John Ogilvie Commentaries

Western Australian Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party member Rick Mazza recently introduced the Game and Feral Animal Control Bill 2018 to the WA Parliament. In the words of the explanatory memorandum , this bill is, "intended to provide an opportunity for orderly and safe recreational hunting on certain types of Crown land (public land); which in turn will contribute to the control of game and feral animals, and improved biodiversity, on that land." In this piece, I will make a case for why I believe that recreational hunters should be given public land access in WA. One of the first aspects that should be considered is the potential economic benefits that recreational hunting on public land could bring to WA, particularly to regional communities. In 2013, the Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries commissioned a study to assess the economic impact of hunting in Victoria. Before the study, it was estimated that hunters contributed $100 million to t

My last piece focused on the outrage surrounding a Parks and Wildlife manager who was harassed over photos he had posted from a legal hunting safari in South Africa. I also took the time to briefly articulate how well-regulated hunting can be a useful conservation tool. The man in question has since been removed from his position because of the misguided public outrage, and WA Government officials (including the Premier) did absolutely nothing to try and calm things down or correct the misinformation being spread about hunting in Africa. Before I continue to the main point of this piece, let's just briefly point out the hypocrisy on display here. These same Australian Government officials who are profoundly opposed to African nations managing their wildlife as they see fit have no problem mass culling kangaroos  for management reasons or carpet bombing our public lands with 1080 poison. With that out of the way, I want to discuss some of the philosophical implications of Wes

Recently there has been some controversy surrounding photos that emerged of public servant Jewell Crossberg posing with some animals that he legally hunted while on safari in South Africa. Comments from several public officials, including WA state Premier Mark McGowan, prompted me to write a response. The Premier’s comments seem to come from a place of evident concern for wildlife, but in my view, they also demonstrate ignorance of the realities of conservation. As someone with a passion for conservation and wildlife management, I feel that I have an obligation to provide some input on the subject. One of the claims made by McGowan is that the animals Mr Crossberg hunted are endangered, but this is simply not the case. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists both the African elephant and giraffe as vulnerable (i.e. not endangered) in the IUCN Red List. It is illegal for hunters to target species listed as endangered*. People who kill endangered species are