ARGALI HUNTING UPDATE
Who Saved Argali Hunting in Mongolia for 2009?
Who Will Save Argali Hunting for 2010?
We Report, You Decide!
by Dennis Campbell
We realize that most people will not take the time to read long
reports. When it comes to scientific reports, long and in-depth
ones will be read by a very small percentage of hunters. For these
reasons, we have tried to cut this report down as much as possible.
However, it is very important for those interested in international
sheep hunting… especially argali hunting. We are at a critical
point in time as concerns argali hunting. PLEASE read this report
in its entirety, as clarifications and commentary will be spliced in
along the way.
We begin with an email I sent to USF&W Senior Biologist
Michael Carpenter. This is the point man for issuing USF&W
Import Permits for U.S. citizens. The email was initially sent on
May 20, 2009, but when there was no response, it was sent again
on June 16:
People are beginning to call us here at GSCO to enquire about
argali permits. Can you give me some updates?
*Do you have an official list of hunters from the Mongolian
Ministry and if so can you send it to me?
*How many Ovis ammon darwini permits will you issue for
2009? Do you have the list of those yet?
*Is there any update on Tajikistan? Will any permits be issued
there?
*Is there any update on Kyrgyzstan? Will any permits be issued
there?
Thanks for your help. With a little information I can take a lot
of calls off of your desk and that is why I am asking. Our members
seem to call me first.
Now for Michael Carpenter’s response on June 19:
I just returned from 16 days in Kenya and am catching up on
piles of work.
I have hunter lists from Mongolia and Kyrgyzia. We have
denied all Altai Argali permits for Mongolia for this season.
We will issue up to 40 Gobi permits based on the probability
that there will be surveys in addition to the brief preliminary April
survey of the populations in the fall. We are hoping that these will
be cooperative and that everyone working in Mongolia will work
together and eliminate cross purposes. We currently have 32
applications and 30 are on the list.
We have a list of 33 hunters from Kyrgyzia, however, due to the
fact that we have received no new information from them for the
year, we intend to issue only 21 import permits (same as last
year). We have communicated this to the GOK and will make no
decision until next week. If we do not hear from them we will need
to draw for permits as we have 40 applications for Kyrgyz trophy
imports, 31 from their list.
We have heard nothing from Tajikistan and though we have 35
applications it seems unlikely that any import permits will be
issued for this season based on the information we have.
And my response back to Michael on the same day:
I know you are busy and I appreciate your excellent response.
Can you share the names of the 30 people on the Gobi argali list,
as it seems you anticipate issuing those? I would also love to have
those who are going to receive Kyrgyzstan import permits once
they are available.
Finally, you are probably aware that GSCO has funded scientific
work in Mongolia for many years. We are once again funding
work there for this fall. We truly would like for it to be a cooperative
effort, and plan to work in that regard. Richard Harris contacted
us for funding, and since he has no experience in Mongolia,
it would seem that his efforts should be coordinated with Mike Frisina and GSCO. You probably know that GSCO and FNAWS
(now Wild Sheep Foundation) have had a long legal struggle, and
they may not be willing to coordinate or cooperate in this work,
but at least we can try. As far as GSCO is concerned, our main
emphasis is on a solid conservation program in all argali countries.
We do have plans to try to bring Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan
on board in the near future. We will need a lot of luck to accomplish
anything there, but we must try.
Not to take much more of your time, but you and I have had several
discussions over the years about Mongolia. You had some
grave concerns about trophy quality deteriorating. I hope that
your information over the past five years has shown a dramatic
increase in horn growth. They have had some great years with
good winters and more than average precipitation. There were
two Altay argalis taken in 2008 that will be the new #3 and #4
entries in the SCI record book. One was taken by an Argentina
hunter but the other was an American. There have been some really
great Gobis and Hangays taken as well. Both a new SCI world
record Gobi and SCI world record Hangay were taken in 2007 and
2008 respectively. Again, trophy quality for Ovis ammon darwini
has increased dramatically.
So there you have the exchanges between GSCO and the
USF&W. I hope you noticed that Mike Carpenter mentioned that
he is issuing 40 Import Permits based on the brief April 2009 survey
and the proposed fall 2009 surveys. Well, what are those fall
surveys he alludes to? We will get to those a little later… just keep
reading. What is he talking about when he mentions the brief April
2009 survey? Let’s go there now.
First of all, that survey came about with no hoopla and no one
tooting their horn. It simply needed to be done to help U.S. hunters
have a chance to receive a USF&W Import Permit. Wow, what
changed from 2008 to 2009? Hmm… good question!
Early this year, Mike Carpenter sent a letter to the Mongolian
hunting authorities. That letter was interpreted by most people –especially the Mongolians – to mean that NO Import Permits
would be issued by the USF&W until extensive surveys were
completed and the data analyzed. Needless to say, that letter put
most parties concerned into disarray.
The Mongolian hunting authorities, for all practical purposes,
gave up. They did not have the money or expertise to comply. The
scientific community rejected out of hand as worthless the only
survey ever done by the Mongolia Ministry for Nature &
Environment. A few others began to scramble to try to coordinate
fall 2009 surveys to perhaps salvage the 2010 Mongolian argali
hunting for U.S. citizens.
GSCO did not have to scramble, because we have had a fall
2009 survey planned for almost two years. Michael Frisina (MT)
and GSCO had all these plans well in place before the letter from
the USF&W went out early this year. Mike Frisina had prepared
an in-depth proposal for GSCO in mid-2008.
Getting back to the April 2009 survey… GSCO and a select
group of experts began to brainstorm about what to do in the
meantime. Yes, we already knew that things were in place for fall,
but something needed to be done sooner.
Mike Frisina to the rescue! He, along with his and GSCO’s colleagues
in Mongolia, swung into action. Mike organized everything
beautifully and sent a timely report to the USF&W. THAT,
ladies and gentlemen, is what USF&W’s Mike Carpenter was talking
about when he mentioned the April 2009 surveys. You can view or print the
full-length version of Mike Frisina's report here. (6mb PDF)
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