My goal is one shot and have the animal not take a step

I'm trying to make a humane kill, as quick as possible

Dan has travelled to Namibia…

…with a single mission…

…to track and kill an African animal

The realities of hunting is you kill something

That's true

But personally I would much rather live free out here…

…in the Kalahari and then die by a single gunshot wound

He's trophy hunting

We'll get close to the animal

I know we're close when Johnny tells me, load up

It's one of the most emotive and controversial sports in the world

I have maybe five seconds to make the shot

Sometimes I'm not quick enough

Sometimes I am

It may sound perverse…

…but people like Dan are actually helping…

…to conserve some of Africa's most iconic and endangered wildlife

Here's why

Images like these create intense debate…

…around trophy hunting online

Worldwide outrage tonight, over the death of “Cecil the lion”

Why are you shooting a lion in the first place?

Shoot him

Shoot him right between the ears

Yet campaigns and outrage on social media…

…often only tell part of the story

At the moment it's very one-sided

It's very emotional

It's also driven by people that have more resources than us

They have their Hollywood stars…

…that have never travelled and came…

…and sit underneath a tree with these communities…

…and understand where they are coming from

I can't understand what would motivate someone…

…to go and want to kill a lion for fun or any other animal for fun

There is a narrative that says these animals are threatened…

…and rich Americans generally are going out to shoot them

Of course that sounds very compelling

But the realities are much more complicated than that

Much media attention focuses on trophy hunting in Africa…

…but it actually takes place in countries all over the world

And in many as part of a diverse wildlife-conservation strategy

Americans do import the most mammal trophies…

…over 30,000 in 2017 alone

But trophy hunting is not driving any species to extinction

Conservation in general is very underfunded in Africa…

…when it comes to environment and conservation issues…

…they are normally at the bottom…

…of each of the African countries' agendas

And hunters can bring in valuable revenue…

…to fund conservation…

…and protect against threats such as poaching

Trophy fees can average $600 for an impala…

…over $10,000 for a lion…

…and even more for an elephant…

…with the hunts themselves often costing more

Dan has paid to hunt and kill an oryx

The whole hunting experience is very challenging…

…and I like that, I live for challenges

The challenge of trying to find the animal…

…the challenge of getting close enough to make an ethical shot…

…and then the final thing is when you pull the trigger…

…getting the bullet placement correct…

…so you make a clean, ethical kill

Growing up in Texas I've always hunted…

…but I've never hunted trophies until I came to Namibia

Namibia, where trophy hunting has been legal since the 1960s…

…has more wildlife today…

…than at any point in at least the past 100 years

Yet the picture across Africa is bleak

Although exact numbers are subject to debate…

In just over a century, elephant numbers have plummeted

Over 90% of black rhinos were lost between 1970-94…

…although numbers have rebounded

And it's estimated that lions, which are notoriously hard to count…

…have been reduced by over 30% in just over a decade

But trophy hunting is not the major threat…

…facing any of these species in Africa today

The biggest threat to survival of wildlife in Africa…

…is the loss of habitat as human populations grow

Farming and urban development have taken up large swathes…

…of land previously occupied by wildlife

Take lions

Only 8% of their historical range remains

And they have reportedly vanished from 15 African countries

And this is where trophy hunting can actually help

Trophy hunting enables governments and other landowners…

…to maintain land under a wildlife-based use…

…and therefore reduces those threats of human encroachment…

…poaching and other very significant threats

When Marina Lamprecht bought this plot of land in Namibia…

…where Dan is hunting, it was a cattle ranch

In an area like this which was previously a cattle farm…

…wildlife had very little value above that of its meat

We now have a very large piece of dedicated wildlife area…

…and we fund it through very selective…

…very sustainable trophy hunting

I'll be back

Money from foreign hunters, like Dan…

…enables Marina to keep this land for wildlife

It's a very nice, quiet morning. Little bit of wind

I think it's a nice morning for hunting

Most people assume that trophy hunting is about killing…

…but that's not the part that I'm looking forward to

I enjoy the stalk, I enjoy the challenge of it

And yes you have to take the animal…

…but that's what funds this operation

And the local community, where Marina lives, benefits too

I have a deal with the local village elders…

…that I will feed the 260-plus children in the school…

…with meat from the hunt…

…but in exchange we have no poaching…

…or interference of any kind

And it's a system that works

It's all about involving local rural communities…

…in benefiting from the wildlife

If communities don't benefit from the wildlife…

…there's little incentive to look after it

Living on this landscape is hard

There's not much choices

And this wildlife is wild

People romanticise that these animals are beautiful

They are beautiful animals, but they are also very dangerous

And they can kill people or they can make our kids not go to school

If wildlife becomes an economic asset…

…people will want to protect it, rather than poach or kill it

Critics of trophy hunting say…

…that it only benefits the privileged in a country…

…like Marina, who operates a private farm

But in Namibia, and other countries, this is not always the case

Nearly 20% of its land is run by local communities

They choose how they want to use it

The communities use the land…

…as farmers, or they can be livestock owners

They can be crop-growers

The conservancies choose to have trophy hunting…

…it's also benefiting them financially

And that is the only way that we can motivate these communities…

…to be able to look after the lands for conservation values…

…at the moment

If trophy hunting is implemented well…

…and critically with the buy-in of local and national…

…communities and governments…

…you really can see an increase in the wildlife populations

According to international data…

…the only African countries with increasing populations…

…of wild lions…

…use trophy hunting…

…including of lions…

…as part of their wildlife management

And back in Namibia...

…there were only 12 white rhinos in 1968…

…since trophy hunting of them began in 1982…

…their numbers have rebounded

And valuable revenue has been raised for their conservation

In order for countries to see these results…

…trophy hunting has to be well-implemented

As it is in Namibia

They are downwind from us

By law…

…Dan has to be accompanied…

…by a registered Namibian professional hunter

His guide today is Johnny

These are giraffe footprints

You can see it's very fresh

It's early from this morning

Only a maximum of 2% of certain species…

…can be killed in trophy hunting…

…and in many cases even less are taken

And there are strict government quotas…

…on which species of animal can be hunted…

…and for some species, which sex

For trophy hunting we don't shoot young animals…

…because we use these younger males for breeding…

…and big bulls they are not breeding big bulls

They don't breed anymore, they just eat and sleep

They've been searching for an old oryx bull for hours

I think we can get close to this oryx…

…because we have zebra here on the right

The zebra saw us

Namibia is a peaceful and reasonably well-governed country…

Rifle

Load up

…which is why trophy hunting can be well-managed here

But in other countries, it's not so simple

Trophy hunting is by no means a panacea

Done badly, it can negatively affect animal populations

For instance, around Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe

They had far too high quotas for male lions there

It just was completely unsustainable

Corruption can also be rife in some countries

Some estimate that across just seven African countries…

…trophy hunting brings in more than $200m a year

But it's often unclear…

…how much reaches local stakeholders

Yet in places where revenues do reach local people…

…trophy-hunting money is a financial life-line

For example, in Namibia…

…the annual revenue from hunting is $28.5m

And in Zimbabwe 770,000 households benefit in some way from it

In many cases, revenue from trophy hunting…

…can't be replaced by other incomes

There's a real misconception that photo-tourism…

…could easily be substituted for trophy hunting…

…in most places and that's just not the case

For tourism you need stability…

…you need low disease risk…

…you need infrastructure…

…you need scenic areas with lots of wildlife

In many, many hunting areas that's not the case

In Namibia frequent droughts make it difficult…

…for large tourist operations

But it's ideal terrain for hunters

And Johnny has spotted some prey

Hunting involves killing

It's just a necessary part of it

Is that what I'm here for?

Absolutely not

Is it necessary? Absolutely so

It's a big old bull

Get ready with the rifle

Safety off, safety off

You see it between the trees?

Yes

Just aim dead on his chest

Congratulations

He's down

I didn't see it until the last moment…

…because it was behind a tree, but Johnny knew it was there

It's a heart-lung shot

He went right down with one shot

I've seen trophy photos…

…which are disrespectful of the animal and I don't approve

But that's not the way we do it

We respect the animal, we honour it…

…we use every bit of it…

…so I think you can do it tastefully…

…and that's what we strive for

Calls for trophy-hunting bans are intensifying

Britain appears to be pushing ahead with a ban…

…on the import of trophies

And some American states have also pushed for import bans

But blanket bans and restrictions are not the answer

There is no conservation model in the world that is perfect

And I will also not claim that ours is perfect

Over the years we have managed to bring wildlife…

…back in areas in countries where it was nearly decimated

I fail to understand why would you like to close down…

…a really good model that work for southern Africa?