Although official announcement has yet to be made, I have information on good authority after meeting with members of the Namibia Professional Hunting Association (NAPHA) and CITES people from the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) during the SCI convention that Leopard and Cheetah hunting in Namibia has been approved by Cabinet and will be reopened during the 2010 hunting season. It is expected that the reopening will take place in June or July of 2010. The official announcement from MET once it has been published in the Government Gazette should come in the next few days and NAPHA will be making the announcement along with the new rules and regulations.

From what I understand each Namibian hunting outfitter will be allotted a quota of 2 Leopard hunting permits per year. Leopard hunting with dogs will remain closed indefinitely, only hunting Leopard by baiting and encounter will be permitted. The limitations set in place by CITES for exporting Leopard trophies remains unchanged, thereby limiting the number of Leopard trophies that may be exported. Leopard quotas for hunting concessions on government land are given independently to each hunting concession and will not be affected by this change.

Cheetah hunting will also be reopened. No set quota for hunting permits by the government will be imposed to Namibian hunting outfitters, however the limitations set in place by CITES for exporting Cheetah trophies remains unchanged, thereby limiting the number of Cheetah trophies that may be exported. Cheetah hunting is only conducted by encounter.

We await the official news to be published in the Government Gazette from MET for which I am certain more complexities to the new rules and regulations will be revealed.