout accompanies hunters to ensure that quotas are observed, and hunting is banned between dusk and dawn. The quotas also allow for Problem Animal Control - the culling of individual animals which are persistent pests to people, their livestock or crops. Quotas ensure that wildlife populations are maintained at a level suitable for the local environment. Our people have stopped poaching.