Animal “protection” groups doing little to protect African lions

View the report here: http://member.safariclubfoundation.org/Keeping-The-Lions-Share

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), its affiliate Humane Society International (HSI), the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and Born Free USA collectively raised $151 million yet spent only about 1 penny of every dollar raised in Africa, according to their most recent annual tax returns. In fact, HSUS gave a paltry 0.03% of the money it raised in grants to sub-Saharan Africa. Further, much of the grant money from these groups doesn’t appear to be directed toward lion conservation at all.

“The animal rights groups raise a pretty penny by ginning up one complaint after another,” stated SCI Foundation President Joe Hosmer.  “But they are hypocrites, plowing the money into bloated overhead rather than into science and the conservation of African wildlife.”

The report also details the less-than-stellar grades several of the animal rights groups draw from the charity watchdog American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP). AIP awards HSUS a “D” grade, finding the group spends up to half its budget on overhead, and awards “C-minus” and “C” grades to IFAW and Born Free USA, respectively, for their wasteful spending practices.

Meanwhile, Alexander Songorwa, Tanzania’s top wildlife official, wrote in The New York Times in March praising the “critical role” that hunters play in African communities. Hunting generated $75 million for his country’s economy alone between 2008 and 2011, providing funds to sustain game reserves, support locally operated wildlife management, and build schools, roads, and hospitals. Revenues from hunting generate $200 million annually in remote rural areas of Africa.